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Written by Poodle AnticsŪ
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Knowing how to cut dog's nails is easier when you know the anatomy of a dog's nail.
A dog's nail is constructed of a hard outer cover, which protects the quick which is the inner soft part containing blood vessels and tender nerve endings. In dogs with light coloured nails, the quick can often been seen as being faintly pinkish in color and is thus easy to avoid cutting into.
In the more common black nailed variety, the quick it totally invisible. Therefore, knowing exactly how to cut a dog's nails in this case is imperative. In these cases, trimming off little nibbles instead of large slices is more advisable.
Keep checking the clipped part of your dog's nail and look out for a dark spot in the middle of the newly clipped area - this shows the start of the quick - do not cut too far into this. Taking just tiny nibbles, you will then start to see a pale third inner circle. Stop there - or else you are likely to hurt your dog.
Also, don't forget your dog's dew claws. Growing on the inside of his legs and not in contact with the floor, these do not get worn away and will sometimes curl completely over causing your dog to get snagged in undergrowth, his bedding, etc. This can be very painful, so do keep those neatly trimmed too. |