The quick won't recede

[mbfrench]

I trim here every two weeks, and use a regular nail clipper like you would use, most of the time. I do have that little dremal tool, and it does work fabulously. Its the one that BarbV uses.

These dogs nails are easy peesy to cut. Trapp has 3 nails that are black, I use a small flashlight to hold behind the nail, and you can easily see the quick. Just a tip you might want to try with black nails.

I find that Jasper's grow slower, and his feet really are all round different than Trapp's. Jasper has a nice round foot, and when he is groomed properly, his feet are beautiful.

Trapp, I have to trim differently, as his foot shape is really not what I prefer. You really have to be careful in trimming anything foot related, front & back on him, or he just does not look good. He is the only sheltie in residence here, that has a wonky foot shape.

I have to be honest, when ever I see pictures of any sheltie, I tend to look at feet first. Nothing better looking than a dog with properly groomed feet.

In all the dogs I have ever trimmed over the years, I have got the quick only 2x.Once on Earnhardt, and I swore he would never quit bleeding. I cried I was so upset. The other time was a dog I was grooming for someone else, and the nails were so over grown & black.

 

[SKNerissa]

I have to be careful with Lil' Lady, and constantly taking off a little at a time, her nails get long fast, and they are all black. She sure isn't co-operative somedays either, wiggle, wiggle.

This is an old post but I thought I would mention that my Riley has one black nail (our last Sheltie had 7) and I have found the Sunbeam Lighted nail trimmer from PetSmart to be invaluable. Mine does therapy work so I have to keep is nails as short and rounded as possible to avoid scratching people with fragile skin. The only solution I have found for black nails is to remove the guard and hold the nail up to one of the LED lights. As long as the light is touching the nail I can clearly see where the quick is. After that it is just a matter of going slow and frequently checking my progress with the light.

Riley seems to be happy with the Sunbeam tool and frequently falls asleep when I use it on the lower speed (our cat doesn't like it as much). My only complaint is that the thing goes through batteries fairly quickly since I use it once a week on both Riley and our cat (it takes 4 AA batteries). If you can't find the Sunbeam one or just prefer another brand, Oster and Furminator both make lighted nail trimmers that may work. Also, a small dollar store LED flashlight with an exposed white/clear bulb should work just as well for anyone that already has a rotary tool and/or prefers not to remove the guard.

Hope that helps!

 

[seashel]

Yogi has this problem and it was an ongoing headache for me when I was showing him. I didn't have a dremmel so just kept on cutting every other day. I can't say that it really made much difference except he grew to dislike having his feet handled more and more. I was advised to cut into the quick a few times and this would stop it growing! (Needless to say I did NOT follow this advice as he would have detested having his nails cut and who'd have blamed him!)
Eventually I just decided that his nails were naturally longer and went back to a normal cutting routine. It didn't make matters worse and was preferable for us both than fighting nature.