Long nails can be very painful for a dog and annoying too. No dog likes when his nails get snagged on Granny’s quilt or hung up on the pile of your carpet. It’s time to trim them and here are some ways to help you and Fido!

Types of Nail-Cutting Tools
Get the best results with a cutting tool designed for canine use. These dog nail trimmers come in two styles. The scissor style opens from a central pivot and has a blade on each side of the trimmer. The other type of nail trimmer is called a guillotine style. The dog nail is inserted into a stationary hole at the top of the trimmer, and when the handles are squeezed, a blade slides up to cut the nail. A third option is to use a small hand tool with a rotating sanding attachment to file your dog's nails.

Reasons to Cut
Trimming your dog's nails reduces the amount of nail extending beyond the toes, thus reducing the amount of snagging and scratching — on you or other surfaces — your dog can do. Trimmed nails benefit dogs because they walk on their toes rather than the soles of their feet. Overgrown nails cause discomfort by forcing the dog to shift its weight backwards, putting stress on ligaments, tendons and bones. Long-term misalignment of your dog's posture can lead to damage to the skeleton, joints and connective tissue.

There are other issues to address when it comes to trimming nails, including dew claws and potential nasty infections. Go to EHOW to read up on these matters.

Again, the coward’s way out is taking your pup to the vet and we lift our hand willingly and say, “Yes, we are a coward.” If our dog did not cry so much when we try to do it ourselves it may not be an issue but he is very vocal about his dislike – poor baby!

However, it is nice to know there are great tools out there for those of you DIYers who can take your dog’s paws and snip away at those hard nails. We salute you – two paws up!