5 Best Nail Clippers for Dogs

The older I get, the less I feel inclined to do things for myself. Just as an example, we had a bad wind storm back in October, and a good bit of the roof on my chicken coop got blown off. Naturally, it had to be repaired. The coop isn’t really all that tall – maybe 12 feet at the peak, but I got thinking about having to drag out the ladder, buy the roofing shingles, then schlep the bundles of roofing shingles up the ladder, deal with my fear of heights (which is not getting any better as I get older – in fact, I tend to freeze up pretty bad a couple of rungs up the ladder) – anyway, I decided to throw money at it instead. Ended up hiring someone to fix the roof for me.

It’s not that I couldn’t have fixed the roof myself – it’s just that paying someone else to do it was a lot easier.

I Don’t Throw Money at Everything!

That said, I don’t want you to think that my solution for every little thing is to haul out my wallet. In fact, there are still a lot of jobs that I take pride in being able to do. One is being able to clip Janice and Leroy’s nails on my own. I guess it’s kind of a point of pride, too – rightly or wrongly, I suppose I think of trips to the groomer as something that owners of little “foo foo” dogs do.

So, many years ago, I invested in what I thought were the best nail clippers for dogs, and once Janice, Leroy, and I got over the learning curve, it was smooth sailing. It can be for you, too.

Now, before we talk about the best nail clippers for dogs, let’s discuss nail clipping in general.

Getting Started

When Janice and Leroy were puppies, they were a handful. I guess most puppies are, generally speaking. One of the biggest issues we had, though, was the nail clipping. I’d go out of my way to soothe them, make sure they were comfortable, give them treats, and so on, but the minute I’d approach their toes, it was “Hands off!” It took a lot of work and a lot of praise to get them onside with having their feet handled, never mind having their toenails clipped.

Finally, I ended up taking the approach of walking them until they were totally exhausted before I even attempted the nail clipping. I found that the best way to approach the task was to have them half asleep before I started.

Having figured that out, I was a bit leery of clipping too close – I really didn’t want to have all my hard work undone by cutting into the quick. Boxers typically have dark nails, so this was a very real possibility. I erred on the side of caution, clipping only a little. Later, as I got more confident, I’d go a little further.

Today, with a few years of experience under my belt, I’m able to clip my dogs’ nails confidently. One thing I never did, though, was try to be cheap when it came to the nail clippers. The best nail clippers for dogs will get a toenail shortened in just one clip, with no pulling or yanking. They’ll cost you a bit more than the “dollar store” variety, but believe me, they’re worth it and not all that much more expensive. In fact, you can get a really good set of clippers for about $20 – more on that in a bit when I tell you about the clippers I’m currently using.

How Often to Clip?

There’s really no correct answer to this question. A dog that spends most of his time loafing around the house is going to need his nails clipped more frequently than one that spends a fair bit of time walking on hard surfaces. Or doing something like I recently saw on a YouTube video.

This dog’s nails are getting a serious workout, and I’m thinking that they don’t need to be clipped all that often, if ever! Most dogs, though, are going to need a trim from time to time.

Basically, just keep an eye on your dog’s nails. Or better yet, listen. If you hear “clicking” when your dog walks on a hard surface, chances are that it’s time for a trim.

Types of Dog Nail Clippers

There are three main kinds of clippers. Probably the most common is the guillotine, which sounds nasty but isn’t. Guillotine clippers consist of a retractable blade and a squeezable handle. The blade is usually enclosed in a type of “O-shaped” structure that fits over the nail, and then when you squeeze the handle, the nail is clipped. These are the kinds of nail clippers most often found in dollar stores, and that’s where you can run into problems.

The thing with cheap guillotine clippers is that they usually end up in discount stores because they haven’t passed the quality test – the blades are not sharp enough, and they can tear the dog’s nail instead of clipping it cleanly. Guillotine clippers, even the ones that do pass the quality tests, are hardly ever suitable for big dogs.

Scissor clippers are very popular, and many groomers consider them to be the best nail clippers for dogs. As you can tell from the name, they’re scissors. They’re easy to use and can cut through tough nails.

Rotary sanders are very much like a Dremel tool in that they are motorized and employ a sanding wheel to file down your dog’s nails. There are a couple of downsides to rotary sanders, though, and for that reason, I wouldn’t consider them to be the best nail clippers for dogs. For one thing, the process of nail trimming can be slow, and your dog could end up being impatient. Also, many dogs do not react well to the sound of the tool. This type of nail trimmer will deliver very good results, but unless your dog is very calm and very patient (Janice and Leroy were neither calm nor patient), you would be better off choosing another type of trimmer.

What About Other Tools?

You’ve probably seen those ads for scissors that will cut through pennies and wondered if you could use them to clip your dog’s toenails or even contemplated using kitchen shears.

