Cutting Puppies nails?

Question

When is the best time to cut my Border Collie puppies nails, he is 10 weeks old and his nails are already very long and very sharp.

THanks guys, luckily he has v clear nails, its just to stop him scratchin so much at the moment, he is getting told off about jumping just because he is hurting people with these huge talons of his! Also worried if we leave it til he starts road walking they wil be so long he will hurt himself. Have cut the nails on older dogs before but was not sure how ols he needed to be before we tried..

Answer 1

dear macrabird,

Now would be an opportune time. Cut just a little off at a time. this is necessary so the blood line can recess. Then about two later a little more. If you and your puppy are patient you can file them, do this after cutting anyway.

Answer 2

Hi,

Congratulations on your new puppy! You can cut the nails at any age, but with puppies, because the quick is so close to the surface, it will be easy to cut down too far and therefore result in a loss of lots of blood - which obviously will not be good for a young puppy of this age.

I would suggest that, if you haven't already done so, book for a free puppy health check at your Vets and mention the problem to the Vet. They will then clip them for you. Your Vets may also hold puppy clubs - as the Surgery that I work for do - and then the Nurse will be able to check the nails. Hope this answers your query. Good Luck!

Answer 3

If you are going to do this yourself you need to be very careful. If you look at the nail you will see a pink area inside it. This is the live part of the nail and contains blood vessels. If you cut this the nail will bleed quite a bit and will hurt the puppy. One way to trim the nails is to get special clippers from the pet shop and just trim off the very tip of the nail (especially important for black nails as you can't see the pink part). The best way and the safest way is to get a nail file from the pet shop and just file the nails down a bit. They won't need a lot of trimming/filing. Once your puppy starts to go for walks the pavements etc will do it naturally.

Answer 4

Puppies claws are very sharp, and until they've had their jabs you can't walk them on the pavement to wear them down!
Buy some proper dog nail clippers from any pet store. Wait till your pup is worn out and sleepy as someone else said, then just do a couple of nails every evening. Don't try to do them all at once.
Hold his leg firmly just above the paw. Dogs hate having their paws handled so expect him to object, but just be firm and do it anyway. Just snip off the very sharp tip on one claw, and if he doesn't make a fuss do another. It feels odd to them and they don;t like it.
The claw has a live nerve and blood vessels in it called the quick. This doesn't run down the whole length of the claw but with a black claw its harder to see how far it goes. You might be able to see it as a shadow on a white claw. You can hold his paw over a light bulb and you may be able to see the darker shadow of the quick extending out from the toe.
Reward him straight away with a quiet fuss and ear scratch. You can also start to clean his ears and inspect his teeth. He needs to get used to all of this and the best time to start is while they're this young; they just accept it as normal if you do it every day! Leave it til he's older and try to do it all at once and he'll make a big fuss.

Answer 5

If the nails are black in colour, you might be best seeking professional help first time around. If the nails are transparent and you can clearly see the "quick" ie the pink, living tissue, then you will be able to do it yourself providing the dog co-operates.
Be careful or you will hurt the pup big time and also risk infection.
Use clean sharp plier type nail cutters and cut to within 2mm of the quick. NEVER TRY THIS WITH SCISSORS!!!!!

Answer 6

If he has clear nails then it should be easy to cut his nails just make sure you dont cut where you can see the red part,or you can take him to the vet or natrulay let them get short by walking him that should help.

Answer 7

My advice is dont cut puppies nails unless you know how, the claws can bleed very easily and then ya might have BIG problems, ask a professional, 10 weeks is VERY young to be clipping claws

Answer 8

Walking on the pavement usually keeps their nails short, for the first nail cut take hin to the vets who will be glad to show you how to do it, and will give him a check up at the same time.

Answer 9

Little blood vessels go down the nails to a certain point. If you are not careful you could hurt the puppy. Take to a vet and they will do it for you.

Answer 10

Do it now and keep up with it... twice a month minimum. As a pup, try using the nail trimmers you use for your nails as they work much easier and don't take off as much. Their feet should be played with every chance you get without allowing them to bite at your hands or wiggle around. this will make trimming easier in the future.