Get your dog’s trimmed today, without an appointment!

Keeping your dog’s nails trimmed is essential to their overall health and wellbeing. Dog nails continue to grow throughout their entire lives and need to be trimmed back periodically to prevent injury. As their nails grow longer a small hook fill form on the end of the nail, which while perfect for snagging their owner’s clothing (RIP holiday sweater), longer nails can cause injury to your doggie friend. Nails with hooks are more likely to be snagged on carpets, bedding, roots, and between floorboards; they can be traumatically pulled out when caught, which is quite painful for your pet. Dog nails will also begin to curl inward toward the paw pads, making even walking uncomfortable for them. 

Unlike human fingernails, dog nails have a capillary vascular structure running through them, commonly referred to as a “quick”. The quick can be seen by looking at the underside of your dogs’ nails, looking for the small dark line. It will recede more toward the nailbed each time the nails are trimmed, resulting in the ability to trim shorter. 

We offer nail trimming by either grinding them smooth or clipping. Our nail trimming service is provided on a walk-in basis daily from 10:00AM until 4:00 PM on any day we are open (Tuesday through Saturday). We can have the service completed in 5-10 minutes, depending on the cooperation level. 

At Ridge Dog Shop, we do not require any reservation for nail trimming, nor does any other service have to be made. We have experienced staff who can get the dog’s nails as short as safely possible without causing injury to the nail’s quick. The service takes only minutes and is more cost efficient than using a Veterinary office visit. 

Then they are in a far from exclusive club. Dog paws are sensitive, and not all dogs have had pleasant experiences in the past with getting nails trimmed. We use professional tools and trained staff to perform all nail trimmings. We will assign additional staff as needed to keep the dog calmly in place while the service is complete; sometimes everyone just needs a good hug to get through the scary experiences. We do use the basket-style muzzles as needed to protect the groomers and the dogs as they will sometimes bite at what is scaring them – including a running nail grinder. 

• Nail clipping is using specially designed tools to clip the end of the nail off, similar to humans using a fingernail clipper. 
• Nail grinding, which is more popular, uses a sandpaper grinder to file the nails. With the grinder we can get the nails shorter and smoother, and there are less chances of the nails splitting. We use this method for most of our nail trims; however, a very small percentage of our doggie clients do not tolerate it well. 
  

Without the tools, training and experience we do not recommend trying to trim your friend’s nails at home. If nails are clipped too short you may hit the nail quick and cause and injury that will create a unhappy memory for both you and your pet. 

The frequency of nail trims varies from one dog to the next depending on a variety of factors including how often they walk on pavement, their age, and breed. Most of our clients get their dog’s nails trimmed every 6-8 weeks depending on the time of the year. At Ridge Dog Shop, nail trimming is always included when a dog client is here for grooming or a bath or can be done on a walk-in basis. Check the length periodically, especially on the dew claws (if they have them) to ensure the nails are not getting a hook shape or growing toward the body. 

Life happens; between work, home, and family obligations, sometimes brushing on a regular basis is just not in the schedule. We offer a brush-only service starting at just $10 to ensure that your friend is completely brushed out and free of any matting. 

In addition to nail trimming, we offer the following services on a walk-in basis: 

• Teeth brushing – while not a substitute for annual dental cleaning by a veterinarian, periodic brushing helps prevent tartar buildup. We use a poultry flavored toothpaste specially formulated for dogs. 
• Shaving Paw Pads – The fur between their doggie toes can sometimes grow to the degree in which they are slipping and sliding on smooth surfaces such as hardwood floors’ we can safely shave out the pads to help. 
• Rounding feet – Does your dog’s paws look like Grinch hands? Have people asked you where you found fuzzy slippers for your dog? Does each paw hold a full pint of water when they come in from the rain? If you answered “yes” to any of these then we can help by rounding out the feet and making them look neat and trim. 
• Eye trim – The hair around some dog’s eyes grows at a faster rate than the rest of the body, leaving them looking like an Emo kid listing to a mix tape. We can trim that up professionally leaving a balanced look to the face.