Flamingo Dog Nail Clipper

The Flamingo Dog Nail Clipper is a plier-style nail clipper with stainless steel blades, a locking catch and a rubberised non-slip grip.

Key Features

• Plier action rather than guillotine, which gives more control and lets you see the nail as you cut
• Stainless steel cutting blades
• Locking catch that holds the handles shut for storage
• Rubberised grips on both handles, and a sprung action so the jaws reopen on their own
• Made by Flamingo Pet Products, a Belgian pet supplier based in Olen with more than 45 years in the trade

How To Trim A Dog's Nails

• Cut small slivers off the tip rather than one big cut. With dark nails you cannot see the quick, so take a little and look at the cut end each time
• Stop when a pale oval appears in the middle of the cut surface. That is the quick coming up, and the next cut would draw blood
• Cut at roughly the same angle as the existing tip, front to back rather than side to side
• Do not forget the dewclaws on the inside of the legs. They touch nothing and grow round into the pad if left
• Keep styptic powder or a clean bar of soap nearby. Pressing a cut nail into soap will stop bleeding
• If the nails are already long, trim a small amount weekly. The quick recedes over several weeks and you cannot rush it

Good To Know

• If you catch the quick it will bleed and hurt, and a dog remembers it. Going slowly is not caution, it is how you keep the dog co-operating next month
• A dog that has never had its feet handled should not start with clippers. Handle the paws for a few days first, with a treat each time
• Nails that click on tiles are already too long. Ideally they should not touch the floor when the dog is standing
• A grinder is the gentler option for a nervous dog or for very thick nails, though it takes longer and makes a noise of its own
• Blunt clippers crush rather than cut, which is what makes dogs flinch. Replace them once they start to squash the nail