Your little dog’s nails should be just touching the ground when walking. If they click when your puppy takes a step or if they snag your carpeting when he walks over it, it might be time to give your puppy a pedicure, or a trim.
It’s just as important for dogs to have shorter nails. Here are a few things to consider and the actual steps on how to do it:
Preparation: Set the date to trim your puppy’s claws/nails. Plan it a week ahead of time. Puppies have to get used in getting their paws touched first. You can do this by playing with your puppy and petting your puppy on the paws. It will make your job easier when you finally cut or trim his nails.
Make sure you have proper equipment. Dog nail clippers can be found at your local pet supplies store. Usually, nail clippers for humans wouldn’t be good alternatives for dogs but in this case, a nail clipper for humans would do fine if you don’t have one especially made for your puppies.
Here are the steps on how you can clip your puppy’s toenails:
Prepare your puppy. Make sure your puppy is calm. Start from the tips and then cut little by little. Don’t rush into it, as you might cut into his paw, which is painful. Puppies’ paws contain a lot of blood vessels and can bleed very easily.
Do not cut on the dark part. Be careful when you’re cutting darker nails. The darker nails already have nerves on them so you should not cut on that part. Cutting on that part will cause your puppy to bleed. You do not want this to happen, as it will be harder for you to cut your puppy’s toenails the next time.
Distract your puppy. Talk to your puppy, and try to soothe him so he will be calm and won’t move around so much. This will make it easier for you to cut the nails.
Use the nail file. When you start seeing pale pink tissues near the top of the nail’s cut edge, you can stop. It’s already too close to the flesh and you might end up hurting him. If you still want to trim the nails further, you can use a nail file instead.
Declaw the nail. Do not forget to declaw the nail. That’s the one nail growing that doesn’t touch the ground. It might be a little harder to reach and the puppy might pull away his leg. You can use the same procedure as with the other nails.
Give a treat. Give your dog a treat after you cut his nails. Reward him for behaving and he will continue his good behavior the next time you cut his toenails.
Once you are able to do it, it really isn’t that hard to trim your dog’s nails, Keep your puppy’s nails clean and short and cut them every two or three weeks or so. This will also maintain your puppy’s good hygiene.