How to Clip Dog Paws

Trimming your dog's toenails can keep your dog from scratching you when playing or damaging floors. It can also prevent the claw from curling under and painfully digging into your pet's paw pad. This is most frequently noticed with the dew claw, the claw located further up the paw, because it is not worn down by contact with the ground. You can trim toenails with a guillotine or scissor type of nail trimmer. Guillotine types are easier to use but may not work with curling toenails.

Things You'll Need

  • Nail trimmers
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Instructions

    • 1

      Restrain your dog either on your lap or up on a table. An excitable dog may need to be held down. This is more easily accomplished with your dog laying on its side with your arms pinning its head and torso to the table.

    • 2

      Hold the dog's paw with your weak hand and the scissors in your dominant hand. If visible, locate the quick, which is the area where blood vessels and nerves stop. On light-colored claws, the quick is easy identified as a darker, pinkish color. In dark-colored paws, you may not be able to see the quick.

    • 3

      Hold the nail clippers at a perpendicular angle to the toenail with the handle pointed either below or above the paw (not to the side). If you are using a guillotine type of nail trimmer, the screws should point toward your dog with the blade further away. Cut the nail approximately 2 millimeters below the quick. The nail trimmer operates just like a regular pair of scissors. If you cannot see the quick, cut just a couple of millimeters from the end of the toenail.

    • 4

      Inspect the toenail. If you see more nail than tissue on the end, cut off a couple more millimeters. Continue cutting in smaller increments until you see a larger gray or pink oval appearing in the center of the toenail. Stop cutting when this is visible.

    • 5

      Repeat for all four paws. The back paws may not need trimming as much as the front paws. If they look short enough, you can leave them.