Do yourself a favor, clip your pets nails while it is young. For small animals you can use a normal pair of scissors. Later you will need to move to a larger pair.

    Long nails are unhealthy for the dog. They will curve around and grow into the paw pad. They will also sometimes stretch out until they are very long. Eventually this damages your dog's ability to walk. Its toes may splay out and permanent damage may occur to the shape of the foot. The nails may also become damaged or deformed, or may be torn off. Plus it will snag the carpet, scratch the floors, scratch the leather, and in general be a pain.

    First, remember, unlike us, they have a blood vessel and a nerve in the middle of their nail. Please, please, do not let this scare you about cutting their nails. Perhaps cutting is too harsh a word. Trimming is what you are doing. You are simply removing the tip of the nail. In dogs this is often a slimmer point. Just the very, very tip, snip.

    You should gently hold your puppy's paws. It is best to play with its paws daily. I tend to sit on the floor and rub and gently pull the paws. I then grasp it, press the toe so that the nail stretches out some, and snip the tip.

    That sounds easy, but it is a long, tedious process. Young puppies don't want to be still, and they don't want their paws handled. Please handle them, and let the puppy learn that having its feet touched is not the end of the world. This will save you a lot of frustration later when you attempt to cut nails, or if you whimp out, for your vet.

    Have you ever been tossed against a wall by someone's outraged pet? It's not fun, and it could be alleviated by a little handling as a puppy. It is very hard for your vet, and the techs to restrain a hundred pound snarling snapping dog. It is just as hard to restrain a five pound one, or just about any size.

    I don't know about you, but I'd be embarrassed if my dog was attempting to kill someone for clipping its nails. You can't just accept that the dog does not like it. Nail trims are part of training and basic behavior. You are not injuring the dog, and they need to learn to be still and calm while you handle them. Something as basic as learning to be still for a nail trim is one of the first steps towards general good manners.