Why is trimming dog nails so important? Simple, trimming your dog's nails can keep them from getting too long and keep your dog from scratching when playing with them. Also, if your dog's nails get too long, they can break, crack, or become ingrown. Youch! That can be very painful for your best friend.
Clipping dog nails is a ongoing learning process for your dog. This process is unfamiliar and strange to your dog. Dog's naturally do not like to have their paws handled, they may actually have a problem with it. So imagine if you do it wrong and cause them pain.
First, before you trim dog nails, you need to find out if your dog will actually let you handle it's paws. If your dog is uncomfortable with having his paws handled, make it a part of your daily interaction with your dog. Hold, touch, handle the paws while feeding, giving treats, petting, or even playing with your dog.
Once your dog is used to having his paws handled,then you can prepare for clipping his nails. Do not just grab your dogs paws and start clipping right away, this can scare the dog and make any future dog nail clipping sessions a pain, both figuratively and literally.
Let your dog sniff the tool, show him the tool is not there to hurt him. Clip the tool around him while playing or giving him treats so he gets used to the noise. Finally clip your dog's nails carefully. Be careful not to cut your dog's nails too short as this can cause a lot of pain and will bleed for hours. This will also probably cause him to associate clipping nails with the pain and make any future dog nail trimming sessions difficult.
A good rule of thumb is to trim dog nails at the tip where it just starts to curve. It's a little easier if you have a dog with light colored nails, you can actually see where the blood vessel is.
If your dog is absolutely against getting his nails clipped, some conditioning will have to be done. Clip one nail at a time taking breaks in between till he can tolerate it (this may take several days to get used to)
With patience, you will be able to trim dog nails with confidence. It just takes patience and love your dog.
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