Nail Trimming

I am not a pro at nail trimming by any means, but I have had a lot of friends mention troubles trying to trim their dogs' nails so I thought it would be a good thing to address.

My first Dog, Daizy's nails got really overgrown. I hate to admit it, but I didn't realize nail trimming was a thing. I've only had cats who tend to take care of their own nails. I only read about it after she had gone through the winter without a trim. I found that the Millers Forge nail clippers were highly recommended so I ordered a pair. I went to trim Daizy's nails and learned that she really hated anyone touching her paws.

I really liked this video on the Kikopup YouTube channel explaining how to help your dog relax for nail trimming. I did this with Daizy. It was a slow process and for awhile I could only trim one nail a day. But that way at least they were getting trimmed once every 10 days.

Essentially you make good things happen every time the dog sees the nail clippers--lots of praises and treats. Do it in a calm, comfortable place. Then step-by-step work on making the process comfortable and not scary: touch the paws without clippers, put clippers near the paws but not touching, clip the air nearby, touching the paws with the clippers without clipping, etc. Eventually you work up to just one clip. Then add more. Each step is followed by praises and treats. Don't move on to a new one until they are comfortable with the previous one. If the dog starts to get uncomfortable take a step back or end the session. You don't want any bad memories associated with the process.

If you keep trimming overgrown nails back regularly the quick (which is where the blood flow enters the nail) begins to recede so they can get shorter over time. That cute clicking of nails on the hard floor isn't supposed to happen, so you want to make the quick recede until the dog can walk without the nail putting pressure on the floor. That pressure can cause pain for the dog, which can then cause other problems. A great resource for proper nail trimming is the Nail Maintenance for Dogs Facebook Group.

The trimming experience will be different with each dog. I got my pup, Hera, at five months old and I don't think she'd ever had her nails trimmed, so she didn't like her paws being touched either. With her, I actually taught the "shake" cue first, and used it to get her used to her paws being touched and squeezed. Now I can ask for a shake and then quickly trim her nails before I let go of her paw. To do the back legs I just rub her belly and then she rolls onto her back. I got her used to me touching and squeezing her back feet and then started trimming. Her back feet are still hard because she wants me to stop and rub her belly, but if I get one of my kids to give the belly rub it's a cinch.

Zeus likes to keep his feet on the ground so I usually trim his while he is standing or sitting. It's a little awkward but it works. I tried using "shake"  on him as well, but he still prefers me to trim with his feet on the ground so that's what we usually do.

Trimming Zeus' nails.