Panda, my oldest Boston Terrier is a little princess. She's calm, cool, sweet, loving and she loves to look cute and get attention. Jersey, her sister, is a crazy tom-boy bad-ass. So I just like to paint Panda's nails and she loves the pampering. I've painted her nails for dog training graduation, parties, for boredom, etc. It's cute and fun to do. Plus, if you can do it yourself, you don't need to pay the grooming salon to do it for you.

You will need:
Your dog
Comfort level with paws being touched, or see 1st step
Nail polish
Nail cutters, and or file
Clear nail polish
A Camera phone!!

Step 1: Paws Ready?

You have to make sure that your dog is okay with you touching his or her paws. If your dog isn't comfortable with this, you really need to break the uncomfortable-ness for many other reasons than just painting nails. It's about trust and how easily your dog can be handled by yourself and others. It's important for their behavior.

The way you can do this is to play with their paws, often and at random times. I play with my dogs paws while they are laying on me. It's almost like a mini massage and it gets them used to the feelings. This will really help break your dog into the routine of their paws being touched. You should do this, safely, with any other areas that they are uncomfortable with. You don't want them to lack trust in you. :)

Step 2: Cutting, Filing

First things first! You need to cut the nails and or sand them. Don't cut too far, you don't want to cut the "quick", which is actual flesh inside the dog's nails. If you have a dog with dark nails, this will be more of a challenge. Just be careful and watch what you're doing. Personally, I clipped her nails and then sanded any jagged edges.

Here is a video on how to clip your dog's nails properly. :)

Step 3: Time to Paint!

Tips for painting your dog's nails: go with the correct colors and choose wisely! If you dog is dark, with dark nails, go for something bright. If your dog is light...also go for something bright. Basically, some colors won't even show up, or will hardly be noticeable. If you've gone through the work of painting your dog's nails, you want it to show. Stick with reds, pinks, teals, greens. Those will work well! :)

Since Panda loves the attention I give her, and she's gotten used to the treatment, she just chills out the entire time. It's pretty unbelievable, how easy it is to do her nails. I use human nail polish, but I hear that there is dog polish out on the market. It's up to you, if you want to spend the money on it. I don't have to worry about drying times because of her relaxation, so I just use my nail polish.

I do two coats of color and one coat of clear. Her two middle nails stick together, so I just break a q-tip and separate her ... fingers. lol. It works well and it doesn't seem to bother her.

It looks like she's sleeping in the pics, but she's not. It's crazy, she just rests and chills with here eyelids shut. Ultimate comfort. (I know that she's not sleeping because she's a Boston Terrier and they manage to snore up a storm, haha.)

Step 4: Dress Up!

Time to hit the town! Celebrate, do whatever you gotta do. People will notice and they will be impressed and your dog will love the complements. It's all-around happiness and fun. I love it. You guys may think I'm crazy, but Panda doesn't care if I am! :P :D <3

Thanks guys, have fun, and if you paint your dogs nails, post pics here!! :D