The Importance of Dog Nail Clipping: Essential Care for Your Canine Companion

Regular nail clipping is a crucial aspect of maintaining your dog’s health and comfort. While it might seem like a minor grooming task, keeping your dog’s nails trimmed can prevent a range of health issues and enhance their overall well-being. In this blog post, we’ll explore why dog nail clipping is so important and provide tips for making the process easier for both you and your furry friend.

1. Prevents Pain and Discomfort

When a dog's nails grow too long, they can cause significant pain and discomfort. Long nails can curl under and dig into the paw pads, leading to painful injuries. Additionally, overgrown nails can affect the way a dog walks, causing discomfort and even leading to joint issues over time. Regular clipping ensures your dog can move comfortably without pain.

2. Reduces the Risk of Injury

Long nails are more prone to breaking, splitting, or tearing, which can be painful and may require veterinary attention. Broken nails can lead to bleeding and infections if not treated properly. Keeping your dog’s nails trimmed minimises the risk of such injuries..

3. Prevents Infections

Overgrown nails can harbour dirt, bacteria, and debris, increasing the risk of infections. Regular trimming helps keep your dog's nails clean and reduces the likelihood of bacterial infections that can occur in and around the nail bed.

4. Enhances Mobility

Dogs with long nails often experience difficulty walking, as the nails can alter their gait and balance. This can lead to discomfort and a reluctance to engage in physical activities. By keeping your dog’s nails at an appropriate length, you help them maintain proper mobility and enjoy an active lifestyle.

5. Protects Your Home and Belongings

Long nails can cause damage to floors, carpets, and furniture. Dogs with overgrown nails may also accidentally scratch people during play or affection. Regular nail trimming helps protect your home and ensures that interactions with your dog remain gentle and enjoyable.

Tips for Effective Dog Nail Clipping

To make nail clipping a positive experience for your dog, follow these tips:

• Use the Right Tools: Invest in a good quality dog nail clipper and keep it clean. Guillotine-style clippers or scissor-style clippers are popular choices.
• Start Slowly: If your dog is not used to nail clipping, start by getting them comfortable with the clippers and the process. Offer treats and praise to create positive associations.
• Be Careful with the Quick: The quick is the blood vessel inside the nail. Cutting into the quick can be painful and cause bleeding. Trim a small amount at a time and look for a pale pink oval at the tip of the nail to avoid cutting too short.
• Consider Professional Help: If you’re unsure or uncomfortable with clipping your dog’s nails, seek the help of a professional groomer or veterinarian.

Conclusion

Regular nail clipping is essential for your dog’s health, comfort, and overall well-being. By keeping their nails trimmed, you can prevent pain, reduce the risk of injury, and ensure they can move comfortably. With the right tools and a gentle approach, nail clipping can become a stress-free part of your dog’s grooming routine. We offer nail trimming at the grooming salon which is included in any service we offer or can be done as a stand-alone service, just drop us a message or give us a call to book in.

Taking care of your dog’s ears is an important aspect of grooming and will help keep them clear of knots and clean and free of infections and other health issues.

Many dogs are already prone to ear infections when they have dropped ears as this blocks the ear canal and doesn’t allow ventilation which can cause ear infections to form.

Ear problems like infections are also seen commonly in breeds such as poodles when they have thick hair in the ear canal, which can trap any debris, moisture and earwax inside the ear canal.

If you are wanting to keep your dogs free from infection, making sure they are regularly groomed, and ears cleaned is important part of this process.  This is something we offer included in a full groom or as a separate service if you need their ears cleaning or plucked regularly.

What are the common signs that your dog is suffering from a potential ear infection?

There are several signs that an ear problem is occurring in dogs, such as:

• A strange, often foul odour coming from the inner ear
• Consistent scratching and rubbing of the ear and head
• Discharge in the ear
• Pain or tenderness of the ear
• Redness or swelling around the ear canal
• Frequent shaking of the head

If you suspect your dog has any signs of an ear infection, then veterinary treatment should be sought.  They will be able to check the ear thoroughly and prescribe any treatment needed.

How to prevent ear infections in dogs?

There are 2 main things you can do to prevent ear infections in dogs these are regular cleaning and ear plucking. 

1. Ear cleaning

There are lots of different ear cleaners available on the market currently but have a couple of different specially designed ear cleaners that will wipe away any excess wax or dirt and also a cleaner that can go into the ear canal which can help remove deeper down wax or dirt. 

But whichever you choose to use its important that if you are cleaning your own dogs ears you must remember to never put anything like cotton buds down the ear canal as this can cause damage and pain to your dog. 

If the wax is very dark, almost like dried blood, this means the dog may have an infection called Canker Ear which will require veterinary attention.

Check your dog’s ears weekly for signs of infection and to clear away any wax or dirt. If you notice an infection or even suspect your dog might have an ear problem, take them straight to your veterinarian for checking out.

2. Ear Plucking

Plucking is something I would never recommend for someone to do who is trained to do it like a groomer or veterinary surgeon as it is a delicate procedure.  It should also never be done if the dog is showing signs or currently has an ear infection as this will cause the dog immense pain and may even make the ear infection worse. 

