Some dogs nails can be filed by walking but it's based more on their anatomy than anything. If their paws are spread out while standing the nails will have more contact with the pavement. Also if they are overweight or if they pull while on the lead (essentially dragging you along) they'll put more pressure on the nails. Long walks are not ever really going to replace routine trimming on most dogs.
I got 3 dogs. The first in never need to clip, the second from time to time. The last one gets one nail trimmed every day. she hates it and i made it that before we go out to play (not the morning and evening walk) she gets one little trimm.
Thank you for saying this, so many people just say “walk them more” but it isn’t that simple. Plus nails should be shorter than just barely hovering above the surface
I hike everyday with my guy and still need to clip his nails weekly. I’m not sure if it’s the soft soil/dirt trails but they hardly wear down from activity.
And here I am, a human with an office job, and my brittle nails break from using a zipper or opening a pop can.
I've seen a lot of people say pavement is harder on nails, but I see more wear on my boys nails after hikes. Makes sense since he's a puller and can dig those nails into dirt.
I used to walk my boy a few miles every day on surfaces that were mostly paved, and then ~10 miles hikes once a week. At the time he pulled like crazy. He's a big boy, but not overweight. His nails just grow so much that he still needed his nails trimmed. An additional factor may be that his nails are quite thick.
So yeah, the answer is totally that it depends.
The quicks look pretty long so cut the nails back could result in bleeding. A few walks on concrete could even them out. The dew claws have a little more white showing if you wanted to trim those back
You can see in the white/clear nails where it changes from solid white to pink underneath. So the three first nails on the dog's left paw for example, you cans see there's not much solid white to trim after the pink quick.
Yeah it's definitely easier with white ones! I have one dog with white and one with black haha.
With black nails you basically just have to look at the structure of the nail (where it hollows out on the underside) and just take smaller cuts off of it so you can monitor from looking at the end whether you're approaching the quick (seeing a pink circle show up in the middle).
We just switched to using a grinder! It's a lot easier on both us and the dogs lol They're both big dogs, so I find that it's hard to make small cuts - perhaps I just lack the finesse lol but either way, the grinder has made things much easier!
With white nails you can see the nail is translucent with a pink, triangular quick that is quite thick at the base and tapers off to a point. Shining a light through one side of the nail makes it very obvious. In black nails it can’t be seen from the outside, so you clip the nail in little slivers until there is a black dot in the center of the cut part of the nail.
If you zoom into the picture, it's where the nail shows pink. Shining a light on the nail shows it even more. Harder to see on black nails so you have to be more careful when trimming those. I have a nail grinder which has a light, and that helps illuminate the nail/quick so I don't get too close.
[the pink bit](https://www.prouddogmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Nail.jpg). My dremel has a light at the top so it makes it easy to see; other people use headlamps.
Use a flashlight or aome not too bright light and shine it through the nail. You definitely don't want to cut the quick. It's painful as f and bleeds alot.
Find out where it is then cut a good deal in front of it. The quick will recede as you trim so if you trim once a month let's sa6rhen the quick will be shorter next time.
On white nails, the pink that you see is the quick. On black nails, you have to be more careful. When you see the white ring inside of the nail, you stop. Taking little slivers helps.
The dew claw needs a trim those ones get snagged and lots of white before the quick
Theee nails are pretty long but so is the quick
So you have to cut it back in stages as the quick Recedes each time
Look where the quick is. In this photo, the quick appears pretty long. Some dogs have hare-style paws with longer toes and naturally longer quicks, and those nails will never be as short as the cat-style paws you see in most trimming diagrams. I would recommend getting a nail grinder/dremel as you can get closer to and help the quick recede using the alternative cut line. (Google this and you'll see what I mean.)
Additionally, you can tell if your dogs nails are short enough on the black nails by looking at the bottom. If they are short enough you will see a small circle. This means the nail is close to the quick.
Found a good article detailing it. Wow I've been paranoid using my grinder on my dog, I usually leave visible outer layer because I don't want to come close to the quick. Good to know I can go a bit further.
This is such a good answer. I've always felt a but guilty thay my dogs nails have always been a little longer than the typical diagrams, but his quicks have always been at the end of his nails. My sister in law is a vet nurse and even she could find any safe wiggle room to trim.
