Are my dogs nails too long?

Feet - If you can hear a clicking sound when your dog is walking on a solid floor then the nails are too long. Nails should be shortened regularly to achieve a tight compact foot. Nothing looks worse ...

Feet - If you can hear a clicking sound when your dog is walking on a solid floor then the nails are too long. Nails should be shortened regularly to achieve a tight compact foot. Nothing looks worse than a Miniature Pinscher whose nails have been neglected. Dogs with neglected feet will have thin ugly feet with outspread toes. There is also the risk of in-grown nails, which can become infected and cause the dog-unnecessary pain.

If your dog doesn抰 mind having its feet touch then nail trimming can be an easy task, however if your dog hates its feet being touch then sedation or restraints may be required. If you own such a dog then it抯 easier to gain the dogs trust and desensitise its feet.

Desensitising feet - This is best done whilst the dog is asleep. Begin by resting your hand on the dogs paw. If the dog wakes up, just remove your hand without even looking at the dog. After repeating this process several times you will eventually be able to rest your hand on the dogs paws without disturbing the dogs sleep. This can take anything from a couple attempts to several weeks.

Once you are able to rest your hand on your dogs feet you can start to gently move their toes apart, once you can do this without disturbing the dogs sleep you can move onto the next step which is touching their toenails and lightly tapping against the ends of the nails. With a lot of patience you抣l achieve the desire results and then trimming nails will no longer be stressful for you or your dog.

Miniature Pinschers that exercise on a hard surface regularly wear their nails down naturally, and may not require trimming as often if at all.

Please Note:

This article is provided as a source of information only. It is not intended as a substitute for veterinarian advice or care.

British Miniature Pinscher web site