Ear plucking is where the hair that is coming from inside the ear canal itself and we use a special powder to help with ear plucking.  This is something if we feel may cause the dog distress or the dog isn’t happy with, we will refer you to your vet.

Both these services we offer here at Noahs Ark Dog Grooming either included in a full groom or as a separate service just give us a call or drop us a message for more information.

It goes without saying that booking regular visits to Noah’s Ark is the most effective way to keep your dog’s coat healthy, but whether you book an appointment every month or every 12 weeks, you can also help to maintain your pet’s fur when you are at home.

Many of our services will help to improve the condition of your pet’s hair and stimulate their skin to help regrowth.  We use a variety of shampoos that are all kind to dog’s skin and help to maintain the coat.  However, by brushing out your pet every couple of days you can help to maintain the coat and keep it tangle free.

We also sell a range of brushes that we can advise you on which is the best for use on your pet.

Benefits of dog grooming at home

Whether your dog has long or short hair or if you think your dog might not need it, dog grooming at home is essential for several reasons.

Remove those dead hairs

By brushing your dog in between grooming sessions it helps remove the dead hair which keeps the coat looking glossy. It also allows air to circulate more freely through to the skin which keeps the dogs cool in the hotter months. On top of this, by removing the hair yourself you’ll stop hair scattering around your house, so hopefully less vacuuming!

Get rid of those knots

When your dog’s play in the rain or wears a harness, it is inevitable that their coat will become knotted especially with certain coat types, by working through the fur with a slicker brush or comb regularly you will be able to detangle the knots before they become more of an issue. If you fail to remove the knots and neglect brushing the coat it will eventually become matted.

Matted coats

Matted coats can be very painful for your dog as the hair tightens and pulls on their skin. If it is a severe case the coat will become pelted and can only be removed by shaving off on a very short blade close to the skin. This can be a miserable experience for your dog as when removing the coat, it will be uncomfortable, not to mention leaving the dog with very little hair left.  This can be avoided with regular brushing and the use of detangle sprays.

Check for lumps and bumps

Its not just your pet’s vanity which is at stake when you brush them, it might help keep them healthy. By brushing your dog regularly you’ll get to know their skin and bodies, which will allow you to notice any uncharacteristic lumps, bumps, cuts or painful spots which may pre-empt a trip to the vets., hopefully spotting any signs of illness before they become to sinister.

Your premier dog groomers in Hull

By keeping your dog brushed and knot free, it will mean that their next appointment at Noah’s Ark will be enjoyable and you will be able to have a beautiful style.

Remember we also offer in-between grooms at a discounted price if you come within 4 weeks of your full groom appointment to help you maintain the coat.

We also can help show you how to maintain your dogs coat yourself between grooms just ask more for details to book in for this service.

Puppy Grooming

Choosing the right age to introduce your puppy to grooming is something that we get asked regularly at Noah’s Ark. Puppies should generally be introduced to professional grooming when they are about 10 to 12-weeks-old as long as they have had their first injections. Once they’re in the routine you’ll then want to bring them every four to eight weeks depending on their breed and grooming requirements.

In order to make your puppy’s first visit to our dog groomers as stress free as possible you’ll want to do a few things to prepare them for the experience. Here are some tips that will help them relax when they visit that you can practice at home:

• Ensure that your puppy is comfortable being held by gently touching all parts of his body especially around their feet, ears and face being touched as these are general areas that a puppy can have issues with grooming.
• You’ll want to make sure they’re comfortable being held by holding them yourself as much as possible.
• Introduce your puppy to a brush at a young age and show them there is nothing to be afraid of.
• Start slowly by gently brush them, building up the time spent brushing them each day. If they get stressed or over agitated stop brushing and always use plenty of tasty treats to praise them for allowing you to groom them.

We offer a puppy pamper package from £30 which is 3 separate sessions aimed to help them build a relationship with us and get used to all the equipment and noises in a professional salon before they require their first full groom.  If you puppy is particularly nervous of grooming, we would recommend you carry these on and are chargeable at £8.00 for any future sessions.  During these sessions we can also answer any questions you have with regards to grooming and maintaining your puppies coat.

What happens if my dog has never been groomed before?

If your dog is well into adulthood and you still haven’t introduced them to a grooming routine or taken them to a dog grooming salon then it’s never too late. Older dogs can still take to grooming at any age, but they may require a little more patience.

Our team at Noah’s Ark are experts at grooming dogs of all ages and temperaments. No matter how nervous your dog is, we aim to give them the best experience possible and hopefully leave them yearning for another visit.

We offer a free consultation where you can fetch your dog to us for us to discuss the grooming requirements and for us to meet your dog to see how they would be with the full grooming process.  If your dog is nervous of grooming or any equipment we can offer some short 15-minute sessions just the same as with puppies to get them used to all the equipment and noises, these are chargeable at £8.00 per session

BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT TODAY

Visit our contact us page or give us a call on 07842 833310 to book your appointment today.