Nail Trimming Guild For Pitbull
It's no longer news that the majority of dogs hate nail trimming and they could put up all dramas or actions just to inform you that they hate the process. The Pitbull bread is not left out, “in fact ”Pitbulls” are known to be very funny and dramatic when it comes to getting there nails clipped and such requires skillful groomers to handle them.
I put it straight to you that you can handle this procedure on your own even at your home without getting to involve any veterinarian. Honestly, you don't need a university degree before you can be qualified to groom your Pitbull, all you need is to learn the process and steps in this post in the next few minutes and then apply the steps that will be disclosed soon.
But before I get down to the main thing, I would like us to know some reasons why you should clip your dog's nails regularly.
5 Vital Reasons Why Your Pitbull Nails Need Trimming
It is your sole duty to care for your dog and doing this involves grooming which nail cutting is a vital part. If you can't keep your pitbull's nails short, you are definitely hurting them in several ways.
Dogs with healthy nails live healthy and longer lives than other dogs without proper grooming.
Here are the reasons why your pitbull Nails Need cutting:
- His Nails are overgrown: If your pitbull's nails are overgrown, they can easily split or break while playing and this would causing severe pain, injury, bleeding, and discomfort. Over long nails can also tear when they are cut up on objects and this is a painful experience you don't wish for your pet.
- Overgrown Pitbull Nails Generate unpleasant sound Clicking Noise And Can Misalign His Foot: This will further lead to complications such as defects in posture and overall body weight distribution.
- Overgrown Pitbull Nails Can Cause Difficulty In Movement And Can Disrupt His Activities. Your Pitbull may feel pain around his foot and may become very lazy to participate in regular walks and exercises.
- Untrimmed Pitbull's Nails can cause slipping while your pup is running or walking.
- Short or clipped claws keep your Pitbull healthy, happy, and fit.
Why You Should Trim Your Pitbull's Nails?.
- Pitbulls with shorter nails live healthier and happier.
- Short nails help your Pet maintain proper hygiene.
- Trimmed nails enable your pitbull walk and play freely, without feeling pain.
- Short Nails will maintain your Pitbull’s healthy posture and body weight distribution or alignment.
- Clipped nails won’t get cut up with things or objects compared to longer nails.
- Cutting your Pitbull's nails reduces the risk of splitting and reduces secondary toenail infection.
Are you ready for the real deal?
For new pitbull owners who desire to cut their dog's nails themselves, it is very important to familiarize your pet with the whole process and make him get used to trimming. This will smoothen, enhance compliances, and make your pup endure and enjoy the process without acting funny dramas.
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The Steps Are:
Desensitize Your Pitbull Before Clipping
Desensitization is a magical step to making any dog including your pitbull comply, tolerate, and enjoy the process of nail clipping without causing any trouble. This is a process that should start when your pet pitbull is still at the puppy stage, at this time of his life it is easier to introduce nail clipping to him and watch him grow up and become very tolerable to nail cutting.
Dogs naturally don't like their nails being touched anyhow, not to think of using a scary nail clipper on their claws. However, no matter how old your pitbull is or what background he grows from the steps in getting him to comply during nail clipping are the same.
This requires some effort and patience from you the owner and in the end, your dog will learn how to stay calm and relax, while you get through with the process without struggles.
How Can I Desensitize My Pitbull For Nail Clipping?
Introduce Positive Association By Giving Yummy Treats.
Dogs like yummy foods, so ensure you have your pitbull's favorite treats and bombard him with it while you sit in a comfortable area with positive associations (place your dog in his favorite location, praise and give him sweet meals). Your pitbull should be in a happy and easy-going mood, slide into the next step.
Pet And Show Your Pitbull The Nail Clippers
Make sure your pet is in an easy-going mood with lots of sweet treats, show him the nail clippers, pet him, and allow him to sniff around the clippers to get them familiarised with the tools.
Praise and give more treats, develop positive association, and then gradually make some clicking sound with the clippers, don't worry even if your pet gets scared be patient and keep giving yummy treats.
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Handle And Sqeeze The Clippers In front of your Pitbull
Usually, dogs with no prior knowledge of nail clipping will display fear or dislike the clippers. of course, dogs don't know what a nail clipper is so it may appear scary or stupid in their eyes. But when you notice any dramatic behavior such as shaking or burrowing or an attempt to run away, don't worry just go ahead, give him some treats and praise him.
