I have a new to me three year old long coat (she has been with us just over a month). How short should her nails be trimmed? I know too short will make them bleed but how short is too short? The vet trimmed them the first time but they still looked long to me even after they were trimmed. They need trimming again because you can really hear her nails when she is walking on the hardwood floor. I am going to trim them this time.

They can be trimmed up to the quick. If you did clip the quick, it's good to have the stop bleeding powder that you can find at any pet store. As long as the quick isn't clipped they are not too short. Many times at first they don't trim it too short and then they trim a bit shorter to try to gauge where the quick is.

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I just did Daisy nails this week. I trimmed a couple centimeters from teh quick. Warning she might be scared. Which Daisy was so I wrapped her in a blanket, stuck one paw out, did that one, rewrapped, got the other paw out and did this till all four were done. I also recommend filing if you can which also is according to the clippers you use. I got these scissor like ones that are easier to hold, especially if you have very shaky hands. And their great for small animal nails.

Good luck.

Here are a few links to help.

Clipping a Dog's Claws

ASPCA - Virtual Pet Behaviorist - Trimming Your Dog

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My chi has white nails which makes it easy for me to see the quick. If they were black, don't know if I'd be brave enough to cut myself. You have to be super careful, because the 1st time you hurt them, they will become really hard to trim after that. I, too, have to cover Midgie's face with a blanket while I struggle to trim her nails.

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When dogs nails get long, the quick gets longer too. That is probably why your vet only trimmed a little bit off. As you trim the nails shorter, the quick recedes, so very long nails need trimming gradually, as it would be impossible to trim them to the correct length without cutting the quick. If you just take the tips of every week you should be able to get them to a nice length. As has been said, it is so much easier on white nails! If she has even one white nail, use that as a guide as to where the quick ends.

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You can see the quick if your Chi has clear nails. It will be a pink/red vein inside the nail. I'm too fearful of cutting nails so I'm going to have to get Gemma's done professionally. She squirms and screams too much when I try, and with my shaky hands I'm worried I'll clip her quick.

The girls here told me I could use human nail clippers for Gemma's nails and the first time I tried I did and they worked perfectly. Gemma was just being too uncooperative for me to finish and I'm not very good at cutting nails to begin with. On a squirming, screaming puppy, I just don't trust myself!

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Exactly
I've never cut the quick on my dogs. I've read you can also use cornstarch as an alternative to the commercialized stuff that stops the bleeding.

I used the nail clipper we use on our cat and it worked great. Lady tolerated it quite well too. I cut her nails a little shorter than the vet but didn't make her bleed thankfully. She no longer tap dances on the floor . Someone mentioned clear nails....Lady's nails are deep black!