Unhealthy Dog Nails Signs, Causes & Electric Clippers Solution

A dog’s nail health is important to their overall wellbeing–and yet, most of us don’t consider nails when thinking of our dogs’ overall health. Unhealthy dog nails can inhibit walking, running, and digging, affecting your dog’s day-to-day life. They can also cause significant pain.

Several factors can contribute to unhealthy nails, including underlying health issues, infections, and nutrient deficiencies. A common mistake that dog owners make is not keeping up with nail trimmings or not trimming the nails properly, which can lead them to become overgrown, split, or even painfully short.

Electric nail clippers, also known as dremels, can solve some of these problems by slowly grinding the nail down in a way that’s more comfortable for some dogs. Since dremels don’t pinch the nail like traditional clippers, they’re also less likely to cause cracking.

Identifying Unhealthy Dog Nails

Before we dive into causes and solutions, let’s discuss how to know whether your dog’s nails are unhealthy.

Healthy dog nails should form a blunt point. They are thicker at the base of the nail, near the paw, and thinner at the bottom of the nail that points to the floor.

They are solid and unbroken, either a transparent white color with pink at the base or solid black. They should neither be too short (cut through the quick) or too long (touching the ground or curling toward the paw pads).

Signs of unhealthy dog nails include:

• Discoloration
• Cracks or splits in the nail
• Brittleness or breakage
• Deformed nails
• Swelling, discharge, or crustiness near the base of the nail
• Overgrowth
• Bleeding

If your dog bites at their paws or nails, licks their paws excessively, limps, or isn’t as active as normal, these can also be symptoms of bad dog nails.

Some dog nail problems require a veterinarian for diagnosis and treatment, while others can be resolved with better nail care at home.

Causes of Unhealthy Dog Nails

Causes of dog nail issues include:

• Injury: Nail injuries in dogs include nails clipped too short (into the quick), breakage while running or digging, or traumatic injuries to the paws. These injuries can cause pain on their own and may also lead to more severe ailments such as infections.
• Poor grooming habits: If you don’t know how to trim your dog’s nails properly, you may hurt them by clipping the nails too short. This typically only causes some bleeding, but can be more severe depending on how deeply into the quick you cut. Dull clippers can also cause nail issues such as splitting, which can be painful especially if the fracture reaches the quick. Lastly, not cutting your dog’s nails frequently enough can cause injuries to the nail and surrounding foot, as well as potential joint pain if their nails impede their ability to walk normally. To know if your dog’s nails are too long, check if they touch the floor while your dog is standing up.
• A poor diet: When your dog doesn’t get the nutrition they need, their nails may become brittle. Calcium, protein, and phosphorus all play a role in healthy nail development. Make sure you’re providing the nutrition needed for healthy dog nails by feeding foods that meet AAFCO nutritional guidelines.
• Fungal or bacterial infections: Bacteria may infect a broken nail, allergies may lead to a bacterial or yeast infection in the feet, or your dog may develop a ringworm infection that causes the nails and feet to appear crusty.
• Underlying health conditions: There are some rare auto-immune and congenital disorders that impede healthy nail growth, such as symmetrical lupoid onychodystrophy (an auto-immune disorder) and aplasia cutis (a congenital skin condition). Allergies are another common cause of dog nail infections.

Preventive Measures

If you’re concerned about your dog’s nail health, your first step is to set up a vet appointment. Many nail disorders, such as those caused by infections or underlying health conditions, can only be resolved with help from a veterinarian.

If your vet rules out health issues, you may start to look at other ways to prevent dog nail problems such as a proper diet and regular nail trims.

Fixing Your Dog’s Diet

Most store-bought dog foods have all the nutrients your dog needs to thrive, but it’s always good to ensure they’re following AAFCO nutritional guidelines for dogs by looking for a statement on the packaging near the ingredients list.

If you’re feeding a homemade diet, please switch to store-bought or work with a board certified veterinary nutritionist to formulate the diet. Many people claim the title of “pet nutritionist” without this education and may give poor dietary advice. In addition, many online recipes are nutrient deficient and should not be trusted.

A Good Nail Trimming Routine

Dog nail care requires regular upkeep as well as some knowledge on how to properly trim dog nails. You should be trimming your dog’s nails at least once a month, with some dogs needing more frequent trims.

