Currently I make dog treats and I am a canine massage therapist and I make essential oil based flea products for dogs and cats. I used to be a groomer. My expectations for using a dremel where high. It does not cause as many nail bleeds as a nail clipper but if you press hard and keep going the nail can still bleed. However, it vibrates the nail and this can be a problem. So here is my mini guide to nail clipping.
Heavy Grit Nail File – Puppies and any super sensitive dog can benefit from a nail file. First you begin to associate good things with your dog letting you handle their feet. Treats, toys, love, whatever is a high value reward for YOUR dog. Stay below their freak-out threshold. This means that if your dog freaks out the minute you get close to their foot you stay just outside that threshold and reward. You slowly move closer and closer to the foot each time stopping just before they reach their freak-out threshold and you reward. If you go too far just stop for the day and continue tomorrow.
Once you can handle the foot without a reaction you touch the file to the nail and if everything is still good you give a stroke and so on. This requires patience and determination but you will soon be filing your dog’s nails. If you file your dogs nails regularly you will not have to do anything else.
Nail Clipper – Only use pliers type clippers or scissor type clippers. Guillotine style clippers have a cutter on only one side and are much more likely to crush or pinch a nail. Any nail clipper you use MUST be super sharp. As soon as they begin to dull throw them away and get a new one! If your dog’s nails are very long and there is a nice chunk of nail that you can cut without hitting the quick then DO NOT use a grinder. Grinding large amounts of a nail are usually more upsetting to a dog than one quick clip. When clipping a nail don’t softly squeeze the clipper. One firm squeeze and your through. A firm squeeze IS the way to go. If your dog has dark colored nails and you can’t see the quick, cut small slivers and look at the nail from the bottom where you just cut. As you get close to the quick you will begin to see what looks like a black dot in the center of the bottom of the nail. This is the vein canal and you are getting close to the quick and you have gone far enough. In light colored nails the vein canal will show as a pink dot. If the nails are still touching the floor at this point you should cut a sliver a week until you get the nails just above the floor. Each time you cut a nail close to the quick the quick recedes a little and in a week you can cut another sliver. If you wait two weeks or more then the quick is right back where it was and you will not be able to get the nail any shorter than the last time.
Dremel – