Nail Trimming: Perfectly Tidy Toes

How often do your human nails need to be trimmed? They grow fast, right? Same goes for your dog's nails. When you trim your finger and toenails, check his/hers as well.

Dog nail trimming is really important. It needs to be done, and it must be done frequently to keep the dog’s nails short as possible. I recommend at least once a month at Posh Pet Salon if not done at home.

Unkempt and long nails not only look very displeasing, but they can also lead to serious health problems. Overgrown nails touch the ground at all times, and in the process, they put pressure on the nail bed. That puts stress on the toe joint which can become very painful for dogs. In the long run,

Furthermore, the dog’s natural alignment and weight distribution can turn walking and running very painful for the dog. Dogs in such conditions are very susceptible to injuries.

Sometimes overgrown nails can curve, crossover one another, get hooked on carpet and even in severe cases become torn from the paw completely. Needless to say, this is very painful for the dog and, many times requires a veterinarian's intervention.

In some extreme cases, uncut nails can get so big that they grow into the pad of the dog’s foot. Again, that may lead to massive discomfort, pain, and a trip to your vet for treatment.

Avoiding The Quick- The quick is the soft cuticle in the center of the nail that is surrounded by the hard outer shell. The quick has nerves and blood vessels inside it because it is used to supply blood to the nail bed which can bleed and be painful if cut with nail trimmers.

In Posh Pet Salon I use both a nail clipper and a Dremel sanding tool to shorten and smooth nails. This allows me to shorten them swiftly and seems to cause pets the least amount of discomfort, so they learn to trust me. When nails are especially curly or too close to the paw pads, I may have to forgo the Dremel and only clip them to avoid the Dremel grinding too close to the fleshy pad causing a Dremel rash. Always have some styptic powder, sometimes called "Quick stop" handy since it's not uncommon for a nail to bleed in the event that snipping close to the quick (vein) is unavoidable. If you (we/I) can successfully perform frequent trims, and you are able to walk/run/exercise your pet weekly on hard rough surfaces, we can eventually get the Quick/Vein to recede and tone up the foot muscles (if they are out of shape) allowing your pet better posture and thereby rolling over his toes better keeping his nails short on his/her own. It takes effort but it can be done.

But if not....just bring him to my salon for a nail trim, I usually allow walking in for nails 9-1 on my workdays, text me 707-538-8886 if you'd like to check availability first and I usually charge 15.00-20-00