All About Nails
Regular nail trims and why they are important.
Have your toenails ever gotten a tad too long and wearing shoes becomes uncomfortable?
Have you ever injured a toe and found it painful to walk or wear shoes until that toe sufficiently healed?
The discomfort and / or pain you may feel from the examples given above, is the same for our dogs when their toenails become too long.
Toenails allowed to grow to an excessive length not only cause the "clicking" noise you hear when a dog walks on a hard surface, but they also cause many other issues.
Long Nails = Long Quicks
The longer your dog's nails become, the longer the quicks become also. What's a quick? A "quick" is the term used for the blood vessel that runs through the center of each of the dog's toenails. This will become longer as the nail grows and this isn't necessarily a good thing.
Long Nails = Damaged Nails
As the dog's nails grow and become long, they also become a larger risk factor to your dog. Long nails become brittle and crack easily. This crack may just be on the surface, however, it can crack deeper into the center where that quick is. This can be painful and can also cause the quick to become damaged and start bleeding. Long nails can easily become caught on anything and everything. Once caught, a dog's reflex action is to jerk their paw free. In doing so, they can also break or rip that nail causing injury, pain, and bleeding. Long nails can also be easily broken just by the dog running around or on their daily walk around the block with you. When a dog's nail breaks, it can be very painful and may require veterinary treatment.
Long Nails = Pain for Dogs
Long nails also change the biomechanics of the dog's toes, paws, pasterns; and cause changes in the dog's posture. Dogs have evolved to walk on their toes, rather than their whole foot like we do. Long nails pushes the toes upward, causing the pasterns (ankles) to stretch and weaken as the heal of the paw is pushed downward. This upward pushing on the toes may also cause the dog to walk or stand with their paws facing outwards instead of straight forward. All of these changes will also lead to arthritis and inflammation of the joints and paws. Older dogs are also at greater risk of slipping and / or falling if their nails are too long.
How to Prevent Long Nails
So, how do you prevent your dog from having long nails? Have them trimmed on a regular basis, as in once a month. The sooner you start your dog on a regular nail maintenance routine, the easier it is on your dog and on you. If your dog's nails are already overgrown, the first step will be to get that quick to recede. This is done by a groomer trimming the dog's nails back a little at a time, once a week. Each time the nail is trimmed, it becomes a little shorter and that quick begins to recede or shorten also. Depending on the length of your dog's nails, it can take approximately 8 weeks (+/-) to get the nails back to a proper length while also getting the quick to recede without cutting into the quick. Once the correct length is established, continuing with a monthly nail trim will keep the nails and quicks at the proper length.
What if my dog doesn't like his feet to be touched or his nails to be trimmed?
First, let your groomer know this in advance so they are not surprised when Sweet Little Pumpkin tries to take their fingers off.
Second, you can begin working on this at home and continue to work on this at home in-between appointments. How? Easily. Find your dog's absolute FAVORITE treat in the world. This might be liverwurst (a.k.a. Braunschweiger), string cheese, hot dogs, boiled chicken, or plain Animal Crackers. Whatever your dog would walk through fire to get to, that's what you use. This is what is known as a "High Valued Reward". Get that reward and while casually hanging out with your dog, touch its paw. Say, "Yes! Good dog!" while at the same time giving it a treat. Only start with touching the paws at first. Don't try anything else until the dog is 100% comfortable with step 1. Step 2, gently pick up the dog's paw, praise, and treat. Keep doing this until you can comfortably hold the dog's paw for at least 30 seconds before giving praise and a treat. How often? Every day, multiple times a day if possible. Keep working like this with your dog. It lets them know that anyone (you, the groomer, the veterinarian, etc.) can hold their paw and it's okay. The more comfortable your dog is with having their paws touched and handled, the more easily the groomer can trim their nails and hair between and around their toes, and the more easily you or your veterinarian can check those paws when / if they become injured.
DOG NAILS BEFORE A LONG OVERDUE TRIMMING!
DOG NAILS AFTER A LONG OVERDUE TRIMMING!
