Today I chose to dedicate my blog to claws; or nails as the humans like to call them.  This is yet another part of a dogs body -- or a cats for that matter, that the humans seem obsessed with.  Rarely does a day go by when the humans aren't working on dog or cat claws for some reason.  Big dogs get the big nail trimmers, fancy dogs get the dusty grinding treatment that smells like a cookout, and little puppies and kittens get the metal snippers.  It doesn't matter what method is used the result is still the same -- pets leave without their weapons and toenail bits abound throughout the clinic.  As an aside, toenails make a mighty tasty snack.  The best thing is that the toenails never go bad.  I can find an old toenail under one of the apartments or hiding in a corner that's been there for months, and it still tastes as good as the day it was cut.
I happen to be very attached to my own claws.  Whenever mother or one of her helpers try to take mine I usually bite at whatever tool they're using. Here I bark a word of wisdom -- the dusty grinding tool bites back.
The thing I find most surprising is that some humans will gladly shorten the long claws of their pets and yet will keep long claws for themselves.  Dancing Debbie and Vocal Vonnie are some of the people here that love to show off their long claws.  The really funny thing is that they don't use the claws for any reason I can see -- we don't have any new holes dug in the back, they don't paw at each other and they can open doors without having to scratch so I have no real idea why they would want the claws.  Mother thinks claws are dirty.  She says that no matter how much soap treatment they get, the claws trap the dirt.  Which to my thinking is just another reason to keep claws around -- you can never get enough dirt!

Mother did a little test in the clinic.  She used a white stick to take dirt samples from under Debbie's and Vonnie's claws to prove that even when you couldn't see the dirt, that it was still there.  She rubbed the white stick on some red syrup tester and a few days later, there it was.

"Ewwwwwww"  was all any of the helpers could say.  Even Dr. Quinn surgery woman saw the test and was surprised.  "That's why I cut my nails, and why we scrub so hard before surgery" she added.

Mother says "Rubber gloves anyone?" as she washed her hands for the fifth time after looking at the test.  I don't see what the big deal is about myself.  If I find something particularly good smelling outside, I love to run my claws through it -- that way I always have a snack for later!