Bad Mom No Biscuit~Gambler Blows A Moccasin
A couple weeks ago Gamblers brother Easy from across the pond tore his toenail off you can read about it here. Gambler not wanting to have his brother feeling like he was the only one to blow a moccasin decided to blow one of his own the first day of spring training at the Sandspring ranch. On my day off I set up some blinds for G & G, we ran our blinds, set up camp for the evening and John asked why Gambler was holding his leg up…..ahhhh that would be because he broke his toenail. This would be the third toenail that Gambler has broken off. Second time while out training, the other time while attacking the vacuum.
Rut roo not good to go for a ride with mom on a work day.
This was totally my fault, I noticed over the weekend that his nails were getting long and that they needed to be trimmed but of course I ran out of time and didn’t get to it now poor Gambler had to suffer. 🙁
Broken back toenail.
He just took off the top part of the nail.
Other toenails very long. Bad Mom!
The toenail on the right is the one he broke off over a year ago, it still hasn’t decided to grow back like a regular nail. The toenail with the arrow by it is showing the quik (blood vein in the toenail- pink area) and the white tip of the toenail that is over grown and should be cut off so it doesn’t break off.
How I trim toenails.
Trimming equipment.
There are different types of nail trimmers, I like those big orange ones. You should also have on hand kwik stop to stop bleeding if you cut one too short, styptic pencils can be used too but will sting.
Gambler laying on his side.
Since I had help I had Gambler lay on his side. The holder put her elbow across his neck and used her left hand to hold his lower front leg and then put her right arm across his stomach right in front of his back legs and held his lower back leg. With those legs held if he struggles he can’t get up. I then trim the tips off the nails, I trim the skinny area right before it gets to the thick part of the nail shown above by the arrow. If they are light nails you can see the quik in the nail which is pink so you want to cut right before the quik.
Starting in the middle.
I start taking the middle of the nail off then I rotate the clippers to take some off of each side and then go back to the middle and take more off the top.
Rotating to the sides.
Opps I cut one to short.
If you happen to cut one to short, you can use kwik stop powder or corn starch to stop the bleeding. Styptic pencils can be used too but do sting so we use those on asleep animals.
Bleeding stopped.
A dremel can be used to smooth out the rough edges.
Trimmed up.
Don’t be like me and wait for your dog to break a toenail before you trim them. Granted they can still break a toenail that is trimmed up but most likely it happens when they are long. This was a minor break once it was trimmed up and cleaned up Gambler was good as new and back training. Can’t keep this hard running dog down at all.
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Your not a bad dog mom…everyone forgets or runs out of time every once in a while. I’m just glad you caught the broken toenail and that GMan is A-OK!
Oz
Thanks for this. Jack wears all of his nails down, so I never have to trim them, but Maggie’s are longer – especially her dew claw. I didn’t know if I trim it regularly the kwic will recede…good to know.
Oh dear, definitely not a bad mom. It happens! This is a great post and reminder, thanks for sharing!
Gambler, you are such a good patient. I’m glad it wasn’t too bad of an injury, but I’m sure it still hurt. Poor guy 🙂
Mom is always chasing us around with the clippers and dremel as she doesn’t like us having long nails. According to her, she is the only one allowed to have long nails.
Do you know, we’ve never once trimmed Flash and Patches toenails in ten years? And I take Chewy to have his done. They need to be trimmed soon. His nails are black and I don’t trust myself.
thank you so much for the tutorial. We are fearful of cutting and Coles nails are way too long. LeeAnna at not afraid of color
Ah, I am so scared to trim nails!!! I can do 2 of my huskies because their nails are nice and clear, so I can see the kwik no pob, but Mika has black nails and I won’t go near them. I leave it to the groomer!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Ok, buddy you won…. yours look more dangerous than mine. The “Golden Horseshoe Award” is yours :o) Please feel better soon, such a broken nail is an awful thingy. We can’t do my nails at home, this pleasure has always the vet :o) we noticed that it is much better when we use milking grease for my nails…and the best is, that we walk around till that stuff is absorbed :o)
I try and trim my guy’s nails once a month. He is not a fan of it, but he is getting better about letting me trim his nails. Gambler looks like he was a very good patient.
I can’t believe how calm Gambler looks. My guys are not nearly so complacent, especially Jimmy, who is getting worse each time.
Good job Mom, got them all trimmed up. Mica’s are getting really long but she won’t let me touch them. So time for grooming:)
Ouch! We have a hard time doing our dogs’ nails, as well. They hate having them trimmed! I feel for you!
Woofs from Earl, Ethel and I at Earl’s World!
Trimming nails is the worst, Gambler is such a good boy.
Broken toenails are no fun. we are all too familiar with them here!
What great info on nail trimming! Sherman and Leroy have a always been pretty good for their nail trim but I try to get them when they are napping because they both tend to kick like horses when they are standing up!
That looks so painful! I’m sorry. ♥ Bentley tore his off a couple of years ago and it broke my heart. I take him to the vet to get his trimmed. I am a chicken. ☺
Great article and pictures! We all hate trimming those darn nails. Groomer does Booths and I use a dremmel on Little Miss Baileys. Gambler did a fine job and he needs 2 treats for being such a good boy 🙂
I keep a calendar and mark when I trim their nails so that I don’t forget when it’s time to do them again (I do them at least once a month, sometimes more since I’m afraid to cut too short). But then sometimes I still don’t do it when I should….so thanks for the reminder about how important it is.
Oh, poor guy. That must hurt. I’ve never had a dog break a nail. We usually don’t have to cut the nails on our dogs – other than their dew claws – cuz they wear them down walking every day on the cement sidewalks. When i do cut them, I use a little red clipper like that one you’ve got.
Ouch! Those broken toenails look painful. I’m glad that you finally caught up with him and took care of the rest of the nails before it got any worse. Don’t be hard on yourself. Even the best pet-moms slip up now and again. 🙂
Hubby and I were just saying that we need to trim Freighter’s nails tonight before he breaks one again like he did last Spring. It seems that all of our dogs had nail or pad injuries when they were young especially this time of year. They just run so darn hard.
I think I’m scared that they will wiggle at the worst time and I will cut something else – Ouch. Thanks for sharing, one day I may brave this and try it myself. but for now, I’ll let someone else do it.