Our Mal's nails are like a grizzly bear's(slight exaggeration..some are over half an inch <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ), despite her getting plenty of exercise.

When I asked the vet to clip them a while ago, she cut off only a tiny bit, so I'm wondering if you can offer any guidance?

As her nails are dark in colour, it's not as easy as with the cat's claws whose 'quicks' are easily visible.

She tolerates their being cut pretty well, but I naturally don't want to hurt her.

Thanks

Keep trimming the nails a little bit and often and eventually they will be the proper length. It takes time but trimming too much at once hurts the dog. Also, dogs who spend quite a bit of time on soft surfaces tend to have longer nails if not trimmed regularly. If you don't already, try walking your dog regularly on hard surfaces which will help file the nails down. Good luck!

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Keep trimming the nails a little bit and often and eventually they will be the proper length. It takes time but trimming too much at once hurts the dog. Also, dogs who spend quite a bit of time on soft surfaces tend to have longer nails if not trimmed regularly. If you don't already, try walking your dog regularly on hard surfaces which will help file the nails down. Good luck!

It would also wear down my arthritic knees!
I walk her to the nearest fenced field, then let her do the running <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Thanks, Sarah, I'll try the 'little & often' technique.
The dew-claws are the worst, of course. I have the scars to prove it!

Roger, you may want to get a drummel tool as this leaves the nails not so sharp!

I think Susan is referring to a Dremel. A small hand held rotary tool. I use one on my dogs and love it. You can pick a battery powered one at Lowes for a fairly inexpensive price. Take your time and condition the dog to it so that he does not freak out on you. My Golden Ret. (Noley) does really well with his nails being trimmed. I am still working on my GSD puppy (Coach).
Good Luck
Terry

Yes...my spelling can be very scary at times. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Thanks, again; yes, I had thought about a Dremel and even found an Internet article giving detailed instructions.
(They, too, said that if you keep at it, the quick recedes)

However, I think our excitable Mal girl would freak-out; she doesn't even like my electric shaver <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Here's what you can do for your Mal. Start out by just letting her sniff the dremmel (turned off) and by touching her paws with it and rewarding her if she accepts it ok at this stage. If she pulls back or acts up give a mild, "don't be silly," correction. This can be a voice or leash correction depending on your dog.

Once she's fine at step one, have her out of hearing of the dremmel (outside or in another room). If possible, have another person handle the dremmel so that it doesn't have to be put down on anything. If not, have it on something soft so that there isn't extra vibratory noise. Then bring the dog into the room. If she spooks from the noise give that "don't be silly correction," and wait until she calms down. Then reward. If she doesn't spook, praise and reward. She may not because it's often the noise item being turned on that spooks them. Spend all time needed accustoming her to the noise of the dremmel. Then start practicing turning it on and off while she's in the room until she can ignore it being turned on and off.

Third stage is to start getting her accustomed to the feel of it on her nails. Don't rush this stage and use lots of treats during the learning stage. It's generally best to start by just doing one nail. Don't overwhelm her at this stage. Be patient and take all the time she needs and you just might eventually get to the point where she'll give you her paws to be dremmeled. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Just to add a little something else to what Elaine said. You need to hold the dogs paw fairly firmly to help minimize the vibration that they feel when the dremel is grinding the nail. Take it slow and be very patient.

Good Luck
Terry

Everyone is giving great suggestions. I would add that nail trimming should be added to your dogs "schedule". Because my dogs don’t see too much pavement, my dogs get their nails trimmed every other Saturday. We go out into the back yard and both get their nails trimmed and they get brushed. This is a great way of reinforcing your pack leader status. Remember that pack leaders decide when and how others in the pack get groomed.

As far as the dark nails go, you will just have to develop a feel for how much to clip off. Have a little powder on stand by to stop any bleeding. Clip a little, clip a little more, keep clipping until you get an idea of how much you can take before hitting the quick. Because I do it so often, I only take a very little bit. I used to do the dremmel for their nails, but I stole my wife’s AA powered nail shaper and it is less noisy, spins slower, a lot smaller, and the dogs don’t even notice it. You don’t have to grind much, just take the square edges of the nail so they are not so sharp.

With a little practice you dog will understand the whole nail clipping process and it will get easier.