One thing on the regular puppy care agenda is trimming their tiny claws. I do it once every week and by the time the puppies leave here they are accustomed to it, although they might still squirm a little during the procedure.
At this age it's like micro-surgery. Next year I think I'll be investing in magnifying specs for the job.
Brownie having his 2-week manicure.
The challenge for their new owners is then to
keep it up. It's a necessary job and the more often you do it, the easier it is to do. The longer you leave it, the more impossible it is as the puppy tries to refuse to allow you to do it at all. The wiggling and complaining make it very easy to slip, cut too much off and then -
forget it!
Have you ever cut your own nail too short or stuck a splinter underneath? Yes. Incredibly painful.
Incredibly. If you cut your puppy's nail too short, there will blood. Lots of it. And pain. Lots of that too. And next time you try to cut your puppy's nails? That's right, they will fight like you're trying to kill them and they will scream as if they are dying. The moral of this story -
do it little and do it often.
At this age I also need to be careful little tongues, whiskers, ears, etc, don't get in the way of the clippers.
Back paws too.
Don't forget the dew claws on the front legs - and sometimes on the back legs too (right, Brown Wolf?)
There is an image that has been doing the rounds on Twitter and Facebook that dog owners have been jumping on. Me too (even though it spells "quick", "kwik"). The image illustrates the importance of regularly trimming your dog's nails. But, even more useful, it illustrates
the way to trim your dog's nails and how to deal with them once they have grown too long. It was produced by an American dog groomer,
Elaine Stearns. Thanks, Elaine, for the excellent illustration!
Click the image for a larger version that's easier to read.
For cutting your dogs's nails, human nail clippers that I use on the tiny puppies will only be up to the job for the first couple of months.
Human nail clippers are just about big enough for Tuuli's nails at 4 months.
Note her finger nibbling while I am trying to do the deed. With nail cutting, as with all puppy procedures,
you must win. So just get on with the job, even if you only do 2 nails at a time. Don't give in to the wiggling, nibbling or complaining or those activities will double with your puppy's determination next time.
After the first few weeks you will need the proper tool for the job. You can file your puppy's nails with an emery board, or some people even use a
Dremel! I've used both those things, but the quickest and easiest I have found is to use a bog-standard old-fashioned pair of dog nail clippers.
There are lots of types on the market - I find the
guillotine type easiest to use, but
this is the other kind. For a Finnish Lapphund you will need a medium size.
And, remember,
cut little but often.
All of our dogs will sit quietly for nail care because they are well
accustomed to it. Their nails were cut once a week since they were a
week old - first by their breeder then by me. As they grow up, if a large proportion of their daily walk is along roads, then they won't need their nails cut so often as the pavement will wear them down. Also, the back nails will need trimming less than the front.
Neka will put up with it, but she has very ticklish toes, so she can't look directly at it!
