Dremel

[Guest buttonwillow]

Hi!

Do you use a Dremel tool to trim your dogs' nails?

I've been taking Josie to a neighborhood pet shop to have her nails trimmed, but the person who does the trimming isn't always there, and besides it's less expensive overall to just buy the tool and do it myself. It might work on the cats too! :lol

My concern is that Josie has black nails and I can't see the quick. How will I know where to stop?

I know not to Dremel in one spot for more than a couple seconds, and I've watched a couple of videos, but I'm still a little worried about hurting her.

[OwnedBySummer]

Although I've never done it... I'm told you can 'feel' when to stop because it starts feeling mushy.

[Guest GryffinSong]

No, I don't use a dremel. I use a Black & Decker. It's quieter than the dremel, and has total variability of speeds.

 

I find its more comfortable for the dogs than a clipper because there's no pinch. The dog will gently pull away rather than panic if you get too close, because it warms up and feels weird before it hurts. How do I know? Because I've use the grinder on my own nails, and on my skin, as a quick test (or accident!) to know what it feels like.

 

Use the finer grit sandpaper tube. The heavier grit grinds faster, and makes it easier to go too far.

 

Turn it on a little ways away from your pup to see if they're afraid of the noise. And its much easier to do it if someone else holds your hound for you.

 

Good luck!

[DesiRayMom]

Believe me, the hound will let you know when to stop

[JaneW]

I use one--Greta won't tolerate clippers. She used to not like the Dremel, but now she comes running and flops right down in the right place! I have no idea what changed her mind about it.

[Guest sheila]

Hi!

Do you use a Dremel tool to trim your dogs' nails?

I've been taking Josie to a neighborhood pet shop to have her nails trimmed, but the person who does the trimming isn't always there, and besides it's less expensive overall to just buy the tool and do it myself. It might work on the cats too! :lol

My concern is that Josie has black nails and I can't see the quick. How will I know where to stop?

I know not to Dremel in one spot for more than a couple seconds, and I've watched a couple of videos, but I'm still a little worried about hurting her.

 

I use a dremel and I have since the first time I tried to use a clipper on black nails and I quicked a nail. I actually think the dremel is much easier with black nails. As you dremel you will begin to see this little whitish circle begin in the area you are dremeling. You can go just a tad bit further till the circle darkens and then it's time to stop. I've never quicked a dog using a dremel and I've used them on 5 greyhounds in the past 10 yrs. You can use them on fluffy dogs too but I would recommend sticking their paw in in an old pair of panty hose or something and then stick the nail through, that way the hose will hold back the fur so it doesn't get stuck in the machine. Another very important tip. If you have long hair do not neglect to tie it back before doing nails. I always do, but one time after I was done and had taken my hair down, I noticed a little stray edge and leaned down to shave it off. Sure enough my hair fell over my shoulder and I ended up with a dremel wrapped up to my scalp. Not fun.

 

I can't see any situation where I would attempt to use a dremel on a cat.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I use a Dremel, too. I have the smaller, rechargable one.

I have no idea how Nixon's nails were done before we got him 6 months ago, but Nixon is fine with it.

 

Just make sure your battery is really charged up and you use fresh sandpaper each time.

 

I learned to use the Dremmel years ago when we first got Dobies...they have super hard nails - also black in colour - and the ordinary nail clippers didn't do a very good job.

[Guest june]

I love my Dremel, but only one of my dogs will let me use it. I usually will clip what seems like a safe amount and them "fine tune" the trim with the Dremel (for the one who will let me use it). I've had mine for quite a while and need to replace it. I thought I could just replace the 'battery' part but can't find anyone around here that carries just that part.

june

[gazehund]

Yep. Even on our black boy.

[kolarik1]

I can't see any situation where I would attempt to use a dremel on a cat.

 

I actually used it once on my cat while someone else held her (holding her is required anyway to do her back nails, she has all her nails still). My cat was pretty good about the dremel and it was super quick, but now that I live alone I'm lucky if I can hold her still long enough to use the clippers on her front nails.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

We do. Laika's quicks are super long and it's the only way for us to not hit them.

