The trick to nail trimming is to start early and trim often. Natural diggers, Beagles tend to have big paws and strong nails that grow quickly. Even with regular walks, most Beagles need a nail trim every week or two, but trimming a Beagle’s nails can be difficult if your Beagle isn’t used to it. If you begin by trimming your puppy’s nails the first week you bring him home, he might object, but he won’t object for long.
Beagles typically accept anything that becomes part of their routine, so making nail trimming part of the routine right away will make a huge difference in how much effort it takes to trim your Beagle’s nails for the rest of his life. Even if your puppy’s nails don’t need trimming, touch each nail with the trimmer at least once a week. Or, start out doing just one nail a week.
As your Beagle gets older and nails grow faster and stronger, nail trimming will become even more important. Untrimmed nails can be painful to walk on and even spread out foot pads so your dog can’t walk normally. Keep them short so they don’t tap the floor as your Beagle walks, and your Beagle will be more sure-footed and pain free.
Trimming the nails isn’t difficult, but it does require some specific knowledge. First of all, you want to cut the nail without cutting the quick. As your Beagle’s nail grows, so does the quick – a vein inside the nail that can bleed if you accidentally snip it. Snipping the quick hurts, and can cause dogs to fear future nail clipping events, so try to avoid it. If it happens, however, your Beagle will recover. A little styptic powder will staunch the bleeding. If you don’t have any around, the bleeding will stop on its own after awhile.
The less often you trim nails, the longer the quick grows. Nails trimmed frequently – preferably once each week – encourage the quick to withdraw farther back into the nail, making quick clipping accidents less likely.
In light colored nails, you can often see how far the quick extends, but in dark nails, you have to guess. If you just clip off the very tips of your Beagle’s nails once a week, however, you will almost certainly avoid the quick.
Use a nail trimmer made for dogs. It doesn’t matter what kind you use. Some look more like little curved hedge trimmers, and some are guillotine style. The nail goes inside a small metal oval, then you squeeze. Whichever style is more comfortable for you is fine, but the blade should be sharp to make a clean cut.
Position the trimmer over the tip of the nail, so you cut off just a few millimeters of nail. Hold the paw gently, then quickly squeeze to clip off the end. File rough edges with a metal nail file so they don’t scratch you.
Helpful Tip: Some people prefer to use a nail grinder or dremel-tool-style trimmer instead of a clipper to keep their Beagle’s nails short. These tools work well if used correctly. Grinders allow you to grind down, smooth, and shape the nail all in one step, using this electric tool. However, the grinder moves quickly and can generate a lot of heat. Just be careful not to grind off too much nail, or accidentally grind your dog’s skin. Use it just a few seconds at a time, so the nail doesn’t overheat.
