Taking care of a dog’s paws is essential for dog health. Being a dog owner you should know how to cut the dog nails. Most people find it difficult to trim the dog’s nails, as nail trimming is stressful for dogs. You should be careful while trimming the nails to avoid cutting quick.
The dog’s nail contains both blood vessel and nerve that maybe lead to blood and pain if they are cut too shorten. Remember that use the right nail cutter or tool for trimming the nails because the wrong tool will cause damage and don’t forget to use styptic powder.
Tools You Will Need to Cut The Dog Nails
Below is the list of few types of equipment which you will need while cutting the dog nails.
1- Dog Nail Clipper
You will find various kind of dog nail cutter in the market, but among them, few are very useful. For small breed dogs, it will be better to use a guillotine-style nail clipper. For big dogs, you can use a scissors-type nail clipper.
2- Clotting Powder
Clotting powder is the second most important thing for cutting dog nails. You will also find different types of clotting powder but mostly vet recommend to use styptic powder. Clotting powder is used, if you cut the nails too short, it will stop bleeding quickly.
3- Treats
The most important thing is treats in this process. It is highly recommended that reward your dog with the treat after cutting each nail. This will impact a positive experience on your dog.
Why Dog’s need to Shorten Nails?
Trimming nails is important for dog health. The dog’s which mostly walk on the soft surface may have a harder time controlling the nails length as compared to dogs which walk on hard ground. You should also focus on the below things which are important.
- Genetic predisposition
- Kind of dog breed
- Feeding habits
How Far Up To Cut The Dog Nails?
The most important question is how far up to cut the dog’s nail. Few dogs have both the white and dark nails. It is quite difficult to deal with the dark nails, as they contain blood vessels. So, you have to avoid cutting these vessels.
By mistaken if you cut blood vessels, it will start bleeding, even if you get close to those vessels. You can only trim the white portion of the nails. For safety, you must do small snips.
How to Cut Dog Nails Safely
It will be better to visit the vet or groomer for the first time. Once you have got the idea of how to cut dog nails, after that you do it at home. Remember that if you have a small puppy, don’t try to clip all nails at once, tend to do few at a time.
Not all breeds of dogs need their nails to be clipped. There are few breeds such as notoriously Bassets and Dachshunds, they need proper trimming. You can cut the nails once in a week or in a month, this depends upon the breeds and size of the dog.
Follow the below steps to cut the dog nails at home:
Step-1: First you need to handle the dog’s paws and after that introduce the nail clipper. Rewards the dog with treats.
Step-2: Use the nail clipper either guillotine or scissors-type, place in a small part of the nail in the clipper and snip. You have to stop the cutting if you nail feels spongy because you are cutting the quick(blood vessels).
Step-3: Repeat the second step, but it starts bleeding, you need to apply the styptic powder on the affected nail. The styptic powder will quickly stop the bleeding and also the pain. Damp a washcloth at hand and clean the styptic powder and blood.
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