[Guest Vers]

Stella's quicks are also long, and she loathes clippers. I have two hounds with all black nails, and have only quicked one once with clippers. I got the Dremel multipro, and it has changed trimming completely. Here and other places I read that the quick will shorten with frequent trimmings, and that does seem to be working as well. At least for Stella, the Dremel seems safer and easier.

[dante2zoe]

I dremel, too. None of them particularly like the experience, but cooperate. I do muzzle them with a stool guard with a schmear of peanut butter inside to keep them occupied or at least woozy from the smell of peanuts! I only dremel for a couple seconds on each nail and go back after finishing the whole paw if it needs more. I would rather dremel more often than longer each time so they don't get frustrated with me and it is a routine for our weekend. I also give them a very special treat that they NEVER get any other time after their nails are done. That has seemed to help, too. As for positioning, all of mine seem to prefer lying down. My friend's pups prefer standing. Preferences were learned by trial and error. I also turn it on before approaching any dog and keep it running until all are done. No sudden noises that way.

 

As for hair, good reminder to tie it back! NOT pleasant, trust me! Not how I would like to give myself bangs. Smelled bad, too!

 

As for the cats, I just use regular human nail clippers. That is more of a battle than the dogs.

[Batmom]

On the black nails, what you'll see when you're reaching the quick is a dark spot like the tip of a pencil lead. Sometimes it's not quite that round (we have some vee-shaped ones). That spot is the sheath -- a covering of tough tissue -- over the quick. Stop there.

[Guest KennelMom]

Although I've never done it... I'm told you can 'feel' when to stop because it starts feeling mushy.

 

Uh. no.

 

 

Once you get enough practice under your belt, you just get a sense of where to stop and check. You can't "feel" the quick, but you can see it quite easily. Even on black nails...actually, with a rotary tool, the nail color is immaterial. The nail is basically a husk that grows over the quick, so once you trim back the end, you just start checking every few taps until you can see the husk giving way to the quick. I usually run the dremel underneath the nail (parallel to the floor if the dog was standing with their foot flat on the ground) - this flattens the nails and will usually show you where the quick is, then you know how much you need to take off the end to be at the quick.

 

See the darker area in the pic? That's the quick...

 

Then you just work your way back until you get close to the quick

 

This is going too far - the is all the way back to the quick. You normally want to stop just short of this point

 

As Batmom points out above, you don't really want to expose the quick or go too far back to it. As the dog walks, they may naturally grind the nail back further and "quick" themselves. Plus the quicks are tender. The only reason for taking a nail back as far as the pic above is if you are trying to recede the quick and you need to make sure the dog is only walking on grass/soft surface until the nail grows back over to protect the quick.

 

I just clip our cat's nails. Use a dremel on them? No thanks, I prefer to not have my eyes scratched out of my head

Edited October 17, 2010 by KennelMom

[JaneW]

Thanks Kennelmom! The pics are a big help! I never quite know when I'm getting close and have nipped the quicks a few times.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Those pictures helped me and I've been dremeling for years! THANK YOU!

[Guest buttonwillow]

Wow thank you everyone. This has all been very helpful!

I am still getting the hang of it. Doing just a tiny bit at a time. Josie doesn't mind too much, she just lies there and waits til it's over....

[Guest Ola]

I use both the clippers and the Dremel. The clippers to take an initial snip of the nail, and then the Dremel to work it back further without worrying about cutting the quick and also to smooth the edges.

[Guest BonnieW]

I would like to try a dremel to start doing Draco's nails. Would you mind telling me where/what kind to buy? Do you buy a "pet" dremel at pet store or can I buy a general dremel from any other kind of store??

 

Thanx,

Bonnie

[greymatters]

Love love love the dremel here. Well, I love it and Merlin tolerates it reasonably well . Major pluses: great for black nails and/or long quicks, MUCH easier to avoid hurting the pup, and works for both righty AND lefty humans (don't get me started on the handedness of nail clippers ).

