A dog's nail consists of the living pink quick and the hard outer material called the shell. The quick supplies blood to the nail and runs through the core of it. Nerves in the quick cause bleeding and discomfort when cut.
Anatomy of a Nail
Just like human nails, dogs do not have any feeling in the nail itself, but the quick contains a nerve that transmits sensations back to the brain. When trimming the nail, it is important to stay far enough from the quick to avoid causing pain or drawing blood.
The quick is nerve and it will be painful if it's cut. That's why a dog will pull their paw away if their quick is cut and some will also whine or cry. The amount of pain is based on how much of the quick was cut. The more quick that's cut, the more nerves are damaged.
As long nails hit the ground, it puts force on the foot and leg structure. This force can potentially lead to arthritis and ongoing pain. The growth pattern of a dog's nails forms a curved shape. If left untrimmed, the claws will eventually curve under the dog's paws and dig into the skin, creating pain when they walk.
Use a soothing voice to keep her calm as you gently rub her paws. Then focus on the toes, giving each one a soft squeeze. Next apply gentle pressure to the nail itself. If your dog becomes scared or pulls back her paw, stop for a bit and continue only when she settles down.
Their nails have a nerve and vein (called a quick), which, if clipped, causes tremendous pain and even bleeding. Whining – A dog that's anxious about trimming nails might start whining in hopes that you stop with the trimming. They will whine if they are in pain, for instance, from clipping the quick.
Survival instinct
The main reason dogs hate getting their nails clipped is because of the pain. It doesn't hurt them if they are clipped correctly but if your dog has been cut too close to their nerve in their nail, even once, he will remember it.
So if your puppy whines when you are cutting his nails, it doesn't necessarily mean you've hurt him. It may just be that he's anxious about the process and the strange pressure on his nails.
Ask for a sedated nail trim.
Unless there is a medical reason not to sedate your dog, your vet should be able to do a sedated trim. Being sedated should make the nail trim process less traumatic for your pup.
Basically, you want to cut no more than 1/6th of an inch of nail with each clip. Clip and check, clip and check. If you see nothing but white, you're still trimming just nail and haven't reached the pulp yet. If you see a circle of black ringed by white, you've reached the pulp and have trimmed enough.
In the wild, wolves and coyotes keep their nails short through digging and running after prey for hours. Since your dog is likely not running around in the wilderness all day, you may need to walk them on concrete to help keep their nails at a reasonable length.
A dog's nails should be clipped often enough that they remain short enough to not click on the ground when a dog walks. Long nails that touch the ground may cause discomfort for your dog, and potentially cause problems down the road.
The easiest, stress-free way to keep those nails filed down is “naturally.” This happens when your dog is walking or running on rough surfaces enough to keep the nails short.
First, gently hold your dog's paw in your hand. While looking down at your dog's semi-transparent nails, locate the pink region in the center of each nail. This pink area showing through the outside of the nail is the quick. It's that simple!
So, if it's possible and practical to trim your dog's nails weekly or at least every other week, you'll likely see better results, have a much less stressed dog, and experience less stress yourself in the process. The quick is the part of a dog's nail that contains blood vessels and nerves.
Regular nail trimming will cause the quick to recede from the end. Short quicks are the preferred length for the dog's well-being and easy maintenance. Long nails can turn a sound paw into a splayed foot and reduce traction, and they can cause deformed feet and injure the tendons over an extended period.
The other advantage of grinding vs. clipping is how the high-speed filing makes it easy to round off the tip of the nail, whereas clipping often leaves sharp edges. If your dog tends to paw at people for attention, this can be problematic until the nails naturally wear down into a more rounded shape.
No one should physically force a dog to have its nails trimmed, even if it is muzzled. If it is aggressively trying to stop the process from occurring by growling, snarling, or trying to bite then an injectable sedative should be administered or the nail trim should be stopped.
Place the nail clipper over each nail. Hold your dog firmly but gently and reassure him, provide a treat or distraction. Start squeezing clippers near the toes to make a clipping sound but do not actually clip the nail. Place the clipper on your dog's nail, but near the end, far away from the quick, and clip the nail.
Dogs can recognize their owners by their voices alone by making use of some of the same voice properties as humans do, such as pitch and noisiness, a team of researchers found.
The general recommendation is to cut approx 2mm away from the quick. But if a dog has black or dark claws it can be difficult or impossible to see the quick and this will make nail trimming more difficult.
Many people may not think much of a dog's nails, but they are very important for the dog's overall health. Nails play a big role in how a dog walks, runs, and even affects its posture.