How To Cut Your Dogs Nails

So the unthinkable happened this morning my groomy hooman caught a doggies quick :(. She quickly stopped the bleeding and gave the pupstar a cuddle, the puppy barely even noticed it had happened. This got us thinking though how many people are scared of clipping their dogs nails simply because they are afraid of a little blood (ok a fair amount of blood). With this in mind hooman decided to do a post on how to clip those pesky nails with as little risk as possible and as calmly as possible.

Lets start with a little bit of background shall we: This is a dogs nail. Inside each nail is a vein called the quick (a.k.a. that long pink bit). When cutting a doggies nails its important to try not to hit the quick as this can cause pain and bleeding! Now from experience I can tell you these things bleed!

So lets talk instruments of torture. There are different ways to clip your doggies nails but here are the main three:

1) Nail clippers

Pro: You have a certain amount of control with these as you are able to position these numerous times before applying the pressure.

Con: You do have to be quick (no pun intended)! Dogs move.

2) guillotine nail clippers

Now these seriously sound like an instrument of torture!

Pro: Once you have the nail positioned the guillotine will find the right angle and cut through thick nails with ease.

Con: Again us doggies love to move and getting the nail in the right position in the first place can be challenging, especially they have big fluffy paws like me!

3) Electric Grinders

Pro: These give you a little bit more control over how much you are taking off at one time.

Con: You can still hit the quick! Grinding too low can cause bleeding and the vibrations can often make us doggies anxious if we are not used to it.

You are probably thinking you have babbled on about quicks and instruments of torture but how on earth do I cut my dogs nails! So here are our greatest tips:

1. Trim little and often.

The best way to avoid the quick is to take a little bit off every few days. This even helps the quick to recede so you are less likely to hit it.

2. Cut your dogs nails in daylight.

This seems like an obvious one and is more important for dogs with white nails as it enables you to see the quick better. However, even if your dog has black nails a little bit of light with help you to see where you are cutting.

3. Have some Trimmex/quick stop nearby!

Now this may be more appropriate for our grooming friends out there but a little flour will work just as well. This stops the bleeding dog if you do accidentally hit the quick.

4. Remember to stay calm.

It looks much worse than it actually is. A little pressure and anti-coagulant will stop the bleeding. Its not the end of the world and it happens to everyone at some point (even professional groomers).

5. Don’t forget our sweeties!

Not all dogs appreciate having their nails cut but all dogs appreciate a nice sweetie when we have been good so keep those treats coming and we will love you no matter what!