How to Use Dog Nail Clippers

Keeping your dog's nails short will help maintain his overall health, preventing abrasions when scratching and preventing joint pain caused by your dog's inability to support his weight because of long nails. There are a variety of dog nail clippers you can purchase at your local pet store to trim your dog's nails at home, each with its own benefits and features based on your dog's size. Before you attempt to clip your dog's nails, you should understand how to safely use dog nail clippers and avoid injuring your dog or causing hemorrhaging.

Things You'll Need

  • Canine nail trimmer (guillotine or scissor-style) Styptic powder
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Instructions

    • 1

      Hold and stabilize the paw. Lift your dog's paw up in order to clip the nail from the bottom. To clip the nails on the front paws, place your dog in the seated position and grab the paw, stabilizing individual pads between your thumb and index finger as you cut each nail. There are four nails on each of the front paws and one "thumbnail" on the inside wrists. To clip the nails on the rear paws, stand your dog up or place her on her side, holding the paw in the palm of your hand. There are only four nails on each of the rear paws.

    • 2

      Position the clippers on the light or white-colored end of the nail. Open the clippers and place them at the tip of the nail. This lighter-colored or clear area of the nail will be the starting point of clipping. You will gauge how closely you can clip once you make your first clipping into the nail, exposing the nail's interior color.

    • 3

      Clip from the bottom of the nail. Quickly and firmly squeeze the clippers to clip the nail from underneath. Regardless of the type of dog nail clippers you use, you must clip from underneath the nail because of the downward curve in which the nails grow. Again, do not attempt to clip a large portion of the nail at once, as it is safer to clip the nail in stages, especially if you have not clipped dog nails before.

    • 4

      Reposition the clippers to cut more of the nail. After making your initial clip, place the clippers on the tip of the nail and squeeze to clip another portion of the nail. Do this until you begin to see the color of the nail change from light to dark. This change in color signals that you will soon reach the quick---the group of nerve endings and blood vessels inside the nail. If your dog has clear nails, do not cut too close the pink-colored area of the nail.

    • 5

      Apply styptic powder to any closely cut or bleeding nails. If you notice that you have cut a nail too short causing bleeding, quickly apply a liberal amount of styptic powder directly onto the nail. This will stop the bleeding.