Greyhound Nails: How Long Should They Be?

The simple answer is that if their nails are touching the floor, they’re too long!  

However,  this seems to be a never-ending problem because hound owners can never  find anyone able, or willing, to trim them back properly!  

The  number of owners we’ve spoken to that have gone to their local groomer  or vet to have their hounds nails trimmed, only for them to come out no  different to when they went in…or not done at all!  

Quite  often they just chicken out when they touch the hounds foot and get the  ‘greyhound scream of death’…not knowing that they’re just being  dramatic!

A lot of people are  also hesitant to cut hound nails on account of them being black (most of  the time) and don’t feel that they can see where the quick is, which  means they are never trimmed far enough back.

The  generalised advice that is given out is that your hounds nails don’t  need to be trimmed because they’ll wear them down naturally by walking  on pavements…which can work for some dogs but it definitely doesn’t work  for the majority!

Lets face it, what hound is doing the levels of exercise needed to file their own nails?  

The  result of this poor advice, apart from causing quite a lot of  confusion, is that there are countess hounds out there suffering from  overgrown nails and the consequences that come with them.

While  applicable to all dogs, it is of great importance that greyhound nails  do not touch the floor (when standing on a hard, flat surface…carpets  don’t count!).  Ideally, you want them to be kept as short as safely  possible.

The reason for this is  that when hounds’ nails get overlong and touch the floor, it is  constantly putting pressure into the nail bed which can be very  uncomfortable and alters the way in which the dog walks.

This pressure can lead to nail bed infections, and, over time, it alters the dog’s gait as they try to avoid the discomfort.

This  change in walking pattern is often subtle and goes unnoticed by the  average pet owner, however the consequence of these prolonged periods of  unnatural movement is tension being held between the shoulder blades  and spine.  This can lead to joint problems later down the line, while  causing a great deal of discomfort in the interim!

Although  if there was ever a reason to keep your dogs’ nails short, the murder  scene that occurs after they break, or tear off, a nail while doing mad  zoomies is pretty high up on the leader board!  The blood goes  everywhere!  Have you ever tried to get blood out the sofa cushions?   Not fun.

Additionally, there is  anecdotal evidence that suggests that over-long nails lead to a higher  likeliness of your hound getting corns.

While  nails (black or otherwise) are very easy to work with once you know  what you’re looking for, without regular and proper trim backs, the  quick becomes over long within the nail preventing future nail trims.   This results in a long-term battle to reshape the nail back to a healthy  length.

Ideally, hounds should  have their nails trimmed every 6-8 weeks, but it is so easy for this to  fall low on the priorities, or get forgotten about, in the general  business and flurry of life.

If  they are do end up overlong and need to be shaped back, although  difficult, it can be done with very small and regular trims every 2-4  weeks to encourage the quick to recede.  It can take a long time, but it  is doable for experienced nail trimmers!

Although  don’t expect too much!  While ordinarily in trimming the nail the quick  moves back, some dogs just have infuriatingly stubborn quicks, and they  will never be able to have the nails shaped back.  The best you can  hope for is that by having regular trims you will be able to at least  keep the nails off the floor by a little bit!

Your best bet is to prevent them getting too long in the first place by keeping on top of them.  

It  can be really nerve wracking cutting them yourself but you’ll find that  most greyhound rehoming centres will offer a nail trimming service for a  small donation, so you can book in to have them do it for you!