With the onset of winter weather and the few snowfalls we've experienced thus far, some of our acquaintances from our neighbourhood wooded, trailed ravine have been telling us of their woes respecting their dogs' misfortunes in accidentally losing some toenails. The cause is evident; their nails have grown far too long and are therefore susceptible to accidents.

Normal routine hygiene maintenance of dogs is inclusive of regular, as-required nail trimming. No dogs, it seems, really take to having their paws, and more specifically, their nails handled - for the purpose of trimming those nails. Our two are no exception; they are hyper-sensitive about their nails, particularly those of their front paws for reasons we don't understand.

We keep telling ourselves we've got to get around to trimming those nails. And we keep forgetting, so many other little things intervene to take our attention away from this simple, routine task. This morning, finally, we managed to get around to trimming Riley's nails. He was not very appreciative of the attention given him, snarling, growling, generally being extremely unpleasant. Typical Riley behaviour.

Our daughter, who knows more intimately all manner of vital things about the responsibilities of dog owners to their pets, has written a helpful article about just that; trimming dogs' nails, so here is a small portion of that article:

A dog's nails consist of an outer shell which is comprised of dead cells (like our fingernails). The outer shell (a hard material) protects the soft tissue - the blood supply, called the kwick. If your dog has light coloured nails you can usually see the quick through the nail shell. This makes it easy to see where you need to cut the dog's nail…just below the kwick.

If your dog has dark-colour nails and you are uncertain as to where to clip the nail…look underneath the nail. You will see that the nail looks solid (completely filled in) from underneath - up to a point. After that the nail appears hollow - all you see is the nail shell - no fill (no kwick). By taking a look at the nail from underneath, you can see where to cut. Until you have more confidence cutting your dog's nails, just clip a little off the end. Once you gain confidence you can clip a little more of the shell.

What tools do you need to clip your dog's nails?

For very small dogs you can use a pair of dog nail scissors. For larger dogs you need to use a dog nail clipper. Some people also file or use a hand or motorized file to grind their dog's nails down.
Karen the Ottawa Valley Dog Whisperer Links to this post