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I have a 6 month year old Chihuaha.
His nails are getting extremly long, and I was wondering if it's too soon to have somebody cut them.. or could I cut them myself?
Yeah. There's a fleshy part in the nail, though. If you cut that it'll hurt them real bad.
We have a 6 year old Chihuahua. We cut his nails. In his you can see the fleshy part, so it's no big deal for us. So it might be the same with your dog.
But as long as you don't hit that part, it's completely safe! Not to mention good for the dog! If his nails get too long, it'll hurt for him to walk.
You can use this device called the Pedi-Paw. I think that is the name. There are commericals about it on television. You can probably find it on the internet. You should not use a nail clipper. It can either cut into a sensitive, blood-filled tissue called the quik that is in a dog's nail or put pressure on the quik. Either would cause pain for the puppy.
You can see the vein very easily, just don't cut to close to it. it is good for you pup to get use to you handling his feet. 6 months is old enough for you to clip and file. If the nail is black just go to the begining of the curve of the nail, the very start if the curve. I don't like like black nails. Boston Terriers have black nails very often.
easiest thing to do.. look at his nails.. if they're white, you can see the quick (its pink like your nailbeds).. don't cut into the pink.. if his nails are black or you can't see the quick.. take him to a groomer..
you can cut them, but don't cut so far that you hit the blood/vein thing. I duno what it's called, but dogs have a vein that runs into their nail, and if you cut into it, it won't stop bleeding. good luck.
since he's a pup, and has small nails, use an emory board for the time being...or take him to a groomer and have them do it for you.
phrannie
its perfectly fine, but since he is so little, I would have a groomer or vet do it.
