Adventures in Nail Care

Hello NLGA Dog Blog Readers!

Guess what, we have a guest blogger today!  Yay!!!  The post today is brought to us by Day's Mom, Gilly!  We are sure you will enjoy reading this as much as we did ... and you may very well just learn something along the way!

Call me wimpy, weak, cowardly, you can even call me ridiculous... but I will gladly and even proudly (though embarrassingly) admit that I am TERRIFIED of clipping Day's nails!!!



I know that Day is used to having had his nails trimmed; having lived his racing years at the track he would have had them done often by sure and knowing hands. Unfortunately, sure and knowing hands in such respect are just not attached to the arms that are mine. It didn't seem to matter how hard I wished that Days nails would just STOP GROWING ALREADDDYYYYY..... they didn't.

"See, Mama?  My  nails are almost as long as my nose...
Dontchya think it's time yet??"

I felt awful for letting them get so long in the almost two months since we had adopted him. I had to get over my fear. I know what you're thinking, it would have been easy to just take Day somewhere to have his nails clipped. And you would be right, there are countless places right here in town we could have gone to, even his Vet or the Technicians at the clinic would have done it with ease. I was definitely and admittedly the biggest hurdle on this one. I didn't want for him to experience an accidental QUICK cut, no matter who was doing the clipping and I let my panicked thoughts control me in what was necessary for my Day.

For two weeks I found myself holding clippers like these to Day's nails.....

..... but, I couldn't make myself actually squeeze them.

And pouring over diagrams like this one.....

... but seeing the word 'bleed', well, that burst any confidence bubble starting, right there! Now, if Day's nails were clear like this diagram instead of all black, maybe it wouldn't have been quite so scary...

Research and reading had clearly become my enemies on this subject and especially so when searching particularly about Greyhounds who apparently have nails that still tend to look too long even when properly clipped... hence my further growing fear of taking him to get them done when there are so few Greyhounds and therefore, experience, where we live.

I finally reached out to a new friend I had made while going through the Greyhound adoption process and asked if he did his hounds nails himself or where he took him to get them done. He did give me the name of a woman in town who had done the nail clippings for him in the past BUT he also had mentioned that he had tried to dremel them at first on his own... MAJOR stress relief in that tiny bit of information. His own Greyhound hadn't really appreciated the dremel the first time he had tried but I was still more than willing to try it for Day and I immediately began researching how to grind nails. Why had I never before heard of this alternative? It sounded almost too good to be true... for a worry-nut like me anyway! Believe me, I know and respect that there are incredible numbers of brave and confident souls who easily trim nails with clippers but as much as I wanted to be one of them, I knew that grinding might just be the answer for me.

It was only a matter of hours before I had this little number bought, charged and ready to go!

Was I still nervous??

Only to the point of ripping out my hair and screaming "I GIVE UUUPPPP!!!"

But, forward we went to back those ever-forming claws up!

I was shaky and hesitant even as I tried to relax. Was I holding his paw correctly? Was I starting at the right angle?? What if I slipped and hit his pad??? What if he freaked out from just the noise of the grinder and became scared for life of me even touching his tootsies????

The first paw was nerve wracking. He was unsure because I was unsure and though he patiently dealt with my inexperience, he also pulled his paw away whenever he felt there was opportunity.

But, on we went, until.....

... his first paw was finished!

Yes, I know, not near enough nail gone and perhaps not the exact shaping desired. However, for our very first paw, I was incredibly happy with the result, and have quickly become much more skilled and confident in taking Day's nails just a little farther back with each weekly manicure since.

By the time we had moved on to paw number two, this is how much Day really cared about what was happening...

By the third paw he was sound asleep.

And after the fourth paw... I was ready for a sound sleep!

But, together we had made it through and as I sat and massaged some nourishing vitamin E cream onto his freshly cut nails, I finally breathed easily once again! The cream massaging part pretty instantly became Day's favourite part of the manicure... Now, the second he witnesses the cap being spun off the tube, he stretches his legs out as far as he can, spreading his long toes and starts groaning and sighing his comfort and appreciation of having his paws massaged with the cream!

And... here he is, the freshly dremelled, massaged paw model, all finished and ready to slip into his boots for a celebratory walk!

What had begun as an impossible-seeming ordeal has, in very short order, become a very positive part of our routine. I know I'm not the only one who has struggled with the fear of clipping paw nails, it can be a pretty intimidating experience. But man-oh-man, am I ever thankful to have found a technique that works for us!

I'd love to hear more about grooming tips and techniques that work for others!

Thanks SO MUCH to Gilly (and Day)!  If you have any tips or techniques (or anything else) that you would like to share please send it to nlgahounds@gmail.com   This is truly meant to be your dog blog after all ... join in the fun!