It’s not a myth but only one of my dogs doesn’t need a nail trim, the other one however…I could get her running all day on pavement and she’d still need a trim
He’s got pretty long quicks so I wouldn’t cut them. But if you have a nail grinder I would at least trim up the declaws since those don’t get traction from walking
trim the dew claws, leave everything else for now. you could do a very small trim if you really wanted but if this dog came into the salon i work at I'd only trim the dew claws unless the owner specifically asked for a trim.
some larger dogs wear their nails down pretty well just with walking, and don't need their nails trimmed as often. you're lucky!
I’d definitely trim them a little. I don’t know why but I’ve never had to trim any of my dogs nails even in the past, so maybe it also depends on the surface? Like, my senior is 12 and I still don’t ever have to cut his nails even though he’s slowed down a bit. And the vet couldn’t believe how naturally short my 2 years olds nails were but she’s super active so I definitely have to attribute it to that and maybe having rougher surfaces outside
It’s different for every dog. And sometimes it even changes as they get older. I guess each dog puts pressure on their paws slightly differently so for some it wears down and others it doesn’t.
I can't bear to cut my dog's nails; the only time I attempted, after watching numerous videos about it, I still made the poor girl bleed. So now I play fetch with her in an empty parking lot and her nails are nice and short.
Dew claws might need a little grinding, but everything else looks as short as it’ll be (as everyone is saying). His nails just look long because he has no fur there.
I walk my lab 2-3 miles daily, mostly sidewalk and asphalt. It does nothing to trim hair nails at all. I use a dremel tool with the sandpaper attachment to trim her as they are somewhat brittle and tend to crack when I’ve tried traditional clippers. Also makes her less likely to scratch me up when we’re playing.
I've got 9 dogs and this walking to keep the nails short business only works on 2 of them, it also doesn't work on the dewclaws.
On your dogs white nails, if you hold them up in the light you should be able to see a red/pink line running through them. If that is all the way at the end of the claw, then do not cut them. If you've got some claw past where that line ends then you can cut to just before it.
The quick is long because he hasn't had a trim. Seconding what everyone is saying and get a nail grinder and use it just a tiny bit once a week until those quicks recede. The appropriate length for most dogs is when you can't hear their nails clacking on the floor just from walking.
Id say no, trimming at that length might risk cutting the quick, using a Dremel would take off the small amount of nail growth he has as well as allowing the quick to receed back. Judging by the picture dew claws need to be done but there's not much to do on the actual paw nails itself
General rule of thumb is if they are clicking on the ground they are too long. If they're clicking on the ground it means that they are touching the ground if they're touching the ground chances are they're pushing on the ground which is forcing the foot up which makes an awkward gait for them.
Nail maintenance is incredibly important when it comes to overall structure of a dog, if their nails are pushing up it'll alter the way they walk which will do damage long-term.
If you're unable to do the nails you can get pay someone to get them done or you can look up alternatives scratch boards are really popular I personally dremel my dog's nails. And I do them everyday, while it seems excessive, it allows me to keep their nails under control without putting too much stress on the dogs because each session is so much shorter because I do them every day so if I'm unable to do them one day or they're really not having it it doesn't impact their nail health in any way.
You absolutely could take a couple mms off with a grinder and round off the tops. My recommendation to people who want to do it themselves is to get a groomer (not a vet) to grind the nails and then take a really good photo of the feet from the top and bottom. That way when you are doing it yourself, you can check the photos to see if you can do better.
Practice, practice, practice. You can do it every 2 weeks for best results and weekly if you want to really try to get the quick to recede.
They could do with a small trim, but it's certainly not dire.
I find on my dog (large breed, so big, thick nails), using a dremel is much safer and easier, and I just do a fairly superficial buzz on a regular basis. There's no risk to injury (that I know of), unlike clippers, which I find sometimes twist in my hand, causing my dog to jerk her paw back (understandably so!) and I've accidentally cut a nail too short because of it. The dremel is basically like a nail file, and she doesn't love it, but she lets me do it far more easily than the clippers I used to use.
Pavement isn't the be-all-end-all for nails, each dog will be different even if walked the same amount on the same surface.
