Welcome back lovelies!
It has definitely been a minute since we last talked! My schedule with work and personal life has been all over the place so I sincerely apologize that I haven’t been able to blog as much. As always to kick things off, I hope you all are having a wonderful day and getting ready for the Holidays coming up! Most of my doggie appointments are me doing nail trims, and I know a lot of you try to trim their nails yourself to save time and money, so this is a blog about some tips and tricks to help trim your pups nails safely and correctly! Let’s get started!
To start off we should talk about the anatomy of the nail because it plays a big part on how and where to trim. Within every nail is a quick, the quick consists of the blood vessels and nerves. If you clip too far you will hit that quick causing pain and bleeding. There are tips to help avoid it, like in white/clear nails, you can sort of see where the pink runs inside the nail. For that you want to clip right before you hit the pink. If your pup has black nails it can be a little more tricky. The best tip for clipping black nails is to start off less than you think and you can slowly trim away more and more. One sign that you are close to the quick in a black nail is when you look at the end of the nail where you just clipped, you may see a thing chalky white ring, well that ring is the start to where the quick is. Once you see that ring, STOP clipping, you are right by the quick and if you continue you will hit the quick causing pain and bleeding. I will say if you do hit the quick do not worry! It’s just like when we clip our nails a little short and it hurts/starts bleeding. It should stop bleeding after a few, and you can buy “quick-stop” at stores like walmart, petsmart, amazon, and etc. It is a powder that has some numbing agents, all you do is pinch some in your fingers and press up against the bleeding nail. Once the powder comes in contact with the blood it starts to harden like a stopper to stop the bleeding and the numbing agents help with the pain. If your pup is nervous their blood pressure could be spiked up, that being said, the bleeding can look a lot worse than it actually is. The best thing to do is stay calm and just realize their blood pressure is causing their blood to pump faster and more, making it look like a lot. If you remain calm, then you have a better chance of keeping your pup calm. One tip I always share with owners about how I trim nails is to be confident. Not only does that keep your pup more calm because they sense when your nerves are off, but it can help with the pain and in my opinion better your chance of not hitting the quick. I have found in my years of trimming nails that when I hesitate and second guess myself and where to clip, I end up clipping too far. Where if I just clipped where I was originally going to then I wouldn’t have hit it. Again, always start less and work your way farther back. You will get more and more familiar with how far you can clip back the more and more you trim the nails. Also, if you clip slowly and you are hitting the quick, that is gonna hurt much more. The best thing you can do when clipping is to just clip fully and not clip slowly. Some pups have really thick nails, for example larger breed dogs, so clipping fully can be a little more difficult but just do your best.
If you don't feel comfortable clipping with trimmers, you can always opt for the electric nail files they make for trimming dog nails. I use the pet electric dremel. Most pups are more scared of the dremel because it is noisy, vibrates, and can get hot if you hold it on the same spot and don't keep constantly moving it. If your pup handles the dremel good then that’s my favorite to use. With the dremel I can right up by the quick and not hit it, plus it smooths the nail so they don't have those rough edges when using the clippers. It is much easier to start off little and slowly work your way back to the quick. My tips for the dremel would be to constantly move it across the nail to avoid build up of heat that could cause pain. I also only use it on each nail for a few seconds then switch to another nail to avoid build up of heat. If a nail still needs trimmed farther, then just come back to it after a couple other nails. If it is your pups first time using a dremel, then I like to take their paw and place the opposite end of the grinder on their arm so they sense the vibration and realize the sound and vibration does not hurt. One important thing about nail trimmings is making it a non-stressful experience for your pup. It is a maintenance that should be a calm and good experience. Now I know some pups will always just be nervous for it, but in that case just try to make it as calming as you can. Incorporate treats like peanut butter, cheese, their treats, and etc. You can use the peanut butter as a distraction for them to lick as you clip their nails, or reward them with a treat after each paw. If you notice your pup getting really worked up, then it is probably best to take a break and come back to it in a minute. If they are freaking out and you continue, you risk making them more scared or even becoming aggressive. Always make sure you're watching out for those aggressive signs to keep you and your pup safe. I’ve had owners where their dog is so sweet and would never bite them until it came to nail trimming only because their pup was scared. Your pup could be scared for a number of reasons, so just try to put yourself in their paws that if you were them and you couldn’t understand what I was saying then you’d probably be nervous too. If you clipped their quick in the past that could also make them scared for future nail trims. Rescue pups especially I have found are more scared because of their conditions in the past and just in general most dogs don’t like their paws being touched. Not liking their paws being touched could again be for a number of reasons. A dog's line of defense is their mouth and feet, so if you are holding them or have a muzzle on while trying to trim their nails then they definitely won’t want you touching their feet because they may feel like that is their only line of defense. One tip I always share with owners, and especially if getting a new puppy, is to just pick up their paws and rub them. You don’t even necessarily have to pick up their paw, just rub them so they associate touching their paw as non-painful and harmless.