And if that happened and your pup already tried to hide, refusing to come this could be because he is terrified around the clippers, your next step is to continue giving him treats and praise but don't try clipping, instead go-ahead to the next step.
Pet Your Pitbull's Paws
Remember, many dogs hate their feet being touched, even without clipping, so it's sensible to get them comfortable with touches and the clipping process. Go ahead relax the dog, spread his toes, and play with his feet. Make sure you reward and praise your pitbull for letting you touch his paws.
Repeat the Steps Until Your Pitbull is comfortable with Nail Clippers
You have to keep repeating the steps and ensure your pet is very comfortable with you and the nail clippers before you can initiate nail cutting. Don't rush into clipping his nails but make sure he has developed some positive associations for a couple of days before jumping to clip his nails.
It is also a good idea to use some commands and games to teach your dog and get him comfortable around the nail clippers. Like shaking and handling your pitbull's paws every day could go along way to get him more comfortable.
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Starting Clipping Your Pitbull's Nails
After the desensitization steps above you have to begin clipping your pitbull's as soon as you are sure he allows you to handle his paws and he is very comfortable around clippers. You must ensure you keep the tools required to make this procedure smooth. One thing you must never forget is a styptic powder, it must be handy in case you accidental cut to the quick of your dog's nail.
The quick is an area of your dog's nail you should not cut, else your pet will bleed. The quick is not difficult to identify when trimming dog's nails that are white in color, this is not so when dealing with black dog nails, special techniques are required to cut black dog nails.
If you cut through your dog's nail, don't panic, stay calm and make sure the bleeding is stopped by applying styptic powder to the affected nail, reward your dog for enduring the pain with an extra treat. Stay calm and pretend as nothing happened, gently continue the clipping.
It is very important to clip one at a time and not to rush the process. If your pitbull gets stressed up during the clipping, end the process, reward your dog with treats and continue much later.
Step By Step How To Trim Pitbull Nails
To get started with clipping your lovely pitbull, here are the step by step approach.
Get Appropriate Nail Trimmers For Pitbulls
You expected to choose sharp clippers that are suitable for your Pitbull's nails. There are a lot of makes and types of nail clippers for dogs. There are even nail clippers with sensors you can use to clip your pitbull's nails without harm.
The idea is to choose the right trimmer that is best for your pitbull and we would recommend the Boshel dog nail clippers. This is a good set of dog nail clippers suitable for your Pitbull. Boshel dog nail clippers are sharp and work effectively well for trimming Pitbulls and any other type of Dogs.
It cuts very clean, easy to use, with the quick sensor, used by professionals and recommended by vets. Take a look at what Boshel dog nail clipper looks like in the image below.
Other clippers you can use to clip your dog nails are Safari Nail Clipper, Millers Forge Nail clipper, Epica Nail clipper, etc.
Your First Aid kits Should Be Handy And Ready
Your Pet Aid kits should be handy and should contain all that is required to handle some emergencies that may occur during nail cutting. Your emergency box should have some anti-bleeding agents like Styptic powder and others such as Hydrogen Peroxide, Rubber gloves, Gauze, Scissors, Grooming Wipes, and Towel Or Blanket.
Having these contents can help you Deal With A Bleeding Pitbull Toenail in case you mistakenly injure your Dog by cutting the quick to short.
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Pet Your Pitbull With Yummy Treats
Dogs love sweet yummy meals and one best way to calm a pitbull down during clipping is by giving delicious food. If you want your dog to be calm or comply with the nail trimming process you have to feed him his favorite treats.
You can give Food for Healthy Dog Nails because balanced diets can strengthen the overall health of the nails.
Position Your Pitbull And Begin To Clipping His Nails.
Sit Somewhere Bright & Very Comfortable: Find a bright room or better stay outside. Don’t stay in a dark place, you have to see the nails clearly before you commence the cutting. Hold your Pitbull firmly as you sit in that position or simply seek for a second person to assist you.
Immobilize your dog and then hold his paws firmly this will prevent movement that may lead to sudden injuries during the process.
