Trimming Dog’s Nails

Methods of restraint for trimming your dog’s nails.

It is often easier for medium to large dogs to have the dog relaxed and lying on their side, preferably up on a bench, with their legs facing away from me. In this position, it’s pretty easy to lean across a fidgety dog and hold it firmly in place. However, getting a big dog up onto a bench can also be difficult, so you can try them standing or sitting while holding them between your legs and picking up one foot at a time. You can easily trim smaller dogs on a bench, but they can also be restrained if necessary in a semi-cuddle on the lap while clipping their nails. Ensure you have plenty of good light wherever you do it to see exactly where you need to cut.

If your dog has light coloured nails, you should be able to see through to the pinkness of the quick running down the centre of the nail, making it easier to decide how close to cut without causing the nail to bleed. Once you are confident with the clipping process, you should be able to clip these nails with only one cut. However, for dogs with darker nails, you won’t be able to see the quick, and so will need to make multiple minor cuts to avoid taking too much at once and risk bleeding. At each small trim, look at the cut surface. As you approach the quick tip, the nail will darken in the centre, indicating that you have cut enough off. In white nails, a deeper pink shade will appear.

Hold each toe in turn with the thumb and first finger with your free hand. Apply a little pressure so the nail is pushed outwards a little, hold the clippers at about a 45 degree angle to the line of your dog’s pads, and cut. If the nail splinters, the rough edges should be filed smooth by filing gently from the back to the front. Give lots of praise during the procedure, and take frequent rests if the dog finds the process stressful.

Don’t forget to trim the dewclaws, found a short way up from the foot inside your dog’s leg. As they don’t touch the ground, they will not get worn down and need regular trimming.

It is a good idea to have something on hand to stop the bleeding if you accidentally cut the ‘quick’. Products such as ferric chloride or potassium permanganate (bought over the counter from a human pharmacy) are helpful. Applying the solution or crystals to the bleeding nail with cotton wool will cause the blood to clot quickly. Many human first aid kits also contain a styptic (a blood-clotting material) that looks a little like orange cotton wool. You can also apply this to the bleeding nail.

How often is this necessary?

The requirement for nail trimming can vary depending on the breed of your dog, age, level of exercise, and environment in which the dog lives. Working and herding breeds are active and generally have compact feet with well-arched toes that angle the toenails downwards towards the ground (often referred to as ‘cat feet’). If these dogs are active on hard surfaces such as gravel, rock and concrete, their nails may not need trimming until they exercise less with age. However, you will still need to attend to their dew claws regularly. Other breeds may have what are known as ‘hare’ feet which means that the nails grow more forward than downward, and therefore no matter how much exercise they get on rough ground, it is unlikely they will wear down naturally. Some dogs may benefit from having the tips of their nails taken off once every week or two, however for most, it will be longer than this, and you will have to decide what is suitable for your dog by inspecting its nails regularly. However, if you notice a change in the sound of your dog’s nails on hard floors, this is a pretty good indication that it is time for a trim.