You already know dogs are descended from wolves, but as a domesticated animal they don’t have a chance to trim their nails naturally like wolves do in the wild.
Neglecting your dog’s nails over a long period of time can cause foot and joint pain. It’s your responsibility to help them, but trimming a dog’s nails (for most dogs) may sound more difficult than it is!
So before you fork out your hard earned dough getting your vet to do it, read on:
A Simple Trick to Trim Your Dog’s Nails
Do you want to know my secret trick to make trimming your dog’s nails easier?
Yes, of course you do!
Use some old or buy some inexpensive knee high hose and put your dog’s foot into them. Pop their nails through the hose. This way, you can trim away and not have to worry about catching any of their coat while trimming.
Hold your dog’s foot in your hand with the pad facing up toward you to get a good look at the underside of the nail. You will be able to see where the tip of the nail has a small, hollow ridge.
When you start to see pale pink tissue near the top of the cut edge, stop trimming. If it’s necessary, file the rough end of the nail.
If your dog has black nails or you cannot see this, try to cut just above where the nail starts to curve.
Cut dark-coloured claws in several small cuts to reduce the chance of cutting into the quick.
If you cut the quick of the nail and it starts to bleed, use Quick Stop or other measures to stop the bleeding (corn starch, powder, cotton etc). It’s not a huge catastrophe if you cut the quick and your dog bleeds a little, but they may feel a little pain. Even without treating the nail at all, it should stop bleeding within 5 to 10 minutes.
Take it slow and easy so that nail trimming doesn’t become a stressful chore for you or your dog. Once a dog get stressed in a situation they rarely forget it, making it harder for you to trim their nails in the future.
Do you have any good tips to share about nail trimming? We would love to hear them – that’s what the comment section is for!
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