Scratchings-and-Sniffings

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Clipping your Dog's Toenails Posted: 11 Jan 2010 07:07 AM PST When Darcie got really old she didn't get out much. Her idea of a walk was just far enough outside to take a pee and then back to her comfy bed. As a result her toenails needed to be clipped frequently. Miles, on the other hand, puts in three or four miles a day, including a half mile or so on pavement getting to the Boston Hill trailhead. In other words, he does his own manicures with the street and sidewalk serving as his emory board. That's fine for some dogs but most of us will have to deal with long toenails from time to time. You can always take them to a groomer or even the vet or veterinary technician, but that will cost you some dough. Spending a few bucks on a good quality trimmer and taking the time to learn a few tricks can save you both time and money.   The first trick is to get your dog used to having you play with his feet. Ideally that starts in puppy hood and simply involves frequent handling of the feet including time spent looking and feeling in between the toes. That comes in handy when they get a thorn or cactus spine stuck in there, too. Practice clipping the very ends of your puppies toenails and you should have permission to trim for years to come.   There are two main types of trimmers. One looks like a short pair of scissors and the other has a sliding blade kind of like a guillotine. I've always used the guillotine type but the scissors are handy for real long nails like the dewclaws that never see any pavement time.   The trick with nail trimming is to cut enough, but not too much. If you cut into the quick, which most of us have done more than once, you'll draw blood and your dog won't appreciate it much. It's not the end of the world by the way, and even without a styptic pencil the bleeding will stop before long.   With white or clear nails it's pretty easy to see the blood vessel as a pinkish area inside the nail. Give yourself some room and stay away from the pink area. With dark nails, it's tougher. Your dog may have both dark and light colored nails on the same foot depending on the coat coloration. I'm lucky with Miles. As a yellow Lab all his nails are light colored and the blood vessel is easily identified.   The best bet with dark nails is to do several small bits at a time. Do the light colored nails first to get the hang of it and then start in on the darker ones.   The Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine (Go Cougars) web site has a really good tutorial with great photos on the details of nail trimming. I could go on but they do a great job and the photos show you what we are talking about. They also have some good tips on light restraint which can be helpful.   It is important to keep your dogs nails trimmed. I've seen nails get so long they curl around and cut into the pad. That borders on neglect of course and I doubt anyone reading this blog would ever let that happen. The dewclaws can get out of hand quickly though, so pay attention to them.    Happy trimming.

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