How to Use Dog Toenail Clippers

A dog's toenails are naturally worn down as they walk. Dogs who spend the majority of their day indoors may not be subject to this phenomenon, and need to have their nails trimmed. If a dog's toenails get too long, they can grow into the sensitive pads on the bottoms of the paws. This is painful and tough to remedy. Clipping a dog's nails before they get to this point allows your dog to walk around pain free and happy. This process is easy to accomplish at home with guillotine style nail clippers, available from any pet store.

Things You'll Need

  • Dog
  • Table
  • Guillotine style nail clippers
  • Styptic pencil
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Place your dog on the table resting on her stomach. Stand on the side of the table opposite from the paw that you intend to clip.

    • 2

      Press your upper body over your dog. Place your arm over her neck to keep her head from squirming.

    • 3

      Grasp your dog's paw in your left hand and the clippers in your right hand.

    • 4

      Examine your dog's claw for a thin red line. This is known as the quick. It is a blood vessel that, if cut, will bleed profusely and cause your dog pain. Always cut below the quick, never above.

    • 5

      Place your dog's claw through the stationary circle of the clippers approximately 2 millimeters below the quick. Make sure that the blade side of the guillotine style trimmers is facing away from the dog.

    • 6

      Hold the clippers perpendicular to the nail. If the clippers are held parallel, the nail has a great potential to splinter, break and cause pain.

    • 7

      Squeeze the handle of the clippers to cut the claw. If your dog has dark nails, you will need to make several short cuts to avoid hitting the quick, which is harder to see. On dogs with dark nails, you will need to examine the claw after each cut. Look for signs of a gray or pink color appearing on the cut edge of the nail.