How to trim your dog’s nails
Taking care of your dog’s nails is one of the many health related tasks that you have to do as a responsible doggy parent.
It’s one of those things which is both annoying to do and scary at the same time, because most dogs don’t like it. And if you do cut wrongly, then there will be blood.
That’s why we are going to go over the why’s and the how’s in this quick guide on cutting your dog’s nails.
What happens if you don’t cut your dog’s nails?
If you don’t trim your dog’s nails then your dog’s nails will obviously grow longer, no surprise there. But when going into more detail, then it’s clear that this is bad for a clear number of reasons.
1. Uncomfortable to walk
Long nails will hinder dogs from normally stepping on their paws. The nails themselves will be like high heels, which will force the dog to bend their paws more to be able to walk. This will cause long term joint damage.
2. Can get stuck and break off
Because dogs walk on the ground, where there’s a million cracks, rocks, tree branches and other ways to trip - It’s sadly very likely that they can break off their nail. Long nails in particular are the perfect candidates to get stuck between something. This is very painful.
3. Can grow into the foot
If left unattended, one scary possibility is that the nail itself can grow into the pad of the foot. Again, very painful and a very damaging thing that can happen.
4. The vein will grow out
One of the key things when it comes to nail cutting, is avoiding the vein at the start of the nail. When you don’t cut your dog’s nails, then this part will grow longer as well - making future trimming that much more dangerous.
But if you start early and you keep doing this monthly, then all of these problems will be avoided.
The easiest solution
If you are too scared to do it and you don’t want to truly risk anything, then the safest option would be simply to go to a dog groomer.
They do this for a living, and if nothing else, then they can show you, in-person, how it looks like.
After the first “scary” procedure, you might have enough courage to try it yourself.
Cutting your dog’s nails
Dogs either have light nails or dark nails.
And with light nails, it’s often times easier and faster to cut your dog’s nails with clippers.
You can find clippers in almost all pet shops.
Amazon has many well priced options. They all are designed in the same way.
Simple cutting clippers with a wall behind them so that you don’t accidentally push the whole nail through the clipper.
We’ve all cut our own nails before, on the surface there’s nothing new here -just put the nail in and cut.
There’s really just two main rules when it comes to cutting your dog’s nails.
The two rules are for cutting nails are:
Avoid the pink
Cut following the natural shape
The pink line is the danger line. Do not cut here.
This is where the blood vein and the nerve start. If you would cut it, then it would be really painful and there would definitely be blood.
The blue line is at the end of the nail. If you want to use a nail grinder then this is where you’ll start.
The green line is right in the middle, between the blue and the pink line. Try and cut here.
Cut at a little angle, so that it follows the natural shape of the nail.
You don’t always have to make the nails super short. If it doesn’t always grind against the floor, then that is good enough.
Grinding your dog’s nails
If your dog has darker nails, then it is hard to cut them, because you simply can’t see where the pink part starts.
Try a grinder instead!
Amazon has a great selection of nail grinders.
Nail grinders have a spinning rough stone on the top. It’s covered in plastic, which has a opening for the nail to fit in.
The plastic prevents the paws from touching the grinder, which makes them super safe.
It’s easy to use - just put the grinder at the end of your dog’s nail (blue line) and it will grind the nail shorter.
With black nails, grind slowly until you start to see quick (the pink part that looks different) part of the nail.
It’s good to start slow with these tools. If you have the time then for the first month try and show your dog these tools every day with treats.
You’ll dog will remember these tools as good things that bring treats. Then try and nibble a millimeter of nail every day, again with treats.
And once you are comfortable, just use them one a month to cut your dog’s nails.
There’s plenty of videos on YouTube of people doing it as well - feel free to check them out for reference.
For more dog health related information - check out our free Pocket Puppy School app.
