Labrador is a good-natured, cheerful and sociable dog.
One can only envy her cheerfulness!
This breed is perfect for young couples because... The dog's activity allows you to take it with you to the beach, hiking and long walks.
Labradors also get along well with children.
Caring for a Labrador is quite simple: cleaning the ears, trimming the nails and combing the coat. If everything is clear with the fur and ears (this needs to be done regularly), then with the claws things are more complicated.
Many inexperienced breeders wonder: is it worth trimming a dog’s nails at all? How often should this be done? And what is the right way?
What can Labradors get sick with?
What diseases do Labradors get?
- Allergy. This is the body's response to an external stimulus. ...
- Pododermatitis. This is an inflammatory disease that affects the paw pads and the skin between the toes. ...
- Granuloma. ...
- Obesity. ...
- Paw diseases. ...
- Otitis. ...
- Skin diseases.
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Do I need to trim my nails and at what age should I start?
Answer: yes! It is necessary to trim your dog's nails . And this should be done not only for aesthetic reasons. If a Labrador's nails grow too long, the dog begins to step on its feet incorrectly, which leads to paw deformities and joint dysplasia.
You need to get used to this procedure while still a puppy. Then the dog will not be afraid of scissors and nail clippers.
Basic Rules
- The dog must be calm. The puppy will naturally be scared the first time. It is necessary to gently “convince” him that it is not scary.
- Accuracy! If a puppy's pulp is damaged during puppyhood, this will instill in him a fear of the procedure for a long time.
- Reward. The puppy should be encouraged after any procedure, be it cutting its nails or simply brushing its fur. Then the pet will quickly get used to all hygiene procedures.
- Do not hit or scold the dog if it gets very scared and takes its paw away. This will ultimately cause the animal to quarrel with the scissors.
- Don't miss the moment! When does a specific need to shorten claws arise? If the dog is standing on a flat surface (be it the floor or the road) and its nails touch this surface, then they need to be shortened as soon as possible.
NOTE!
It is better for puppies to have their nails trimmed while they sleep.
The paws are relaxed, you can calmly “pull” the claw out of the finger and calmly cut the “hook”. If your baby wakes up and not everything is done yet, wait until he falls asleep again.
Additional care - dog pedicure
Dogs' nails need to be cared for throughout the pet's life. This is not about worshiping glamorous fashion, but about a vital necessity. Domestic dogs are losing many of the advantages that nature originally endowed them with many centuries ago:
- The way of life is such that there is no need to get food for yourself and use your own claws - which means they are not trained and not sharpened enough.
- Nutrition includes many components characteristic of an urban environment (in nature, such “additives” simply would not exist in dog food).
As a result, dogs' claws become loose, and their structure is often disturbed—proper care will solve the problem. Pedicure accessories will provide the nail plate with an even edge and a smooth surface. You can learn how to do a pedicure yourself, but you shouldn’t forget about professional services.
What you need to have in your arsenal:
- hemostatic powder and hygienic material (cotton pads, clean paper towels or napkins);
- a special file for dogs;
- electric polishing tool - grinder.
When using a grinder, the risk of injury is minimal
Using an electric grinder, you can adjust your claws all year round. Then they do not have time to grow, which means there is no need for a haircut.
An untrained dog is irritated by the vibration and characteristic sound of the device. But this can also be solved. One or two procedures, and the pet will resign itself, making sure there is no reason to worry.
Step-by-step instruction
- Prepare everything you need for the procedure: cotton pads, hydrogen peroxide or chlorhexidine, a nail clipper, dog treats.
- Bring your dog so that he is not afraid in advance. Those. You can’t rudely demand to come over. It’s better to come up to him yourself, pet him and bring him.
- Show the nail clipper and let the dog sniff it.
- Demonstrate the action of a nail clipper. Yes, it may seem stupid, but it must be done so as not to scare the dog at the first nail. It’s enough just to “click” the blades a couple of times. But not in front of your pet's face!
- Voice the command “Give me your paw!” For adult dogs, this command should be familiar. With puppies everything is more complicated, because... They don’t yet know how to carry out such an order.
- Be sure to keep talking. No matter what. Intonation is important for a dog. The owner's voice always calms the dog.
- Cut off the first claw. If the dog tolerates this action well, reward it with words and pet it. If she is scared, calm her down.
Repeat step seven with all claws. Be sure to observe the dog's reaction to each claw trimmed. It is important that there is a minimum of trauma (in terms of damage to the pulp), so extreme caution is required!
IMPORTANT!
At the end of the procedure, be sure to present the prepared treat to the dog.
Naturally, you can contact a veterinary clinic. There, the doctors will do everything in the best possible way, there will be no damage to the pulp, and the dog will not experience pain.
And it’s not particularly expensive: the average cost of this service is 400 rubles for dogs of medium breeds, for large breeds it’s slightly more expensive.
Nail trimming is a necessary part of any dog's grooming plan. No matter how scary it may be for the dog, the pet will have to endure it.
And the final attitude of his pet to this process depends only on the owner.
Following the plan, it will not be difficult to practice all the steps and get rid of your dog’s fear of nail clippers..
What to choose – trim or file your nails
Another option for treating claws is an electric file . The file used to process a dog's claw is no different from the one used to process human nails.
An electric file is a device with replaceable heads that, rotating quickly, grind down the claw. Compared to a nail clipper, a file is much less traumatic, but processing takes longer than with scissors.