There are so many tips and tricks you can use, and it is finding the best one for you and your pup. Depending on how nervous your pup is, you may need another person or two to help out. I always ask before trimming nails if there will be someone present you feels comfortable helping hold/distract the pup. All dogs are different, I have found that for dogs their dog does way better with their owner around and in their own environment. That is why I offer my services where I come to your home, rather than you taking your pup to the vet or groomers. Now that being said, some pups do better away from their owner and in a different environment. It’s all about finding out what works best to keep everyone calm and safe. You may have to find ways to hold your pup that work best, here is an example of how we hold in a vet clinic:
Have one arm under the abdomen and one under the neck to keep them from turning around and biting, the holding their neck kinda contains their head so if they were to turn around and try to bite it would be difficult. For some pets, less restraint is more restraint. That means when you go to hold them it causes them to freak out because they feel like you're trying to hold them down and take away their control, so for pups that are like that, sometimes just sitting with them and lightly holding them makes them more calm and cooperate a lot better. Sometimes putting their collar/harness helps with holding them there and not having full restraint on them. Again, it is all just finding what works best for you and the pup causing less stress and being safe. When getting your pup acclimated to nail trimming you could just slowly work in the aspects of the trimming. For example, every day just work on grabbing your pups foot, then touch the clipper to the paw and let them smell them, and then slowly work in just barely clipping the tip of the nail so they get used to the feeling and noise. Praise them after each time so they associate it as something good!
Now, as for the steps of how to trim dog nails I am going to just copy and paste the steps that the AKC recommend because I have found they describe it the best and how I was taught in school;
Pick up a paw and firmly, but gently, place your thumb on the pad of a toe and your forefinger on the top of the toe on the skin above the nail. Make sure none of your dog’s fur is in the way.
Push your thumb slightly up and backward on the pad, while pushing your forefinger forward. This extends the nail.
Clip only the tip of the nail, straight across. Include the dewclaws, located on the inner side of the paw.
Avoid clipping past the curve of the nail or you risk hitting what is called the quick (the pink area of the nail that contains the blood vessels). A nick there is painful and will bleed. For dogs with dark nails, watch for a chalky white ring.
There are a number of tools out there to help trim your pups nails. They are puppy trimmers, which are for dogs with tiny nails. Big trimmers, for dogs that are bigger and they have thicker nails. And of course, there are electric files for smoothing and grinding down the nail. If you do use the electric file, be prepared to wear a mask because of the dust of the grinding nail going into the air. It can smell, and you should take caution of breathing that in. It won’t hurt you, just not the best for your lungs. I will place pictures below of examples of some different trimmers you can purchase and use. These tools can be purchased pretty much at any place that sells dog care/food, like walmart, petsmart, amazon, and etc. The more and more you trim your pups nails, the farther back that quick will recede letting you trim a little more each time and getting them to the right length. If when you start and you notice your pups nails are really long, you may only be able to trim a little bit for the first couple trims till you get that quick to recede back. Just keep at it and it will eventually get to the length that is appropriate for your pup! I always say depending on how fast your pups nails grow that you should trim them every 4-6 weeks. If you have a puppy you may need to trim every 3ish weeks because their nails are growing much faster as they grow. Once you get doing all this more and more on your own you will figure out what works best and get more comfortable. You will quick your pups nails here and there, but don’t panic, that is part of learning and figuring out what to do for you pup specifically. If you ever have any questions or concerns, you're always more than welcome to reach out to me and ask. Even if you just want me there to personally show you or make you feel comfortable for the first few times, then I will most certainly do so! I’m here to help you and your pup in any way that I can :)
That is going to conclude this blog entry! Hopefully I didn’t forget much, but if I did don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know! I hope this helps, and you were able to learn and understand the rules of trimming nails! Have a wonderful rest of your day and I will talk to you next time!!
Xoxo, Cupcakes & Canines
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