The earlier you can get your puppy comfortable with baths and nail trims, the easier grooming care will be in the future. Unfortunately, these are two things that a lot of our canine companions find absolutely terrifying!
Bathing
Follow these tips to make bath time less daunting. Remember that positive reinforcement goes a long way—you should never punish your puppy for being afraid!
- If your puppy is large enough, allow them to climb into the tub or bathing area on their own and then reward them with a treat.
- Use high-value treats for rewarding bath time. Praise and petting may not be enough.
- If your puppy is already fearful of bath time, reward them for getting into a bathtub without water. Let them eat treats off the edge of the tub or try putting peanut butter on the wall of the shower. If they are too small to climb in themselves, pick them up, place them in the tub and reward them with treats. Slowly add water to the tub. Reward, reward, reward!
- Use warm water. Make sure the water is comfortable by feeling it with your hand or elbow, but keep in mind that your puppy has thinner skin than you and may be a little more sensitive to temperature extremes.
- Be sure that you keep water away from their ears to prevent potential ear infections.
- Bathtime should take place in the laundry tub, bathtub or shower stall. If you are planning to wash your puppy outside using a garden hose, be sure the weather is warm and test the water temperature for comfort.
- Consider using a nonslip bath mat so your puppy feels more steady and secure.
Regular bathing and brushing will remove loose hair, dead skin cells and debris from your puppy’s coat. It’s also a great time to check for external parasites like fleas and ticks. You can also feel for any new lumps or bumps on your puppy’s skin when giving them a bath.
When your puppy gets older, how often you need to bathe them will depend on their age, lifestyle, hair coat and health issues. In general, healthy dogs shouldn’t be bathed more than once a month to preserve the natural oils that keep their skin and coat healthy. If your dog swims, bathing afterward to remove irritating chlorine or salt water is important. If your puppy has already developed a fear of baths, you’ll want to work to resolve this issue now while they’re still young rather than go through a lifetime of bathtime fear.
Nail Trims
Here are a few tips to help your puppy overcome their fear of nail trims:
- Have someone else help you with the nail trim if possible. It’s safer for you and your puppy if you have someone to help gently restrain them.
- Give your puppy small, frequent treats throughout the nail trim.
- Start slow. Reward them for letting you handle their paws. Reward them again for letting you trim just one nail. Trim one nail per attempt until your puppy calmly allows the nail to be trimmed. Then move up to a couple nails per session, rewarding your puppy as you go. You’ll want to continue in this way until you’re able to do the whole nail trim in one session.
- Consider scissor-type nail clippers. Puppies who are resistant to guillotine nail trimmers may be more tolerant of the scissor type. Guillotine nail trimmers can sometimes cause a crushing sensation, and your puppy may resist you putting their nail through the trimmer’s hole.
- If your puppy is intolerant of nail trimmers, consider a nail grinder or handheld file. You may still need to slowly acclimate your puppy to this process.
- You can try smearing peanut butter or a similar treat on a surface to keep your puppy occupied. Do not put plastic wrap on your head and smear peanut butter on it for your puppy to lick while you trim their nails. If your puppy becomes fearful or experiences pain, they might bite or injure your face.
Most dogs should have their nails trimmed monthly. If your puppy’s nails touch the ground when they are standing, they should be trimmed. If you can hear their nails clicking on hard floors when they walk, this is also an indicator that they need a trim.
Nails that are overgrown can affect your puppy’s ability to walk, especially on hard surfaces. Overgrown nails can also curve around and grow into the paw pads, causing painful wounds that easily become infected. A long nail is also more likely to snag on something like carpet and break, causing pain and bleeding.
And now, the part we all fear—the quick. The quick is the part of the nail that contains nerves and blood vessels. If you cut it, your dog may experience pain and will bleed. While it’s stressful to imagine accidentally hurting your puppy, we want you to know that even professional groomers hit the quick on occasion. It might set back your ability to easily trim your puppy’s nails for a while, but most dogs can overcome this fear response and tolerate nail trims again if you are patient and continue to use positive-reinforcement methods.
With clear or white nails, you should be able to see the pink quick within the nail. Cut up to about 2 to 3 millimeters (mm) away from the quick. With dark nails, we recommend removing 1 to 2 mm of nail with each clip, progressively shortening the nail. By slowly taking off more and more of the nail, you reduce the likelihood of significantly injuring the quick. You want to get to where the nail starts curving, but you should stop sooner if you run into the quick. If you are having trouble identifying the quick, your VCA care team is happy to help you become more comfortable with at-home nail trims.
Styptic powder can be purchased from pet stores and is good to have on hand in case you accidentally cause bleeding. In a pinch, you can use flour or cornstarch.
Lastly, don’t forget to trim dewclaws! These are the nails that would be your puppy’s thumbs. They may be on the front paws only, back paws only or both. Some dogs, especially Pyrenees-type dogs, have double dewclaws. It’s easy to miss them and for them to become overgrown, possibly growing into the paw pad.
