How Often Should You Trim Your Dog’s Nails

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Trimming your dog’s nails should be part of your regular grooming routine. Keeping the nails trimmed is not only necessary to protect you and your dog from unnecessary scratches, but also to keep your pup healthy and comfortable. Long nails can easily break, catch or tear, causing pain and avoidable veterinary expenses.

Why Your Dog’s Nails Need to be Trimmed

Trimming your dog’s nails is important for several reasons. Besides the damage that your dogs nails can do to rugs, furniture, floors, and skin, long nails may cause pain or even injury to your pup. Long nails are also more likely to get caught on fabric and carpet, which can actually result in the nail being torn off.

If your dog’s nails are too long, each step that they take on hard surfaces may result in pain and, over time, painful feet. When your dog’s nails make contact with hard surfaces, like cement or a tile floor, the hard surface pushes the nail up into the nail bed. This can put pressure on all the toe joints or force the toe to turn to the side. Also, nails that are too long can curl and pierce your dog’s paw pads, which is not only painful but can lead to infection.

In addition, untrimmed nails can make it difficult for your dog to find traction on slick floors like tile, linoleum, and hardwood floors. When they are running around on these surfaces, they might slip and fall and pull or strain a muscle.

How Often Should I Trim My Dog’s Nails?

Dogs should have their nails trimmed and even filed on a regular basis, which might be every 3 to 4 weeks. If your dog is mostly indoors, he may need more frequent trims.

Dogs nails wear down naturally during normal activity, but dogs that are kept indoors need trims more often because they are not as active and usually walk on softer surfaces in comparison to outdoor dogs. When your dog’s nails are too long, you might hear them tap as they walk across your hard floors, which means they are too long and it’s time for a trim.

How often you need to trim your dog’s nails may depend on several factors, as follows:

Breed: Some dog breeds have nails that grow quicker than other breeds, meaning they will require more frequent nail trimmings. Smaller dogs that do not require as much exercise as larger breeds and therefore spend longer periods of time indoors need to have their nails monitored and kept short.

Activity: Dogs that walk regularly on cement or pavement will naturally have their nails worn down, meaning they will not need their nails trimmed as often.

Age: Older dogs tend to move around and walk less often, which could mean they need more frequent trims than dogs who have their nails naturally worn during walks.

Environment: Depending on where you walk your dog outdoors, it will determine how often a trim is needed. If you are walking on dirt or grass, your dog’s nails will not be worn down the way they would if you were walking on asphalt, pavement, or other rough surfaces.

Nail Length: As mentioned above, if your dog’s nails have obviously gotten too long, you will want to cut the nails every 3 to 4 weeks to help wear down the quicks. Cutting close to the quick encourages the quick to shrink back down, making future trims easier. Keep in mind that extra-long nails have to be cut back a little bit at a time and should not be cut too short.

What Kind of Nail Clippers are Best?

There are two main types of dog nail clippers: guillotine style and scissor style. Guillotine-style clippers have a hole that the nail is fed through. Once the nail is positioned in this hole, you squeeze the handles together, and a blade rises up from the base to cut the nail. Scissor-style nail clippers are designed similarly to scissors. This type has two moving blades that come together when you squeeze the clipper handles together.

Both of these of nail clippers are very effective for dogs nails, but most people prefer a particular type. If you have never trimmed your dog’s nails before, you may want to test out both types to determine which one feels more comfortable for you and your dog.

It is important you buy quality clippers that are sharp and designed for the size of your dog. The cutting edge should have a concave design to avoid crushing the nail. if the clipper is not sharp enough, it could result in splitting the nail.

Nail grinders can be a great alternate choice, as they create a soft edge on the nail and are less intimidating for owners concerned about trimming their dog’s nails too short. However, many dogs do not like the vibration of the grinder on their nail or the sound they make.

Final Thoughts

Trimming your dog’s nails regularly can be difficult if they have had a bad experience or do not like their paws touched. Some owners are nervous about trimming their dog’s nails because they are worried that they might cut into the quick. Regardless of these issues, keeping your dog’s nails trimmed is important for keeping their paws healthy and free of injury.

If your dog is completely uncooperative or scared about having their nails trimmed, you may want to consider a groomer or call your veterinarian.