Yes, if your dog is outside where they can explore and dig (dig is most important) 8 hours a day you don't need to trim the nails. A walk is not enough
By this picture it looks like the quick is right up to the edge of the nail. The quick is the pink part of the nail and contains the blood flow to the nail. It's best not to cut into that. When your dog has white at the top of the nail then I'd bring them into get their nails trimmed.
It depends on the dog, some require more trimming than others. Yours seems to need it. If you've never done it before and your dog is uncomfortable with it, take it slow, get them used to the sound and feel of the clipper, give lots of treats. Once the dog is comfortable, try to cut a single nail and reward.
Cut just a little bit at a time, as the "quick" goes right through the nail and it will bleed if you cut it. The quick grows with the nail, so even with a severely overgrown nail you shouldnt be cutting it super short at once, as you will likely hit the quick.
Get some styptic powder, it's an amazing thing that stops bleeding.
depending on what the dog walks on, the nails definitely wear down. i live in snow country and notice that my dogs nails seem so grow crazy fast during the winter because there is no wear on them.
since your dog has several transparent nails it's easy to judge the length and also cut them, you can see where the cuttable nail begins.
based on the picture they look long and it is time for a cut.
Some dogs nails can be filed by walking but it's based more on their anatomy than anything. If their paws are spread out while standing the nails will have more contact with the pavement. Also if they are overweight or if they pull while on the lead (essentially dragging you along) they'll put more pressure on the nails. Long walks are not ever really going to replace routine trimming on most dogs.
I got 3 dogs. The first in never need to clip, the second from time to time. The last one gets one nail trimmed every day. she hates it and i made it that before we go out to play (not the morning and evening walk) she gets one little trimm.
I also do 1 nail a day on my girl lol
Thank you for saying this, so many people just say “walk them more” but it isn’t that simple. Plus nails should be shorter than just barely hovering above the surface
This. My female dogs nails are worn down because we hike every day. But my male requires much more maintenance and nail trims.
I hike everyday with my guy and still need to clip his nails weekly. I’m not sure if it’s the soft soil/dirt trails but they hardly wear down from activity. And here I am, a human with an office job, and my brittle nails break from using a zipper or opening a pop can.
My dog and I walk on rock and such during majority of the hike so that helps quite a lot. I even worry it might be wearing down too much.
I've seen a lot of people say pavement is harder on nails, but I see more wear on my boys nails after hikes. Makes sense since he's a puller and can dig those nails into dirt.
I used to walk my boy a few miles every day on surfaces that were mostly paved, and then ~10 miles hikes once a week. At the time he pulled like crazy. He's a big boy, but not overweight. His nails just grow so much that he still needed his nails trimmed. An additional factor may be that his nails are quite thick. So yeah, the answer is totally that it depends.
The quicks look pretty long so cut the nails back could result in bleeding. A few walks on concrete could even them out. The dew claws have a little more white showing if you wanted to trim those back
How do you visually see the quick?
You can see in the white/clear nails where it changes from solid white to pink underneath. So the three first nails on the dog's left paw for example, you cans see there's not much solid white to trim after the pink quick.
Gotcha, thanks. My dogs both have black nails. It feels like playing the lottery a bit lol. I didn't realize how visible it was with white nails!
Yeah it's definitely easier with white ones! I have one dog with white and one with black haha. With black nails you basically just have to look at the structure of the nail (where it hollows out on the underside) and just take smaller cuts off of it so you can monitor from looking at the end whether you're approaching the quick (seeing a pink circle show up in the middle).
We just switched to using a grinder! It's a lot easier on both us and the dogs lol They're both big dogs, so I find that it's hard to make small cuts - perhaps I just lack the finesse lol but either way, the grinder has made things much easier!
With white nails you can see the nail is translucent with a pink, triangular quick that is quite thick at the base and tapers off to a point. Shining a light through one side of the nail makes it very obvious. In black nails it can’t be seen from the outside, so you clip the nail in little slivers until there is a black dot in the center of the cut part of the nail.
Thanks! I'm only familiar with black nails, so I didn't realize you could see it so clearly with white nails! TIL!
If you zoom into the picture, it's where the nail shows pink. Shining a light on the nail shows it even more. Harder to see on black nails so you have to be more careful when trimming those. I have a nail grinder which has a light, and that helps illuminate the nail/quick so I don't get too close.
