Trimming Your Dogs Nail: How to Know How Far to Go

There are lots of places you can go to get your dogs nails trimmed. The groomer, the vet, even some pet stores will provide these services.  But at between 5 and 10 buck a pop, that can really add up. Say you get the nails trimmed once a month. That could be around $120 a year! Instead, you could pay between $5 and $10 for a good nail trimmer just one time, and trim Fido’s nails yourself!

Lots of owners are afraid to cut their pets nails because they don’t knowhow far is too far.  This is especially true of dogs with dark nails. When a dogs nails are clear, the owners can see the quick, and this helps them feel confident when trimming the nails. However, with black nails, the quick cannot be visualized. Luckily, there are some landmarks on the cut edge of the nail to help you find your way.  If you use this method, you should trim the nail back gradually, observing the cut end as you go. When you first start trimming a long nail, you will see a flaky nail outside a hollow center.  As you trim farther, the hollow center will disappear and, eventually the nail will become glossy in texture. After this point, the quick will show up as a white spot in the center of the nail. When you see this, STOP! After this point you will encounter the vascular quick, and your pet’s nail will start bleeding. This is painful to your pet, and will make them apprehensive of getting their nails trimmed in the future. If you accidently trim to far use styptic powder or silver nitrate sticks to stop the bleeding.

If you still feel apprehensive about trimming your pet’s nails, there are non-traditional methods of pet nail care. One of the most popular of these is the “Peticure” nail file. This method slowly files down the pets nail, instead of cutting it, allowing you to observe the same changes described above.  The Peticure is available in three sizes, Peticure Petite, Peticure Elite, and Peticure Power, ranging in price from $9.99 to $59.99.

The Peticure files down nails instead of trimming them.

When deciding which method to use to trim your pet’s nails, the most important factor is finding a method that you are comfortable with.  Feelings of apprehension about pet nail maintenance often cause nail care to be delayed or worse, ignored.  When you are confident in your abilities, you will fall into a pet care routine that will greatly benefit your four legged friend!