How to Trim Your Chihuahua’s Nails

Does your Chihuahua need its nails trimmed? The majority of small dogs, including Chihuahuas, dislike having their nails clipped. When they see the dreaded nail clippers, many will flee and hide in their bed or box. It’s challenging enough to play hide-and-seek with your Chihuahua, let alone trimming his nails. During this grooming exercise, some Chihuahuas will pull away. Your Chihuahua could automatically draw his paw back against his body while you trim one of his nails. How to Trim Your Chihuahua’s Nails? is what will be discussed in this section.

For owners, cutting their chihuahua’s nails can be just as terrifying. You might worry that you’ll touch the quick. A Chihuahua’s nails bleed when the quick is cut, just like ours do. However, if you take the proper method, you may safely clip your Chihuahua’s nails without injuring them or going through too much pain.

Why It’s Important to Clip Your Chihuahua’s Nails

An essential component of every Chihuahua’s grooming regimen should be nail cutting. Your Chihuahua may have abnormally long nails, which could cause aberrant walking or even malformations in the growth of his toes. His toes will be under more pressure due to his long nails. The weight of your Chihuahua will not be equally distributed across his paws. His body weight will be concentrated on his toes if his nails are long, which could lead to orthopedic problems.

Properly clipped nails are less prone to break than long nails. Generally speaking, they are weaker and thinner, especially near the tip. The long nails of your Chihuahua may splinter open from even mild trauma, leaving deep, potentially infected wounds.

There is a theory that canine arthritis is exacerbated by long nails. A Chihuahua with long, disheveled nails may force the nail back into the joint as it sprints and walks on hard surfaces. Arthritis may develop over time as a result of the joints’ ongoing strain and tension.

Extended neglect of lengthy nails might result in ingrown nails. The nails of your Chihuahua will not grow straight out of his pads. Instead, when they enlarge, they will curl. If a nail curls entirely inside while touching the paw pads, it’s deemed ingrown. They might eventually grow into the paw pads, which would be extremely painful for your Chihuahua and raise the possibility of infection. Regular nail trims can help you easily avoid any of these issues with your Chihuahua.

When to Cut the Nails on Your Chihuahua

Exactly how often should you cut the nails on your Chihuahua? Most veterinarians and expert groomers advise dog owners to trim their pet’s nails at least once every three to four weeks. Naturally, some Chihuahuas will need their nails trimmed more frequently than others.

The following are indications that it’s time to clip your Chihuahua’s overly long nails:

• When your Chihuahua walks on hard surfaces like hardwood, laminate, or tile flooring, you hear a “clicking” or “clacking” sound.
• The nails on your Chihuahua are starting to turn inward toward his paw pads.
• Your Chihuahua walks with a limp or tiptoes.
• Your Chihuahua is always tripping over nails entangled in carpets, blankets, or upholstery.
• The last time your Chihuahua’s nails were clipped was more than a month ago.

Which of the Three Types of Canine Nail Clippers Should You Pick?

Never try to cut your Chihuahua’s nails with ordinary “human” nail clippers. Dogs’ nails are not the same as ours. Dog nails are thicker and more cone-shaped than human nails, which are thin and flat.

Regular nail cutters will cause your Chihuahua pain and discomfort by compressing his nails. Furthermore, the standard nail clippers will only be able to fit your Chihuahua’s very tips into them. When you notice that your Chihuahua’s nails are long, put your usual nail clippers in the bathroom drawer and pick one of the three canine nail clippers listed below.

1. Nail Grinders

In reality, nail grinders are not clippers. They are grinding devices, as the name implies. The majority of nail grinders run on batteries. While some of them utilize rechargeable batteries, others use disposable ones. Whatever the case, all nail grinders are rotary electric equipment including a grinding head.

A piece of sandpaper or an abrasive disc makes up the grinding head. The nail grinder’s grinding head will start to rotate as soon as you switch it on. The Chihuahua’s nail can then be pressed into the grinding disc. The nail will be ground down by the grinding disk without being sliced.

2. Scissor-Style Clippers

Similar to a pair of scissors, scissor-style clippers function. Often called Millers Forge clippers, these have two blades that fold inward when the handle is lifted. They may adapt to your Chihuahua’s nails’ organic curve thanks to their crescent shape.

An optional hinge-attached guard is also included with the majority of scissor-style clippers. It is made up of a flat metal plate and is intended to stop dog owners from inadvertently trimming their nails too short. To restrict the length of the trim, fold the guard over the end of the cutting blades.

3. Guillotine-Style Clippers

Among Chihuahua owners, guillotine-style clippers are a popular choice. They were invented in 1937 by the pet products company Resco and had a crescent-shaped blade and a fixed ring. Squeezing the handle causes the crescent-shaped blade to move outward, pressing your Chihuahua’s nail up against the cutting ring’s stationary surface.

Simple and easy to use are clippers in the style of a guérillo. Compared to scissor-style nail clippers, the majority of them produce more exact cuts and require less energy to squeeze. Having said that, since guillotine-style clippers lack a guard, you must exercise caution to prevent making too deep cuts.