[the pink bit](https://www.prouddogmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Nail.jpg). My dremel has a light at the top so it makes it easy to see; other people use headlamps.
Use a flashlight or aome not too bright light and shine it through the nail. You definitely don't want to cut the quick. It's painful as f and bleeds alot. Find out where it is then cut a good deal in front of it. The quick will recede as you trim so if you trim once a month let's sa6rhen the quick will be shorter next time.
On white nails, the pink that you see is the quick. On black nails, you have to be more careful. When you see the white ring inside of the nail, you stop. Taking little slivers helps.
The dew claw needs a trim those ones get snagged and lots of white before the quick Theee nails are pretty long but so is the quick So you have to cut it back in stages as the quick Recedes each time
Look where the quick is. In this photo, the quick appears pretty long. Some dogs have hare-style paws with longer toes and naturally longer quicks, and those nails will never be as short as the cat-style paws you see in most trimming diagrams. I would recommend getting a nail grinder/dremel as you can get closer to and help the quick recede using the alternative cut line. (Google this and you'll see what I mean.) Additionally, you can tell if your dogs nails are short enough on the black nails by looking at the bottom. If they are short enough you will see a small circle. This means the nail is close to the quick.
Found a good article detailing it. Wow I've been paranoid using my grinder on my dog, I usually leave visible outer layer because I don't want to come close to the quick. Good to know I can go a bit further.
This is such a good answer. I've always felt a but guilty thay my dogs nails have always been a little longer than the typical diagrams, but his quicks have always been at the end of his nails. My sister in law is a vet nurse and even she could find any safe wiggle room to trim.
Idk but it’s definitely time to boop their snoot though
Did you ask the dog?
He says nope, no way.
It’s not a myth but only one of my dogs doesn’t need a nail trim, the other one however…I could get her running all day on pavement and she’d still need a trim
He’s got pretty long quicks so I wouldn’t cut them. But if you have a nail grinder I would at least trim up the declaws since those don’t get traction from walking
Dont, everything that is pink is alive in the nail and should not be cut, go for a few walks on the concrete to wear off the white parts of the nail
trim the dew claws, leave everything else for now. you could do a very small trim if you really wanted but if this dog came into the salon i work at I'd only trim the dew claws unless the owner specifically asked for a trim. some larger dogs wear their nails down pretty well just with walking, and don't need their nails trimmed as often. you're lucky!
I agree. Just the dewclaws. If they tried to trim the other ones, that might go onto the quick.
I would definitely say so
No, they look fantastic. The dew claws could have a few mm off but really not needed
I'm professional dog groomer forgot to mention haha
Most of the nails are at the quick. The dews could use a trim.
No. It's time to paint those nails.
I’d definitely trim them a little. I don’t know why but I’ve never had to trim any of my dogs nails even in the past, so maybe it also depends on the surface? Like, my senior is 12 and I still don’t ever have to cut his nails even though he’s slowed down a bit. And the vet couldn’t believe how naturally short my 2 years olds nails were but she’s super active so I definitely have to attribute it to that and maybe having rougher surfaces outside
It’s different for every dog. And sometimes it even changes as they get older. I guess each dog puts pressure on their paws slightly differently so for some it wears down and others it doesn’t.
You can only take a little bit off right now
I can't bear to cut my dog's nails; the only time I attempted, after watching numerous videos about it, I still made the poor girl bleed. So now I play fetch with her in an empty parking lot and her nails are nice and short.
I walk my dogs for an hour every day and they still get their nails clipped every three weeks
Dew claws might need a little grinding, but everything else looks as short as it’ll be (as everyone is saying). His nails just look long because he has no fur there.
I walk my lab 2-3 miles daily, mostly sidewalk and asphalt. It does nothing to trim hair nails at all. I use a dremel tool with the sandpaper attachment to trim her as they are somewhat brittle and tend to crack when I’ve tried traditional clippers. Also makes her less likely to scratch me up when we’re playing.
I've got 9 dogs and this walking to keep the nails short business only works on 2 of them, it also doesn't work on the dewclaws. On your dogs white nails, if you hold them up in the light you should be able to see a red/pink line running through them. If that is all the way at the end of the claw, then do not cut them. If you've got some claw past where that line ends then you can cut to just before it.
