Clipping toe nails

bobeyerite

bobeyerite

New member
I just clipped Tony's Toe Nails. I used a grinding wheel. Tony loves it. He just laid on the table and took a nap while I did all 4 paws.

I wonder how do you guys do it and how do your dogs like it?---Bob
 
Right now I still use the clipper. Odie And River I can do no problem. But Lady, she screems bloody murder. She does not like anything done after being on the table at the vet. I am panning on getting one of those pedipaws or whatever they are, What brand do you have.
 
FCS, I am a cheapy. I went to Wal-Mart and got a Dremel Tool. With a barrel type grinder. I use the #432 grinding wheels and the LO speed. It does a nice job. I grind down until I can see a little pink of the quik in the Nial and then I quit. Tony won't let me go any further. He pulls away. I have found other uses for the Dremel tool around the house it a great little tool to have.---Bob
 
I too use the Dremel with the sanding drum attachments. Getting used to the sound is probably the biggest hurdle for most dogs. Just make sure you don't hold the tool for more than 3 seconds on the nail at any one time. Sand a little then go to another nail. You can always return to any unfinished nail to clean it up and it will let the nail cool if it was to get too hot.

Here is a website that describes how to grind the nail with the Dremel: http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html
 
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Birdshooter, you got me confused, 3 SECONDS is all you can grind in one stop on a nail? Tony usually will let me go about 30 Seconds or so. Before it gets to hot and he starts pulling back. I am sure you meant 30 not 3. Heck you barely get going on the nail in that length of time.---Bob
 
I let the vet do it at annual check-up time. It looks painful and there's usually some blood and some growling going on. My dogs run a lot on gravel; that helps them keep their nails short.

Neither of my boys like getting their feet messed with. Even picking out sand burrs is a great ordeal for one of my dogs.


Lefty
 
PBH, That is what I'm using and like I said Tony takes a nap while I do it. I do it once a week. So it does not take long.---Bob
 
My Wife bought me that pedi-cure grinder before as seen on TV, my dogs really like it better than clippers.
 
3 seems a little quick as well; I stop at about 5-7. The reason for the short spurts is to prevent friction and heat which your dog feels but you do not.
 
bob eyerite said:
Birdshooter, you got me confused, 3 SECONDS is all you can grind in one stop on a nail? Tony usually will let me go about 30 Seconds or so. Before it gets to hot and he starts pulling back. I am sure you meant 30 not 3. Heck you barely get going on the nail in that length of time.---Bob
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised how fast things heat up on the nail with the higher speed Dremel. Actually I got the 3 second rule from the link I provided in my post. My Dremel is one speed only and it is fairly high so to avoid the heat build up I just go roughly by that rule of thumb. With a variable speed unit that you can turn down to lower speeds you may be able to get away with going longer.

I guess I've never timed myself, but I don't hold on the nail very long. You can almost smell it when things start to heat up. It's nowhere near 30 seconds, but probably closer to 5-10.


Here is what is posted in the link.

There are some ground rules (pardon the pun!) BEFORE you start:

1. You never, ever apply pressure to the nail with grinding head. Allow the speed of the spinning drum and the friction of the sand to do the grinding. If you apply pressure, it will press on the quick and it will get too hot. Both mean that your dog will be uncomfortable and unhappy.
2. Never keep the Dremel in one spot longer than three seconds and never do the same nail for more than three seconds continuously. Once again, this will cause the head and the nail to get too hot. You will burn and hurt your baby. I alternate around nails and then come back to allow cooling time. I usually do two paws at a time. So, I do one nail for 3 seconds, the next, the next and the last. Switch paws and repeat on other paw. Return to first paw and repeat whole sequence.
3. Always support the toe and nail you are currently working on. There will be some vibration from the grinding and your dog will be more comfortable if you lessen the effect of this by holding the toe in question. Also, this enables you to have better control in case your dog moves the paw so you don't accidentally grind fur or pads instead. Incidentally, if you push slightly on the underside of the pad, it will extend the nail out a bit further for easier grinding:
Click to expand...
 
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Birdshooter, Thank you for clearing that up for me. I do have a 2 speed D-Tool. Yes, I use the lowest speed and I go about 30 seconds and change nails. like you it takes a few passes on each one to get it done. I have a question; How far back do you grind them? I take them back so I just begin to see some pink of the quik. Then I quit on that nail. Am I right? Thank you again.---Bob
 
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I take them back as far as I can. My dogs have dark nails so it's almost impossible to see the quick. There have been a few times where I did get a little greedy and I nicked the quick and drew a little blood. I know pretty much now what I can get away with. I suggest you go to the link I provided in my first post as it has a very good description on how you should shape the nail as well as how far back you can safely go. I will say if you keep the nails short almost to the quick, the quick will recede and allow you to trim the nails even shorter. If you let them go too long you may have to take them to the very edge once a week for a while to get them to recede.
 
My GSP lives in the house so maybe his nails don't wear down as fast as outdoor dogs, especially in the winter with all the snow. This might surprise you but I try to trim them once a week. I use a variable-speed Dremel set at a pretty high rpm with the sanding barrel. I can do one nail in about 10 seconds but I give it some cool down time after about 5 seconds. The nice thing is you can shape the nail rather than just cut it off flat and sharp. Jazz has learned to tolerate the trimming pretty well because I give him a small treat for lying down and another one after every foot. After every foot he lifts his head up to say "OK, where's the treat?"
 
Gee, that sounds like a Tony trick. When I get done trimming I give him some jerky dog treats and he leads down the hall to where they are kept. Don't they get spoiled quick?---Bob
 
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