Long Nails

[Batmom]

How odd. You guys must have some different equipment. Neither of mine -- a small "nail tool" type Dremel and a more powerful multitool -- gets hot. The "gets hot" remark was mentioned once a couple years back, so I checked. I do the whole nail each time, no switching back and forth necessary.

[Guest cruzNhounds]

Be aware of your own hair while Dremeling. I am not going to go into details on how I learned that painful lesson

 

 

[kudzu]

How odd. You guys must have some different equipment. Neither of mine -- a small "nail tool" type Dremel and a more powerful multitool -- gets hot. The "gets hot" remark was mentioned once a couple years back, so I checked. I do the whole nail each time, no switching back and forth necessary.

Batmom,

My equipment doesn't heat up but on the hounds who come in with the very long nails I find the tips of their nails get warm if I try to grind one nail for too long. However, once those are back to a reasonable length the routine pawdicures can be done straight through without issue.

 

I do wonder though if part of the problem comes from the rpm of the equipment? Mine are cordless & the only one I find I have to be careful with is the more high powered one with the high rpm capacity.

[Guest verthib]

How odd. You guys must have some different equipment. Neither of mine -- a small "nail tool" type Dremel and a more powerful multitool -- gets hot. The "gets hot" remark was mentioned once a couple years back, so I checked. I do the whole nail each time, no switching back and forth necessary.

 

Lol not the equipment, the nail.

[3vagreys]

I don't have to worry too much about overheating. My dogs pull their foot back when it starts to get uncomfortable.

 

By the way, it took 2 of us, but we trained our little nervous girl to accept the dremel by putting a bowl coated with peanut butter in front of her face. While the peanut butter lasts, she will let us do it.

[Guest jettcricket]

Be aware of your own hair while Dremeling. I am not going to go into details on how I learned that painful lesson

 

 

Ahhhh, yes, happened me too. If you have long hair make sure you pull it back!

[Guest BassoonMo]

I had a question related to this. We have a new grey that came to us with REALLY long nails (causing her toes to splay out). I have no interest in trimming them myself; I have one dog whose nails I used to trim, but I cut the quick once and now she won't let me near her feet. How often can I take her in to get them trimmed and how long will it take to get them back to a normal length? (Her nails are black, so I have a hard time telling where the quick even is.)

[KF_in_Georgia]

One thing to be aware of, whether you're clipping or grinding: The nails on the middle two toes of your dog's back feet are likely to be MUCH shorter than any other nails. Lots of dogs seem to wear those down substantially when walking. Just don't assume that the same amount of nail needs to get removed on every toe. Your dog's walking style will produce different wear on different nails...and even on different feet.

[krissn333]

Carrie's nails were atrocious when I got her...poor girl has had a stroke and already walks funny, and then on top of it her nails are super long and make her toes splay out I've had her almost a year now and we're getting better, but they still are not anywhere near what I would consider a good length. They are just too long, poor kid I try to dremel about once a week with her. She tolerates it pretty well, but the side affected by her stroke is very sensitive so her leg sort of jumps every time I touch the dremel to her nails. She really doesn't like clipping at all though, so we just do our best.

[jetcitywoman]

I had a question related to this. We have a new grey that came to us with REALLY long nails (causing her toes to splay out). I have no interest in trimming them myself; I have one dog whose nails I used to trim, but I cut the quick once and now she won't let me near her feet. How often can I take her in to get them trimmed and how long will it take to get them back to a normal length? (Her nails are black, so I have a hard time telling where the quick even is.)

 

If it was me, I'd just dremel them back to the length where they didn't bend her toes. Then a couple weeks later go a little shorter. But it's really super important to get the toes back into proper alignment when she walks.

 

For the comment about the dremel taking longer, it depends on the power of the tool. Battery powered dremels take longer than the plug-in kind. I once helped to do final clean up on a handful of dogs the morning before adoption day. One of the dogs had a cast taken off a broken rear leg just before she was shipped to us. Since she wasn't walking on it, they'd let her toenails on that one foot get like two inches long. I used the plug-in dremel and ground them back to long-but-walkable and it took me less than 5 minutes. When we were done she walked SO much better, it was clearly a relief!

