How to properly groom your dogs nails

I don’t do nails like I should.  You’re supposed to do nails like a couple times a month, twice at least because the less you trim them, the longer the quik grows and harder to get them back down and short. It’s also uncomfortable for the dog to not trim them often or trim them too short when they’re done.
             
There are two ways to do nails for dogs.  You can clip them, or dremel them.               

Clipping is basically done with a pair of doggy nail clippers and done just like human nail clipping.  This method allows you to cut really close to the quik even though there’s a higher chance of the dog bleeding.  This is the cheaper of the two methods of nail-cutting.  The down side to this one is that you’re more likely to cut the quick.

My preferred way is dremeling because it’s softer on the nails because you can gradually shave them down instead of making a hasty cut.  It also makes the nails smoother and since you slowly shave it down, there’s no chance of accidentally cutting the quik and making a dog bleed.  There are bad things about dremeling too because the nail can get too hot as you’re shaving. So you have to take breaks after about five seconds.

Nails should be done every 2-3 weeks to prevent the nail from growing too long and irritating the dog as he walks and preventing the quik from growing too far out as well.  You must be careful with dark nails since the quik isn’t readily visible (the quik is that red part of a clear-nailed dog’s nails) and it’s best to clip a little off the ends and go up from there.  With light nails, you can judge it and skip all of that.

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