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Clipping Your Poodles Nails
How often your Poodles nails need trimmed varies with the dog. It is best to keep the nails clipped so they do not touch the ground when your poodle is standing.
Over grown nails that touch the ground, put pressure on the base of the nail and can be painful. In an aging dog, long nails can distort the paw, intensify the pain of arthritis and cripple a dog.
There are several types of nail clippers, small or medium-size clippers work well for Toy and Miniature Poodles, large or heavy-duty are better suited for Standard Poodles.
It is a good idea to have styptic powder, in case you clip too close and the nail bleeds. The length of the nail bed varies. With clear or white nails, you can see most of the nail bed, but it narrows down at the tip, so make allowances for this. Dogs with black nails tend to have longer nail beds.
To trim the nails, hold the paw firmly in one hand. Place your thumb on top of the foot and fingers underneath to spread the toes.
This illustration shows the paw being held with the thumb on the bottom of the paw. Either way is fine, as long as the toes are spread.
With your other hand, clip the nails, one at a time. Remove any sharp edges with a few swipes of a file.
At first, you may want to trim only the nail tips to avoid cutting down to the quick. If you cut the nail too short or the quick has grown too long, your Poodle may yelp, but try not to panic. Keeping hold of the paw, apply styptic powder to the bleeding nail and press. Hold until bleeding stops.
