By Heidi Clayton
I am a stickler for short nails on a dog. I have four dogs and get four different responses to nail day. These responses vary from, “Here is my foot, please file away!” to “I hate you and I am going to make this as difficult as possible.” As I stated before, grooming involves training. While you certainly don’t have to do nails yourself, you do have to make sure your dog is not going to bite someone else when getting them done. Here are some tips on getting nails done relatively drama-free.
Keeping your dogs’ nails short is about more than just looking good. Growing puppies need short nails so that their leg bones, muscles, and tendons will grow correctly. A puppy that constantly has overgrown nails will end up with splayed feet that are actually deformed. The damage travels up the leg as the puppies’ natural weight distribution is now off from lack of traction and extra pressure being put on the toe pads. In adult dogs, prolonged walking ‘in high heels’ can realign the joints and make your dog more susceptible to injuries as they are unable to gain traction when walking. Keeping short nails also decreases, if not erases, the possibility of dogs ripping off a nail or an overgrown nail growing into the pads. The general rule for nails is that if the nail is hitting the floor first, it is too long. So if you can hear your dogs’ nails hitting the floor, they need their nails trimmed.
So many people tell me that they can play with their dogs’ feet while cuddling on the couch, but when it is nail time the dog turns into Cujo. Touching a dog’s foot when they are completely relaxed is an entirely different ball game than touching the foot and holding it still with nail clippers or a grinding tool in your hand. I personally use a Dremel tool to keep my dogs’ nails short. Bull terriers have very thick nails, and I have yet to find a sharp enough pair of clippers to do the job. I use a regular Dremel tool with the sander attachment to do nails. I have trained all of my dogs using the same method. I personally believe that some dogs have more sensitive feet than others. They all experience the process of nails differently.
Much like teaching them to sit still for brushing, I begin by sitting armed with the treat they only get during nail time. I always have the Dremel present but not on to start. I pick up a foot and squeeze the pad so the toe sticks out for a split second and then instantly feed the dog telling them “good foot!!” I repeat this over and over and with each training session. Eventually, I increase the intensity to touching a nail with the Dremel, then to graduating to it being on and nails being done.
Nail care is an important part of a dog’s life and keeping them short is your duty. A great resource on how to learn to do your dog’s nails can be checked out at www.4pawsadrift.com/DLABPage. My good friend, Erica, will teach you how to groom like a boss in no time.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net.
Heidi Clayton started Four On the Floor Dog Training to provide positive, reward-based dog training in South Jersey. She breeds, trains and shows bull terriers under the SoraBully’s Bull Terriers kennel name. Email questions to heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net or learn more at https://fouronthefloordogtraining.net
