Trimming Dog Nails
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Every dog owner understands the importance of trimming dog nails, and how delicate this procedure is. We would all love to be able to skip over this task, because it can be a nerve-racking few minutes and if you cut the dog’s nail too low it could cause your dog a lot of pain and bleeding. But the benefits of hygeine, comfort, and safety make trimming dog nails a necessary evil.
So the question is how to cut dogs nails. Let’s go through the procedure so you can do it as comfortably as possible and hopefully without hurting your pooch.
First of all, it’s important to point out the benefits of training your dog when it’s young to get used to having its paws handled and its nails clipped. If you start doing this too late, you will have more problems with the dog pulling away and squirming. You can begin this training first by handling and stroking the young dog’s paws to get it used to giving up that little bit of control to you. Then you can get them prepared for the pressure of nail clippers by lightly pinching their nails with your fingers. Of course giving them a pat, a “Good dog!” and maybe a treat is a great way to encourage that behaviour.
After that you can begin to start trimming a couple of nails a day with dog nail clippers, gradually leading up to a time when youcan clip them all at once. Now onto the mechanics of how to cut the nails.
A dog’s nail consists of the outside solid area, and inside that is the quick, the soft tissue which holds blood vessels and nerve endings. The quick exists inside the nail, part way down from the top. When trimming dog nails you need to make sure you do not cut into the quick, otherwise your dog will bleed and be in serious pain. If your dog has light colored nails, you can probably see the quick through the nail, having a pink tone. Be aware of where that area is, and stop clipping before you cut into that area.
In dog’s with darker nails the quick will be invisible, so you need to be extra cautious not to clip too far. It is prudent to clip off very small bits at a time, and after each bit have a look at the clipped part of the nail. If you can see a dark area in the middle of the clipped part of the nail, that is the start of the quick so it is time to stop.
The best way to position the dog is to either (a) have somebody hold the dog still while you do the clipping, or (b) have the dog lie down on a raised area like a no-slip dog mat while you clip. Or both. The goal is to keep your dog still and as calm and comfortable as possible.
After trimming the dog’s nails many owners like to use a nail file or a dog dremel to flatten out the nails. This is a good idea for house dogs, or dogs that stay on the lawn. But if your dog walks around on harder surfaces a lot, then the nails will become flattened and smoothed out naturally with filing them.
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