Hi all. I have a question. Kirra's pups are now 10 days old. They are huge and doing wonderfully. Their nails are quite sharp and Kirra's stomach and teats are showing proof of this. There is no infection, but the marks are quite red and there are quite a few. She is starting to become very cranky about it. I caught her tonight when they started feeding, she yelped and then put a pups head in her mouth. No pressure as in biting, but it concerns me. I have never cut a pups nails before and am concerned about cutting too far down and they are very wriggly anyway...it is hard to get them to lay still. Does anyone have any suggestions? Kirra is due to have her stitches out tomorrow. She is otherwise well.
any advice would be welcome
Thanks
Jodi

if you take a sharp pair of nail scissors and just snip off where their nails hook over at the ends that should do the trick .. i would probably say its best to do this when they asleep as they wont wriggle so much and maybe an extra pair of hands would be a help :)...i was told this by a breeder who has been very helpful with me with my dog as she is due to give birth anyday :)

I bite them off at this age, just the hooks.  I have very poor eyesight and could probably take a whole toe off with scissors! 

Think about it, pups nails are not going to be any dirtier than your own, they don't walk on the ground. 

It is very important to get them cut every few days now. 

It can really put a bitch off her pups. 

In the wild I assume they would wear down as they would be in a den with an earth floor

I always trim the front nails at this age. they can make the bitch very sore.  Next time I trim them I trim the back as well.  Keeping them reguarly trimmed

:D I'm sure thats OK Brainless, I never stop kissing mine and I reckon their faces must go everywhere their paws do at that age, I might adopt that practice next time, at least when they are still indoors.

I use the nail clippers that you can get for human babies.
Found them excellent for young puppies nails.

I use human nail cutters for babies too, they are just the right size

Thanks guys. I ended up giving it a go last night after I posted. I had to try something and I just cut off where it hooks over. They were asleep, at least until I started cutting and it took about 40 mins to do the whole 5 of them. Lucky I am a patient person huh? I am going to do as suggested and buy some baby nail clippers. All the pups are up on their feet, very shaky, but they are trying their hardest. Kirra went out to relieve herself yesterday and I called out to her after a few minutes and she was gone. The bugga had dug her way out. I was in panik mode. I got in the car and drove around the block, which took all of 5 minutes, I thought I would drive past the house..just in case... and here she was sitting on the front verandah. Apparantly she just went for a little stroll. I couldnt believe she had done that in 5 minutes...well I can actually but she hasnt done that for over a year now. So at present all toilet breaks and plays are strictly supervised while I fix the situation.
Thanks for your replies, much appreciated
Jodi

I just used nail clippers also and checked them every other day.... Glad to hear all is still well and they are growing stronger by the day :)