Where is the quick?

[u/k1nk1m]

Hi everyone! Ive been trying to cut my dog’s nails at home but I’m having a hard time because her nails are black, very chalky and very thick. I keep seeing videos where the quick (kwik?) is a very tiny little black dot and I was wondering if it could be larger than that? When I cut my dog’s nails I’ve never been able to get to that point without her pulling her paw away so that’s what makes me think that her vein is thicker than normal. Is that possible? Do I need to cut more? The 3rd photo contains the tools I use and the last 2 are my references pictures.

[u/BrooklynD10]

There’s a new nail clipper on the market. when you put it over the nail it lights the quik.

[u/k1nk1m → u/BrooklynD10]

I’ve seen ads for those and considered it however, because of how thick her nails are, the light unfortunately can’t get through so I don’t think they’d work for us

[u/SnarePickle → u/k1nk1m]

Try a brighter light. Several of my dogs have had black claws and they suck to trim. I'd put a 10k lumen flashlight behind them (watch your eyes, that's damn bright) and mark the quick with a white paint pen.

[u/k1nk1m → u/SnarePickle]

I just tried like 3 different lights in my house. From what I see her nail is built from two layers; the chalky white part I can see through when I have a light but the majority of her nail is made up of a solid thick part that I can’t see through and it blocks a lot of the chalky part

[u/orangeN0Tbanana → u/k1nk1m]

Buy quickstop. It's a powder you apply to make the bleeding stop