How Fast Do Dogs' Toenails Grow?

In nature, long toenails aren't necessarily a bad thing for dogs. After all, they're useful for everything from self-defense to digging deep in the soil. In cozy indoor home environments, however, long nails not only aren't necessary, they also can sometimes be a hazard to your beloved pooch.

Since doggie toenails grow pretty quickly, you should aim to trim them once a week, or at least once in every two weeks, advises the website HealthyPet.com of the American Animal Hospital Association. Although there is no set growth rate, and it always depends on the specific pooch, toenail growth often is apparent within days of a trimming session. If your dog is particularly nervous and fearful about nail trimming, the job may be one for a veterinarian or qualified canine groomer.

Although toenail trimming can certainly keep your pet looking neat and tidy, it also can benefit his health and well-being. If his toenails are overly long, they can press hard against your floors and make moving painful, awkward and unpleasant. Neglected nails also often start to grow in twisted manners, sometimes even colliding with dogs' paw pads, leading to possible infection. Excessively lengthy toenails can also get trapped into snags around your home -- another serious danger. They can interfere with your pet's manner of walking, too, which can ultimately bring upon issues with his skeleton.

Regardless of whether your dog's toenails take days or a couple of weeks to grow back, you can figure out if he needs a routine trimming usually just by looking at them. If the nails make any contact with the ground while your canine is standing, then he's ready for a trim. If you hear snapping sounds from the floor when your doggie walks over it, then he's definitely due for a trim.

You might notice that your dog's front nails grow a lot faster than his rear toenails. Since canines generally move themselves forward using their back leg muscles more than their front, their back toenails tend to experience significantly more pressure -- and therefore are ground down, as well.