Next? Now, carefully locate your Pitbull’s quick first, know where it starts and ends, this will guide you to carefully trim without cutting the quick.
Start Clipping the nails of your Pitbull the nail trimmer. Gently cut, gradual trim bit by bit, be watchful not to injure the quick. The best trimming angle should be at 45-degrees. Look at the photo below.
Do not chop off a larger part of the nails, you must trim gently and bite by bit with trimming smaller bits. If your dog tries to resist, kindly give him his best meals and then continue.
Is Your Pitbull Nervous During The Process?
If your dog is afraid of trimming don’t worry its normal with Some dogs not to comply no matter the technique you apply. Here is what to do in such a situation, go ahead and watch the video below and see exactly how a professional handled a fearful dog in the video below.
WARNING: Do not cut your dog’s quick, however, if this happens, immediately apply styptic powder to stop the nail from bleeding, but if the bleeding wouldn’t stop?, note that your first aid box is right beside you, and here is How To Stop Severe Dog Nail Bleeding Immediately.
Cut The Quick? Do This Immediately
Apply pressure on the affected toenail.
Apply Styptic powder on the injury to stop the bleeding.
If Bleeding persists, tightly wrap the nail after applying styptic powder.
Follow these Steps To Instantly Stop Nail Bleeding.
Bleeding Continues? Visit your vet for a solution.
Any Questions?, Please drop a comment below.
Final Step To Cutting Your Pitbull's Nails?
File The Nails After Trimming: After cutting the nails, you should use a file to smooth out the rough edges. Filing the nails of a pitbull is like giving it a finishing touch and for dogs with brittle nails, filing is the best method to use.
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Nail Trimming Guild For Pitbull FAQs
Below are the most frequent questions that we get on a daily basis concerning this topic and we have decided to provide suitable answers to them, so let's get started now.
How Often Should I Cut My Pitbulls Nails?
Cutting the nails of your pitbull every 1-2 months on average is recommended and a better way of keeping the nails at normal levels, most dogs will need to have their nails trimmed if they are clicking on the floor. Keeping the nails of your pitbull at a normal level is a way of avoiding complications associated with overgrown nails and promoting the overall health and wellbeing of your dog.
How Can I Calm My Dog Pitbull To Cut His Nails?
Most calm dogs only needed to be given their favorite treats and little distractions and you are done trimming their nails. But for other dogs it might be very tough to calm them down while you trim their nails, in this case, you will have to apply other methods.
Other ways you can easily calm your pitbull or any other dog is by calling on another person to hold them tightly, using sedatives such as Benadryl and a product like Lavender oil_ the Lavender oil is effective_ it has a sweet scent that can calm and settle down your dog for you to be able to clip him.
Before you start the trimming of your pitbull, take a little of the Lavender oil and rub it on the back of their neck and you are good to go.
Is It Okay To Cut A Pitbull's Nails With Human Nail Clippers?
You can use human nail clippers for a start to carefully cut the nails of your small, tiny puppies. However, I would advise you to get the right clippers designed to cut the dog's claws at the right angle. Human nail clippers are designed to be used for humans and could split or break the nails of a matured dog if not carefully used and may take a longer time to finish the process. I won't recommend it for bigger dogs and situations where dog nail clippers are readily available.
How Do I Stop Myself From Cutting The Quick Of My Pitbull?
First, I would recommend you use clippers with quick sensors and then clip bit by bit_ i.e_small amounts at a cut. Keeping cutting bit by bit carefully until you are close to the quick. If you have a dog that has black nails you might find it very difficult to identify the quick, but don' worry this article about How To Trim A DOG With Black Nails will give you steps to handle that in under 10 seconds.
What Angle Do You Cut Dogs Nails Pitbull?
If you want to cut your pitbull's nails by yourself at home, find a dried cool place, while all your materials are ready, hold your pup firmly by the paw to ensure he is not struggling, and then start clipping at an angle of 45-degree away from the paw.
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How Do You know Where The Quick Is On Black Pitbull's Nails?
Start the clipping process gradually and in small bits, as you get closer to the quick, the indicator is that, you will notice that the center of the nail appears black or pinkish before the quick. At this level, you might carefully trim a very tiny shot chop and then stop right there so that you don't injure the quick.