How to Use Clippers to Trim Your Chihuahua’s Nails

• Locate a spot where you can get to your Chihuahua’s nails with ease. While some owners utilize a table, a couch or recliner will do just fine.
• Hold your Chihuahua gently in your non-dominant hand and give it comfort.
• Slide your Chihuahua’s nail between the blades with your non-dominant hand while using your dominant hand to grasp the clippers. Position the Guillotine-style clippers under the nail, with the stationary ring closest to your Chihuahua’s body and the cutting blade closest to your body.
• Note the beginning of the quick. To stop bleeding, cut no closer than 2 millimeters around this spot. The quick is where the nail darkens if your Chihuahua has mostly white nails. Look for a white ring around the quick if his nails are black. Another piece of advice is to prevent hitting the quick by progressively trimming dark nails, ideally with a grinder.
• To achieve a neat cut, gently squeeze the handle while holding the blade at a 45-degree angle to the nail. Whether your Chihuahua is a good or bad nail trimmer, you could wish to divert his attention with a treat, lots of praise, or caressing. It is not advisable to physically restrain your Chihuahua since this will simply make future nail-trimming sessions more challenging by inducing tension and fear.
• Continue in this manner until all of your Chihuahua’s nails—including the dewclaws located on the side of each paw pad—have been cut.

How to Use Grinders to Trim Your Chihuahua’s Nails

• As with using clippers, choose a spot where you and your Chihuahua can both feel comfortable. Using your non-dominant hand, hold your Chihuahua, and use your dominant hand to grip the grinders.
• After turning on the grinder, carefully put your Chihuahua’s nail tip into the 45-degree grinding head. Choose the slowest speed setting at first if the grinder has different speed options.
• After moving the grinder just past the nail’s top, you should reverse course and move the grinder back down.
• Once the nail is cut to the proper length, keep going up and down like this.

Chihuahua Nail Trimming Tips

• Purchase some excellent canine nail clippers; never use human nail clippers.
• If possible, begin clipping your Chihuahua’s nails while he is still a puppy. Your Chihuahua will become accustomed to having his nails trimmed early on, even if it isn’t strictly necessary.
• Before using scissor- or guillotine-style clippers on your Chihuahua, ensure sure the blade is clean and sharp. Purchase a new pair of clippers or replace the dull blade.
• Try to develop the practice of changing the grinding head regularly when using a grinder. Even while grinders don’t have blades, their grinding heads will eventually dull.
• Recognize the body language of your Chihuahua. He might try to back off, which could result in you cutting into the quick. You should not cut your Chihuahua’s nails until he is at ease and content.
• To remove extra fur from your Chihuahua’s paws, use a pair of blunt-tip scissors. The clippers may catch long stray fur pieces.

What To Do When You Cut Into The Quick

Try not to freak out if you unintentionally clipped your Chihuahua’s nails too short and they started to bleed. Using a styptic powder solution like as Kwik Stop will stop the bleeding and speed up the healing process, even though cutting into the quick may cause pain and agony.

Styptic powder, which is categorized as an antihemorrhagic substance, causes the blood vessels to constrict to halt bleeding. The interior of the nail is called the quick. It bleeds when sliced into because it includes blood vessels and nerve endings, unlike the outside layer. The purpose of styptic powder is to promote coagulation, which will stop the quick from bleeding.

Apply a small amount of the powder directly to the damaged nail on your Chihuahua by placing it on a cotton ball or gauze pad. For a minimum of ten seconds, hold the gauze pad or cotton ball in place. This should halt the bleeding, if the incision isn’t too deep. But if the bleeding doesn’t stop within five minutes, take your Chihuahua to the vet right away.

After clipping your Chihuahua’s nails, should I file them?

After clipping your Chihuahua’s nails, you might want to file them. It will round off any sharp or uneven edges, reducing the possibility of snagging. Your Chihuahua will be able to play with plush toys and hide under blankets without tripping over his neatly clipped nails.

You may want to think about filing your Chihuahua’s nails if you find it difficult to trim them without going through the quick. It will incite the hasty to back off. Frequent filing will shorten the quick, making it simpler to avoid in subsequent nail-trimming operations.

Naturally, filing is only advantageous if you use clippers to cut your Chihuahua’s nails. Similar to a regular nail file, the grinder will smooth down the tips of your Chihuahua’s nails.

It might be best to use a grinder made only for filing. You can use scissor-style or guillotine-style nail clippers to trim your Chihuahua’s nails, and then use a grinder to file them. As an alternative, you can smooth down your Chihuahua’s nails after clipping them with a regular nail file.

Professional Nail Trimming

If you are uneasy about clipping your Chihuahua’s nails, you might want to consider hiring a nail salon. For roughly $10 to $20, most groomers and veterinary facilities provide nail-clipping services. Professionals in both veterinary medicine and grooming may handle this very easy procedure.

Some veterinary clinics may include nail cutting sometimes in the annual exam. A veterinary tech may cut your Chihuahua’s nails for free when you bring him in for an annual examination.

However, groomers can also offer additional grooming services, such as: Taking a bath, Cleaning your chihuahua’s ears, and cleansing the eyes.

If your Chihuahua becomes nervous and stressed out when getting his nails trimmed, you might want to take him to a groomer instead of a vet. Your Chihuahua will start to equate going to the vet with stress if you take him to one. Veterinarian appointments are already stressful enough for our beloved friends with all the pushing and prodding; your Chihuahua doesn’t need to endure the added stress of having his nails clipped at the clinic.

You will usually need to provide proof of rabies vaccination when taking your Chihuahua to a veterinarian or groomer. The majority of states formally mandate that dogs above a specific age have a rabies vaccination. You might not be able to get your Chihuahua’s nails clipped if he hasn’t had his rabies vaccination or if you haven’t given him his booster injections.

 

Here is a video on how to trim Your Dog’s Nails at Home 🐶 STEP BY STEP WITH TIPS