how to trim dog nails

When you hear your dog walking around the house making too much clicking sound, that means the claws are too long and its time to trim it. Surprisingly I found out lots of people out there sent their dog to saloon to have those claws trimmed, and together with services that can cost a bomb! Trimming those nails aint that hard, lets DIY!

Problems faced during trimming include:

1. dog will try to avoid it because of the unpleasant felling or maybe pain,
2. owner will be terrified if they accidentally cut the Quick and bleeding occurs.
3. the nails are too long even after trimming.  (result from too long time not cutting those nails and the quick grows longer together with the nail)

How to cut dog nails DIY:

1. First and foremost, do not cut the nail too short. Locate where is the Quick. Perform trimming under good lighting.
2. Get your dog to stay still. Sitting position will do, lying down with paws facing up is best for me. Pet the dog, keep saying “good boy”, with friendly tone. if he goes hiding, try play with him first, lure him out with a ball or treats.
3. Explore the best suitable way to trim its claws that causes the least reaction from the dog (feeling of pain). here is a video from petside.com that show the details.
4.  Trimming not cutting! trim a little by little. Remember, do not reach to close to the Quick. The closer to the quick, the more sensitive it is for the dog.
5. If nails are still too long even after trimming, due to long Quick, here’s the solutions. I recommend this for further reading.
6. After trimming is done, award the dog with treats or play ball. This is associate conditioning, very soon the dog will associate cutting nail to playing ball or treats, he will love to have his nails cut.

How often do we need to trim those nails? it really depends. if your dog often walk on rough surface such as road pavement, claw will be worn away. My rule of thumb is, when ever I feel that my dog is having trouble walking or running in-house or the clicking sound really starting to annoy me, then i will grab the nail clipper and say “goooooood boy, come here boy!!!”.