 

JMO but I would suggest a hardware-quality rotary tool rather than a "pet" model, as I would expect it to have more power and last longer. I already had a variable speed corded dremel (400 XPR) so that's what we use.

 

In addition to KennelMom's awesome pics and info above, you might check out this link from DoberDawn (see "how to dremel dog nails" on the left of the page). I found it extremely helpful when I was trying to figure out what equipment to use and how to do this (and I think I first saw the link here on GT).

Edited December 2, 2010 by greygeek

[Guest jettcricket]

I dremmel too and I love it. I have a battery operated Craftsman. I try and do my pups nails twice a month.....their nails grow so quickly. People comment on how nice my greys nails are. Dave used to be very hard to dremmel...he's gotten a bit better. Duffy is my little solder and is a good boy....thou not thrilled he lets me do . Hollie on the other hand...oy vey. You'd think I was cutting off her paws.

[kudzu]

Grinding nails is the only way for me. The dogs accept it so much better & I do it more often now that I no longer dread having to use clippers. I bought a little cordless, rechargeable Dremel Mini Mite 10 years ago. It doesn't have the power of the larger ones but it does the job well. A benefit of the lower power is that if you have any longer-haired dogs, it will stop running if hair gets tangled in the Dremel. That first Dremel still runs like new except the battery that now only holds enough charge for one dog. Since the model style changed I can't find a replacement battery. Early this year I bought a new cordless, rechargeable Dremel but one size up from the Mini Mite in power & battery size. The Low setting on the new Dremel is the same as the Hi on the old one. It works well but I wish I'd stayed with the Mini Mite just because it is smaller & easier to work with. Still, the new one can go through the hordes of hounds we sometimes seem to have here.

 

Will ditto the suggestion to check out Dober Dawn's site That's how I got started. The feel of the grinding was very off putting for me initially. It was honestly months from the time I bought the Dremel before I actually tried to seriously use it. Now's it's nothing. That's how easy grinding becomes with practice. Got 6-7 dogs in the house? Matters not whether they are my own, fosters or friend's happy campers. Once I start doing nails, every dog in the house gets a pedicure. I get lax sometimes so my dogs' nails are not always the shortest by I do try.

 

The easiest way to get started is to grab you dog's favorite treats, start up the Dremel, let it run nearby without doing any grinding & just let your dog listen while gnoshing treats. Then turn it off. The idea? While the grinder runs, treats rain. Grinder stops, treats stop. Do this daily or twice or thrice daily for as long as it takes for you dog to associate Dremel noise with "Oh, boy!!!" Then proceed as fast or as long as needed in increments as small as needed to maintain the "Oh, boy" or at least a "Ho-hum" attitude while you hold the Dremel close briefly without touching a nail then administer treat. Touch a nail for a millisecond without any real pressure, then administer treat. Touch for a couple seconds, then administer treat. Touch a millisecond while applying pressure, then administer treat. And so on. Eventually you can briefly do all 18 nails in one session.

 

The more frequently you Dremel, even if only for a few seconds per nail, the faster & farther the quicks will recede. That is the real magic of getting those saber nails back to a healthy length & easily keeping them that way. It also essentially eliminates any worry about over hitting the quick on black nails. Some folks think I am nuts but when I've had fosters with really long nails I may actually grind the nails every other day or even every day. You can get the nails back to an acceptable length much faster that way. HTH

[Yamaha_gurl]

Hmm, this may be an odd question, but what exactly is a normal good nail length? Do most go by the toes touching the floor rule?

[greymatters]

Definitely agree that you should get your dog(s) used to sight and sound of the dremel by associating it with yummy treats, before you try to grind (or even touch) their nails with it. See kudzu above

 

Another tip - when you do start grinding, make sure that you have a firm grasp of the toe you're working on. If you hold the toe too loosely you'll get a lot of vibration. My boy definitely doesn't care for that!