[Batmom]

How odd. You guys must have some different equipment. Neither of mine -- a small "nail tool" type Dremel and a more powerful multitool -- gets hot. The "gets hot" remark was mentioned once a couple years back, so I checked. I do the whole nail each time, no switching back and forth necessary.

 

Lol not the equipment, the nail.

 

That doesn't get hot here either.

[greypuppyluv]

How odd. You guys must have some different equipment. Neither of mine -- a small "nail tool" type Dremel and a more powerful multitool -- gets hot. The "gets hot" remark was mentioned once a couple years back, so I checked. I do the whole nail each time, no switching back and forth necessary.

 

Lol not the equipment, the nail.

 

That doesn't get hot here either.

 

I use the cordless Dremel 7700 and if I leave it on a nail too long, the nail will heat up (I can tell because I have my fingers right there and I can feel it myself). Phaelin will pull his foot back also. I use it on the lower (10,000 rpm) speed, unless the battery is dying.

 

When we recently had our foster whippet, Jeremy, who came in with pretty long nails, I just used the Dremel on each nail for a short time and then started over on the first nail again before moving on to the next foot. I was able to get his nails to a point where it wasn't painful for him to walk, but I had to keep doing it every week.

[Guest IndyHound]

Beckett has long nails. And after he broke his second one in a month i was at my whits end. I've noticed with him i have to dremel about once a week. And each time I get closer and closer to the quick. But it neither seems to grow nor shrink. The two that have broken (we are at about the 5 month mark) are growing so very slooooooooowly. They are barely an 1/8 of an inch long now.

[kudzu]

... I've noticed with him i have to dremel about once a week. And each time I get closer and closer to the quick. But it neither seems to grow nor shrink. ...

 

If you haven't gotten to the point where you are grinding the section of the nail closest to the quick then it is not likely it will recede yet. Once you get close to the quick then you will start to see it receding.

[Guest Tequila]

We grind every 2 weeks.

 

Tequila falls asleep!

[Guest Sonya_Thomas]

So, I bought the cordless Dremel 3000 yesterday at HD. The rpm's are 5,000 to 35,000. I also picked up the 120 grit sandpaper drums, per the instructions on the link that was posted earlier in this thread. I could not find the tool the recommended (the cordless Dremel multipro), but she says she keeps the rpm's between 5,000 and 7,500, so I figure the one I purchased should be ok, or is the Dremel too much tool?

 

Sonya

[Guest Sportingfields]

A few things I've found out over the years that help with successful nail trimming.

If in doubt how your dog will react, muzzle. It's for both of your safety.

Soft nails are easier to trim than hard ones. So wait until after a bath, or romp in the snow or rain soaked grass. Dry feet thoroughly first.

If you use clippers, buy the most expensive one on the shelf. There is a huge difference between the 10 & 30 dollar ones.

If you are new to cutting nails, practice with the clippers on the tips of raw carrots. You should be able to slice off a milimeter of carrot/nail, paying attention to the correct angle. If your clippers leave ragged edges or split the nails, it's time for a new blade or a better model.

If nails are extra long, cut back with clippers first, then shape with dremel.

Late afternoon sunshine streaming in the window, if wonderful light to cut nails. You can see the bloodline, even on black nails by holding up the paw to the light.

It's better to keep nail trimming session short & trim more frequently, than having a long drawn out session once a month.

My personal optimal nail length is to be able to slide a quarter under the nails. IMO, Any nail that touches the floor "and" distorts the toes when standing on a hard surface, is too long.

Don't forget the good doggie biskies when finished

 

Edited February 21, 2012 by CottageHoundDesigns

[krissn333]

I have a cordless Lithium-Ion battery powered Dremel. Top speed is 35,000 RPM. The dial goes from 1-10. I usually use it on 10, full speed. When you're doing this, it should literally be touch, touch, touch, touch. Don't hold it on there for any length of time at all. Also make sure you're using the sanding bit, not the grinding stone bit or YEAH, that'll get hot REAL quick.

 

I can do all 6 dogs in about 15 minutes. That's accounting for two difficult little iggies who wiggle around all the time.

 

If I can get someone to take video of me doing it this weekend, I will.

