The easy way to tell if your dog needs his nails trimmed is to have him standing and then look at him in a side view. Do his nails at most merely touch the floor? You don’t want a click, click, click sound as he walks on a hard floor.
I prefer to keep my dog’s nails right above the floor. Most dogs need trimming every two to four weeks depending on how short you want the nails.
If your dog has white nails, put them under a direct light or flash light and see if you can see the pinkish shadow under the nail which is where the quick starts.
If your dog has black nails, use a direct light but look underneath his nail, not on top. In all cases, have Kwik-Stop Styptic Powder on hand in case of bleeding.
If you clip your dog’s quick once, he will forgive you. Do it a second time and he’ll learn to fear the clippers. Try to clip him a third time and you may have a fight to the death.
Many dog breeds have these nails or digits on the inside of the front legs and occasionally on the hind legs. They don’t touch the ground so they’ll never be ground down naturally. You must trim these or they will grow inward toward your little dog’s legs.
See the different types of tools used at Tools to Cut Dog’s Nails.