Trimming Your Dogs Nails: A Step-By-Step Guide
Your furry friend’s nails need to be cut for their own health and safety, so to help make the process easier to do from home – we’ve gathered a guide of some quick tips and tricks.
What You’ll Need
You’ll need the proper style and size nail trimmers for your canine companion. If you have a small dog or a puppy, we recommend scissor-style clippers – for medium and large dogs then large nail clippers are going to be the route to go.
We also recommend having styptic powder in case Fido’s nails start to bleed from cutting too close to the quick.
When You Should Trim
Once Fido’s nail starts to touch the ground, it’s beyond time to start cutting. Your pup’s nails will only continue to grow until they start turning inward or outward, causing them horrible pain. Long nails can also cause your furry friend to lose traction making it easier for them to slip, slide, and fall!
Where to Trim
Inside your pup’s nail, there’s a vein, referred to as the “quick” of the nail. If you accidentally snip that when you’re cutting Fido’s nails, you’ll get some bleeding but that’s what the styptic powder will help with (but hopefully you don’t need it). If your pup has clear or white nails, it’s a lot easier to see where the quick is, so that you can cut well before it and not even risk nicking it. If your pooch has any black nails, however, the best method is to cut little by little – which we’ll cover in the next section.
How to Trim
As mentioned earlier, if you have a smaller dog or puppy, then you’ll want to cut with small nail scissors, and with larger dogs, you’ll want to use clippers. If you can see the quick of your pup’s nails then you’ll want to cut a bit before that. If you have a canine with black or opaque nails then you’ll want to slowly cut closer and closer until you can start to see the quick from the inside. This video can help you with this process.
Final Thoughts
If you or your pooch is not here for the idea of you trimming their nails at home, you might have to take them to the professionals – and there’s no shame in it!