[KF_in_Georgia]

So, I bought the cordless Dremel 3000 yesterday at HD. The rpm's are 5,000 to 35,000. I also picked up the 120 grit sandpaper drums, per the instructions on the link that was posted earlier in this thread. I could not find the tool the recommended (the cordless Dremel multipro), but she says she keeps the rpm's between 5,000 and 7,500, so I figure the one I purchased should be ok, or is the Dremel too much tool?

 

Sonya

 

PetSmart's restrictions on nail grinders in their grooming salons is that the maximum allowable speed is 15,000 rpms. I have an older Dremel (at home) that has two settings--7,500 and 15,000--and it's fine (and safe) on my greyhounds, even at the higher setting. My work Dremel (I'm a dog groomer) is 5,000 to 10,000 rpms, and sometimes the battery fails before I finish the nails on a large dog. If I could find another Dremel like my home version, I'd get it for work.

 

If you need to use your Dremel on a non-greyhound, make sure the dog doesn't have hair long enough to wrap around the grinder. (I did nail grindings yesterday on two full-coated Cavalier King Charles Spaniels---with fuzzy feet. Not fun.) And if you have long hair, pull it back and secure it before you work on your dog's nails.

 

And to add to CottageHoundDesigns' suggestions: If you need to distract your hound, put peanut butter inside the muzzle and let your dog concentrate on licking the PB while you concentrate on the nails.

[Guest emma]

I saw clippers which had a light so you new when to clip - green light that it's safe to clip and red light signaling there is a quick inside. Does anybody have any experience with these?

Edited February 22, 2012 by emma

[Guest driser]

I have been using the dremel every other week for months and our guy's overgrown quicks are indeed shrinking back. I'm able to get the nails shorter and shorter as the weeks go by, but they still touch the hardwood when standing. Slowly but surely we'll get them short enough to be just shy of touching the ground.

 

I too tried the clippers, but after the first YELP, put them back in their package and returned them the next day. My husband's dremel works so much better and now our guy actually lies back whilst he's getting his pedicure...knowing he'll get a piece of kibble every couple minutes. We live in a very cold dry winter area so I've also been massaging olive oil into his dry pads which has helped with cracks immensely. I just sit there with him until they are dry so he doesn't lick them. Oh how he wants to!

 

A few things I've found out over the years that help with successful nail trimming.

If in doubt how your dog will react, muzzle. It's for both of your safety.

Soft nails are easier to trim than hard ones. So wait until after a bath, or romp in the snow or rain soaked grass. Dry feet thoroughly first.

If you use clippers, buy the most expensive one on the shelf. There is a huge difference between the 10 & 30 dollar ones.

If you are new to cutting nails, practice with the clippers on the tips of raw carrots. You should be able to slice off a milimeter of carrot/nail, paying attention to the correct angle. If your clippers leave ragged edges or split the nails, it's time for a new blade or a better model.

If nails are extra long, cut back with clippers first, then shape with dremel.

Late afternoon sunshine streaming in the window, if wonderful light to cut nails. You can see the bloodline, even on black nails by holding up the paw to the light.

It's better to keep nail trimming session short & trim more frequently, than having a long drawn out session once a month.

My personal optimal nail length is to be able to slide a quarter under the nails. IMO, Any nail that touches the floor "and" distorts the toes when standing on a hard surface, is too long.

Don't forget the good doggie biskies when finished

 

 

GREAT picture!! My dream length for our guy's nails! Slowly but surely...

[Guest emma]

I saw clippers which had a light so you new* when to clip - green light that it's safe to clip and red light signaling there is a quick inside. Does anybody have any experience with these?

 

*I meant knew not new of course... typo...

[Guest dragontearz]

I'd buy a set that let me know if I was going to hit the quick or not in a heartbeat-I caught one of Obie's quicks yesterday and oy, it was not fun getting it to stop, let alone the spots of blood all over the floor in the house!

[Guest emma]

I'd buy a set that let me know if I was going to hit the quick or not in a heartbeat-I caught one of Obie's quicks yesterday and oy, it was not fun getting it to stop, let alone the spots of blood all over the floor in the house!

 

Yeah I would buy them too but I'm not sure if they really work and if the blades are sharp enough too. cause I didn't find a review on them...

This is where I found them:

 

link

[JAJ2010]

Just did a blog post with videos when I dremeled last night. Hopefully it will help some new dremellers (That's a cool new word)

 

http://chuckleatchaos.com/