Puppy Nail Care Tips
Jun 15
Nail grooming is another grooming task that is sometimes over looked. There are cases where little to no nail care is needed. If a dog is very active outside and takes frequent walks, especially along concrete sidewalks, their nails may maintain a healthy length by being naturally worn down. On the other hand if your puppy is the indoor only, leisure type pet, such as a Morkie puppy for sale in Ohio and Pennsylvania, they will likely need regular nail care and clipping.
Nail clipping is an important part of grooming your puppy for a number of reasons. For starters, long nails can break off in an unnatural manner and cause damage or pain and bleeding. Also, a jagged break can snag on carpets. Long nails can also get caught in long hair resulting in pulled out hair with long haired breeds such as Maltese puppies for sale in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
As with other grooming or training, it’s best start out early, so that they get used to what you are doing to them. Start out by getting your new puppy used to having his paws handled. Hold the paws and gently massage them. Offering treats after paw massage sessions will help him or her look forward to the activity. Once you move on to actually clipping the nails, you may have to start out by only cutting one nail or two at a time, until your puppy gets used to the process.
There are several options for trimming puppy nails. One is to use a scissor type dog nail clipper. Another is a guillotine type. If your dog doesn’t do well with these, you could try using a nail grinder or dremel type tool to sand down the nails, however, this is generally an option best used for larger, calmer dogs because of the vibration and noise. A fourth option that can be used for small and toy breed dogs, like a Yorkshire Terrier puppy for sale in Ohio and Pennsylvania, is to use a set of human nail clippers. And, of course, there are professional groomers who can take care of this for you.
Another item you may want to have on hand is some styptic powder or a styptic pencil to help stop bleeding if you accidentally clip the quick. While clipping the quick is unpleasant and can cause some bleeding, it is not life-threatening for a puppy such as a French Bulldog for sale in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The quick is a pink line usually found just below the curve of the dog’s nail. In light colored nails, it is usually easy to see. However in darker or black nails, it may not be visible at all. Stay right at the curve or just above the curve of the nail, and you should be able to avoid clipping the quick.
Nail trimming is also a good time to examine your puppy’s feet and make sure there aren’t any other issues going on with their paws such as cracked pads, stuck burrs or thorns, tangles in the hair between the pads, and any sores or infections that may need veterinary assistance.