In any case, even when using a nail clipper, it is necessary to file the sharp edge of a freshly cut claw to avoid its delamination.
Why is it necessary to trim off the overgrown part of the claw?
Life itself presents a fact: trimming nails is necessary, otherwise dogs will experience serious discomfort. Due to overgrown claws, the animal becomes downright clumsy:
- When walking, it is difficult for him to dig in hard soil.
- At home, the dog clings to soft materials - carpets and rugs.
- On tile, laminate and other types of smooth floors, the poor guy slips his paws, loses confidence and becomes restless.
- An excessively long nail process causes physical pain to the dog - when pressure is applied while walking, the hard part peels off from the flesh of the pad and the wounds become infected.
Overgrown claws cause discomfort to both the animal and the owner.
How do you know when it's time to get your claws done? If a clicking sound is heard when the animal walks on a hard, smooth floor, then their length is clearly outside the normal range. In the normal state, the chitinous plate goes around the soft pad, but does not go beyond its edge.
In nature, animals sharpen their claws themselves. Walking on asphalt and digging holes in hard ground achieves some of the same effect. In addition, animals (this also applies to pets) gnaw off the edges of the nail plates that interfere with them; they act intuitively as they begin to experience discomfort. But all these measures are not enough, so the owner must monitor the situation.
How are they arranged?
Before the procedure, you need to know and understand the structure of your dog's claws.
Pulp is the inner part of the claw . Due to the “concentration” of nerve endings and blood vessels in it, the pulp is very sensitive. Therefore, the process of trimming nails must be done extremely carefully so as not to cause pain to the dog.
If trimmed regularly, the pulp gradually retreats to the base of the claw . The shape of the “nails” changes; they stop growing as actively and become shorter on their own.
The “hook” is the part of the claw where it begins to curve . This is what is cut for puppies.
During puppyhood, Labrador Retrievers' claws are quite soft, so they can be easily damaged even with ordinary scissors. Caution must be exercised.
While trimming the dog's nails, the dog began to bleed
Cutting your nails can easily result in a cut, so buy a hemostatic agent (Statin powder, Show Tech, Capramin) in advance. Apply it to the wound and press for a moment with a cotton swab.
If there is no hemostatic agent, use powder, flour, corn starch. When the bleeding stops, treat with an alcohol-containing preparation - iodine or brilliant green to avoid inflammation. A gauze bandage will not stick, so buy a cloth-based bandage. Before bandaging the paw, apply a medicated bandage to it.
How to grind?
A proven and long-used method of sharpening a dog's claws is active walks, during which the dog runs a lot.
The ideal surface for this purpose is asphalt or concrete paths of a country house . But the “wipe down” option is not always safe!
There is a high risk that the dog will break its claws rather than sharpen them, and this is fraught with bleeding, infection and other unpleasant consequences.
Required Tools
To treat the “nails” of puppies, ordinary sharp scissors will be enough. As mentioned above, their claws have not yet hardened, so the blades will do the job perfectly.
In addition to scissors, you must have chlorhexidine or hydrogen peroxide, because... There is always (especially the first time) a risk that a trimmed claw will bleed . It must be processed immediately. Some breeders advise cauterizing with potassium permanganate for greater effect.
For adult dogs, you need to purchase a nail clipper . It looks like pliers. In the middle of the ring the metal is sharpened. This helps you remove rough dog nails with just one click.
Executing the procedure
It will be easier for you to cope with the task if one of the family members supports the dog’s head. It is very important to talk to him, establishing contact and convincing him that you will not hurt him. If your four-legged pet is afraid of the procedure and, no matter how hard you try to trim the dog’s nails carefully, breaks out and doesn’t want to stand still, you can try to interest him with a tasty treat.
While he is enjoying himself, forgetting about the unpleasant events, lift his paw and locate the pulp by probing the claw with your finger. On clean light claws it is clearly visible. The tip should be cut off at least 2 mm from the border of the sensitive area. How to trim black claws: you need to act as carefully as possible, cutting off small pieces at a time. Press the finger pads to straighten the claw, move the cutting surfaces of the nail clipper to its bottom and cut the tip at an angle of 45°.
At the end of the procedure, treat each trimmed claw with a sanding file. Additionally, you can use scissors with rounded ends to trim the fur between the toes of the paws, where dirt and germs often accumulate. It is recommended to soak the paws in a salt bath or, if there is irritation and redness on the skin, in a decoction of chamomile.
Preparation for pruning
Dogs do not like human intervention in this matter. When claws are cut off, the animal often panics and behaves extremely restlessly. It’s not for nothing that veterinarians advise accustoming puppies to the procedure from childhood - psychological attunement eliminates the pet’s nervousness during the “execution.”
If you are dealing with an already grown animal, monitor the dog shortly before the procedure. Play often, and massage your paw pads while you play. Teach your pet not to be frightened by touching its claws. Meanwhile, carefully examine the structure of the claws and their condition. This is especially important when the claw and the flesh of the pad are equally dark - the border between them is faintly visible.
Explore the range of pruning tools in advance. It is strictly forbidden to use:
- household scissors (they split the animal’s thick claw, rather than making an even cut);
- ordinary nail clippers - they are designed for a flat human nail. In dogs, the shape is round, semi-cylindrical, and the plate itself is much thicker.