Here are some dog grooming tips to help you keep your dog’s nails healthy:

• Learn how to locate the quick of the nail. The quick is a blood-filled area located at the base of each nail. Cutting into the quick causes pain and bleeding, and can sometimes lead to deeper issues such as infection. On white nails, the quick is easy to see–look for the pink area near the toes. Black nails are more difficult and require some guesswork and experience. It’s best to only trim a small bit of the nail at a time or to use a nail dremel to file the nail down slowly.
• Dog nails shouldn’t touch the ground. If your dog’s nails touch the floor or curl around their toe, they’re more likely to sustain nail and paw injuries.
• To shorten the quick, trim or dremel the nails frequently. When a dog’s nails are long, the quicks also tend to be long–so you can’t cut them to a proper length in one go. Instead, you’ll have to trim a bit of the nail at a time and wait for the quick to recede between clippings. A nail dremel is great for getting close to the quick, keeping the nail as short as possible without causing injury.
• After trimming, consider using electric nail clippers to round out the nail. This smooths the nail down so it isn’t sharp and allows you to get the nail shorter than you might with regular clippers.

Benefits of Electric Dog Nail Clippers

There are a few types of dog nail trimming tools, including the common plier-style clippers, the lesser-used guillotine-style clippers, and electric nail clippers (also known as dremels).

Electric nail clippers are growing in popularity for good reason. They can make clipping your dog’s nails easier, especially if you’re a beginner.

They tend to be safer since they only file a bit of the dog’s nail at a time, allowing you to stop quickly if you make a mistake and grind the nail too short.

They’re also much less likely to cause nail splits or fractures, as they aren’t pinching the nail. Some dogs find dremels much more comfortable for this reason.

Dremels are also more precise, allowing you to get the nail shorter than you would otherwise. Some people even follow a traditional nail trim with a dremel to smooth the nail out. If your dog often jumps up and scratches your legs, this is a great solution!

Lastly, some people find nail dremels easier to use. Especially if you’re nervous about clipping your dog’s nails, a dremel may give you more confidence that you won’t damage them.

However, it’s worth noting that some dogs don’t like the sound or vibration of electric clippers. Most dogs will need some desensitization to the tool, just like with normal clippers, and not all dogs prefer dremels–especially if they’ve grown used to traditional clippers.

One of the best dog nail clippers that we recommend are our electric painless pet nail clippers.

How to Use Electric Dog Nail Clippers

Below is our dog nail grooming guide. We’ve broken the process into steps to get your dog used to the clippers and provide the most stress-free experience possible for you and your pup.

Step One: Touch Your Dog’s Feet with Your Hands 

The slowest part of this process, but also the most important, is getting your dog used to electric nail clippers.

Start by handling your dog’s paws and nails with your hands. Briefly touch their feet while petting them, then move on to longer touches, spreading the toes, and messing with the nails.

Step Two: Introduce the Clippers

Once your dog is used to you touching their feet, allow them to see and smell the nail clippers. Stand across the room with the clippers in hand and let your dog approach, encouraging them closer with treats and praise. Stop when your dog appears stressed or fearful.

Once your dog can approach the clippers without fear, you can move on to touching the clippers to their paws and nails. Keep the clippers off during this process.

The last step is getting your dog used to the sound the clippers make. Repeat the steps above, this time with the clippers turned on.

Remember that these first steps can take days, weeks, or even months–they aren’t meant to be completed in one day. Go at your dog’s pace as much as possible without allowing too much overgrowth.

Step Three: Using Electric Dog Nail Clippers

Once your dog is used to the clippers, grinding their nails down is easy. Simply turn the dremel on and move it gently across the tip of your dog’s nail.

Since nail dremels take time, you may want to use traditional clippers to cut off excess length first. Or, you may choose to break the process into multiple short grooming sessions, rather than cutting every nail in one go.

Dog Nail Trimming Tips

• Take the desensitization process at your dog’s pace, or you’ll end up back at step one with a scared dog!
• Remember that the process will take longer if your dog has been hurt during nail trims in the past.
• Trim your dog’s nails when they’re calm, such as when they’re sleeping on the couch. Avoid nail trims when your dog is already stressed or excited.
• It’s okay to clip just one nail at a time! This is all that some dogs can tolerate. Give them breaks and go back to clipping later in the day.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do unhealthy dog claws look like?
Unhealthy dog claws may have crusty skin, redness, or swelling at the base. They may have splits or fractures running up the nail or bleeding from the quick. Some health problems cause brittle nails that break easily.

How can you tell if your dog’s nails are too long?
If your dog’s nails touch the floor, they’re too long. Given enough time to grow, dog nails will curl around the toe and dig painfully into the paw pads, sometimes causing sores or infections.

What causes unhealthy dog nails?
While there are several causes of unhealthy dog nails, they’re most commonly a result of a medical problem, dietary issue, or a poor grooming routine. Always seek veterinary help before ruling out health problems or trying to treat them at home.

We hope you’ve learned more about how to keep your dog’s nails healthy. Remember to see a vet about unhealthy nails first, then look into nutritional or grooming reasons that may be behind the problem.

Electric nail clippers are an easy solution to some nail issues, including cut quicks, nail fractures, and overgrown nails.

We highly recommend investing in a quality electric nail clipper for your dog, especially if you’ve noticed some of the issues above.