My take on this is that the best tool for the job is the one that’s made specifically for the job. The best nail clippers for dogs have blades that are shaped to cut cleanly, handles that are designed for the purpose, and often guards in place as well to prevent accidents.

The other thing is that if you don’t use tools that are specific to the purpose of clipping your dog’s nails, you’re running risks other than injuring the dog. I’m the first person to admit that my sanitation standards are pretty low, but I’d still never use scissors on my dogs’ toenails that I planned to use later in my kitchen, no matter how well I cleaned them.

So, get the right tool for the job and reserve it for the job. With that in mind, here are my picks for the 5 best nail clippers for dogs.

5 Best Nail Clippers for Dogs On Amazon

RollinPets Dog Grooming Clippers

If you’ve read any of my other “best products” posts, you know that I don’t usually say, “This is the one!” I’m going to break the pattern here. I’ll give you four other options (all of which are very good), but I’m going to tell you at the outset that RollinPets Dog Grooming Clippers are the ones that I use for Janice and Leroy. They’re made of rust-proof stainless steel, wonderfully sharp, so easy to use, and they even have a safety stop and lock mechanism that will keep you from cutting the nails too short.

Another thing that I really like about these clippers is that they come with a cloth bag to stow them in. I don’t know about you, but I’m not the best person for leaving things in a “safe place” and then being able to find them later. With the colorful bag included with these clippers, I just hang them on my coat rack, and I can always find them. That might sound like a small advantage, but if your “safe place” is like mine usually is (in other words, an “I’ll never find it again” place), that bag is a huge plus.

These clippers go for just over $20 at Amazon, and I think they’re worth every penny.

Safari 770045 Large Professional Nail Trimmer

Here’s another pair of stainless steel clippers with rubber grips, a safety guard, and a locking feature. [easyazon_link identifier=” B0002ARQV4″ locale=” US” nw=”y” tag=”natur0da-20″ cart=”n” cloak=”y” localize=”y” popups=”n” type=” link” link_id=”2289″]Safari 770045 nail trimmers[/easyazon_link] are great for medium to large dogs because the blades are well-spaced. These clippers are also very sturdy, and at about $15, they’re a great deal as well.

Bushel Dog Nail Clippers

Bushel Dog Nail Clippers are great if you have a smaller dog. I don’t think I’d use them on Janice or Leroy, but I had no trouble at all recommending them to my friend Joanne (she’s the one from the dog park who has the little bat-eared purse dog) or to Debbie (Mom of Chuck the Beagle and Dingus the Mini Schnauzer). They’re sturdy, and they have all the necessary features, like stainless steel blades, rubber grips, and a safety guard. They also come with a little nail file that tucks away in the handles, so touch-ups can be done easily. They’re also in the $15 price range.

Resco Original Professional Dog Claw Clippers

We’re still in the same price range with the Resco Original clippers. Ordinarily, I’d shy away from guillotine-style clippers, but Resco has been in business for a long time – in fact, they actually invented guillotine clippers. What distinguishes Resco from other manufacturers of guillotine clippers is that the blades are replaceable.

The downside to these clippers is that there is no safety guard, so you have to know what you’re doing. If you’re an old hand at clipping your dog’s nails, though, these clippers will serve you well.

Wagglies Professional Dog Nail Clippers

With a retail price of about $12, which includes a nail file and even an e-book to show you all the ins and outs of clipping your dog’s nails, Wagglies Professional Dog Nail Clippers are a good deal. They’re best for small claws, but they’re also strong, so you should also be able to handle a large dog’s nails, provided that he’s cooperative.

I particularly like the angled tip on these clippers – they make life a lot easier if you find that you have to maneuver yourself into odd positions when clipping your dog’s nails. They also come with a money-back guarantee and a lifetime warranty.

So, these are my picks for the 5 best nail clippers for dogs. One thing that I have to tell you, though, is that in isolating the final four, I found a lot of overlap – in fact, if you shop around, you might find almost the same clippers under a different name, just in different colors. I’ve tried to choose the lowest prices, but of course, prices can fluctuate. I wouldn’t want you to pay more than you have to, so by all means, if you can find the same thing under a different brand name at a lower price, buy it.

As to my top pick, though, it’s definitely RollinPets. They’re more expensive, but my experience with Janice and Leroy tells me that they’re worth it.

The Final Word

So, I didn’t replace that chicken coop roof myself. And I think that in the not-too-distant future, my hot water heater is going to have to be replaced. I installed the original one myself, but I think I’ll be throwing money at this job the same way I did with the roofing project.

Dog nail clipping, though? With the best nail clippers for dogs, I can practically deal with the toenails in my sleep, enjoy bonding time with Janice and Leroy, and save a lot of money in the bargain. I figure that whatever I do with my guys just brings us closer together, and I want that closeness for myself – it’s not something I’m going to hand off to a groomer. Approach with caution and invest in good clippers, and you can also save money and enjoy quality bonding time with your dog.