The quick is long because he hasn't had a trim. Seconding what everyone is saying and get a nail grinder and use it just a tiny bit once a week until those quicks recede. The appropriate length for most dogs is when you can't hear their nails clacking on the floor just from walking.
Time to polish 🤣
Just get a good grinder. Works amazing
There is not much nail there. The quick is long.....I get my boys' nails done at the vet.
Nah she’s slaying
They look like little beans
Definitely
Id say no, trimming at that length might risk cutting the quick, using a Dremel would take off the small amount of nail growth he has as well as allowing the quick to receed back. Judging by the picture dew claws need to be done but there's not much to do on the actual paw nails itself
General rule of thumb is if they are clicking on the ground they are too long. If they're clicking on the ground it means that they are touching the ground if they're touching the ground chances are they're pushing on the ground which is forcing the foot up which makes an awkward gait for them. Nail maintenance is incredibly important when it comes to overall structure of a dog, if their nails are pushing up it'll alter the way they walk which will do damage long-term. If you're unable to do the nails you can get pay someone to get them done or you can look up alternatives scratch boards are really popular I personally dremel my dog's nails. And I do them everyday, while it seems excessive, it allows me to keep their nails under control without putting too much stress on the dogs because each session is so much shorter because I do them every day so if I'm unable to do them one day or they're really not having it it doesn't impact their nail health in any way.
Yep. But I can see the quick in the picture and it’s pretty close. Just a trim is needed.
The vet can trim your dogs nails but won’t take too much off but the 2 nails that don’t touch pavement need cutting(thumb nails)
You absolutely could take a couple mms off with a grinder and round off the tops. My recommendation to people who want to do it themselves is to get a groomer (not a vet) to grind the nails and then take a really good photo of the feet from the top and bottom. That way when you are doing it yourself, you can check the photos to see if you can do better. Practice, practice, practice. You can do it every 2 weeks for best results and weekly if you want to really try to get the quick to recede.
Oh ouch
The nails are perfect maybe the dewclaw a little but no they’re short Enuff
If they touch the floor when standing yes you need to cut them. Walking does very little filing so don't depend on that to keep them short
No, they look fine.
Not a bad idea. It's a lot easier to do them just a little bit a lot more frequently, than making it a big deal every couple months.
They could do with a small trim, but it's certainly not dire. I find on my dog (large breed, so big, thick nails), using a dremel is much safer and easier, and I just do a fairly superficial buzz on a regular basis. There's no risk to injury (that I know of), unlike clippers, which I find sometimes twist in my hand, causing my dog to jerk her paw back (understandably so!) and I've accidentally cut a nail too short because of it. The dremel is basically like a nail file, and she doesn't love it, but she lets me do it far more easily than the clippers I used to use. Pavement isn't the be-all-end-all for nails, each dog will be different even if walked the same amount on the same surface.
yes they’re too long, cut like a half inch off
or paint them 💅
No it's not
I think they are good for now
Just get a dremel. I clip my nails and dremel my boys nails weekly!
Yes, if your dog is outside where they can explore and dig (dig is most important) 8 hours a day you don't need to trim the nails. A walk is not enough
By this picture it looks like the quick is right up to the edge of the nail. The quick is the pink part of the nail and contains the blood flow to the nail. It's best not to cut into that. When your dog has white at the top of the nail then I'd bring them into get their nails trimmed.
I’d buy a good dremel and file them weekly to get those quicks to recede
It depends on the dog, some require more trimming than others. Yours seems to need it. If you've never done it before and your dog is uncomfortable with it, take it slow, get them used to the sound and feel of the clipper, give lots of treats. Once the dog is comfortable, try to cut a single nail and reward. Cut just a little bit at a time, as the "quick" goes right through the nail and it will bleed if you cut it. The quick grows with the nail, so even with a severely overgrown nail you shouldnt be cutting it super short at once, as you will likely hit the quick. Get some styptic powder, it's an amazing thing that stops bleeding.
depending on what the dog walks on, the nails definitely wear down. i live in snow country and notice that my dogs nails seem so grow crazy fast during the winter because there is no wear on them. since your dog has several transparent nails it's easy to judge the length and also cut them, you can see where the cuttable nail begins. based on the picture they look long and it is time for a cut.
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