Clipping a dog's nails can be a nightmare. Many dogs aren't keen on having their feet messed with to begin with and every time you clip a nail too short they become more resistant. Cutting white nails is relatively easy as the quick is visible but the black ones are terrible.

If (big if) the dog will sit still, the nail can be cut in a succession of thin slivers. With a restless dog however, one clip per nail is all you're getting. This means that the cut is usually too long or worse, too short.

My solution is an illuminated clipper. A normal 'Guillotine' style nail trimmer with a small but very bright light attached. This would be placed on the far side of the clipper and obscured by the nail. Several optional mounting points would cater for orientation and individual method. A small button on the handle would activate it for a short flash. If powerful enough, this would reveal the length of the quick and allow safer cutting. Resistant dogs would be easier to deal with and puppies wouldn't take such a strong dislike to the clippers.

Tests would have to be performed in order to find a useable compromise between bulk and brightness. With luck a very bright LED would do the trick, otherwise a bulb would be needed. If so, the bulb would be mounted in the handle with a short length of fibre-optic cable leading to the cutting end to keep it slim enough to fit between toes. Battery use would probably be excessive with a bulb though, so the brightness of the available LEDs would probably decide whether this is practical or not.
-- stilgar, May 27 2004

//Clippers for black dog claws// how very specific.
-- neilp, May 28 2004


nelip i think i understand the black dog claw bit, these are black claws and as such the blood supply isn't visible.
-- engineer1, May 28 2004


thanks [eng1] ! N
-- neilp, May 28 2004


How about a clip-on ultrasound viewer thingy like they use for babies - this would make it easier to visualise the quick boundary?
-- dobtabulous, May 28 2004


Don't clip the poor animal's claws! He's not putting mint gum in your mouth just because he doesn't like the smell of your breath.
-- Pericles, May 28 2004


Don't clip the poor animal's claws! Clip the rich animal's claws! [+]
-- yabba do yabba dabba, May 28 2004


I have to say, I think this is a fine idea. +
-- k_sra, May 28 2004


i probably should have mentioned that i work for a vet, so i dream of these clippers quite a lot. if someone could please prove this baked i'd be much obliged.
-- stilgar, May 28 2004


//Don't clip the poor animal's claws!//
didn't spot that one. [Pericles] if the dog doesn't run on harsh surfaces enough the claws get dangerously long (often sharp too). they can get caught between paving slabs or in other small holes and be torn out (think Gestapo). extremely painful.
-- stilgar, Jun 22 2004



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