Nail trims, how to and why:

Proper nail care is an essential part of maintaining your dog’s overall health and well-being. While it might seem like a minor detail, untrimmed nails can lead to significant problems in our furry friends. In this post we will be discussing why maintaining your dog’s nails is important, why consent plays a role in nail trims, and how to go about actually trimming your dog’s nails.

Why are nail trims so important in the first place? The number one reason to trim your dog’s nails is to prevent pain and injury. When a dog’s nails grow too long a number of things can happen. The most common issue is when the nails grow past the pads and hit the ground before the pads when walking. When nails touch the ground as your dog walks, they can force your dog to shift their weight backward, leading to an unnatural gait. Over time, this improper posture can cause joint stress, muscle strain, and even arthritis. Another issue that can happen when a dog’s nails grow too long is that they can curl under and press into the paw pads, causing discomfort and even painful wounds or infections. Additionally, long nails are more likely to get caught on surfaces, leading to breaks or tears that can be both painful and prone to infection. There are many other risks associated with overgrown nails in dogs, but these are just the most commonly seen problems that arise.

How can you tell if your pup’s nails are too long? In many instances, if you can hear your dog’s nails clicking on hard floors, they’re likely too long. A good visual indicator is to look at your dog’s feet while they’re standing still, if their nails extend past their pad and touch the ground, that means it is time for a trim. How often should you be trimming your dog’s nails? This mainly depends on the age of your dog, younger dogs don’t tend to need their nails trimmed as often, usually every 2-4 weeks. While older dogs tend to need their nails trimmed more frequently, usually once a week. This can vary, however, depending on how active your dog is.

How do you trim your dog’s nails? It is always important to remember to ask for consent from your dog before proceeding. This will always be step one for trimming nails. To learn more about consent and what that means in dogs, refer back to our previous post all about consent and how to obtain it: https://speakingdogisruff.wixsite.com/speaking-dog-is-ru-1/post/how-to-ask-a-dog-for-consent

To learn more about how to trim your dogs nails, feel free to message us for more information.

Visual on what to look for when trimming your dogs nails. For colored nails, it helps to use a flashlight behind the nail.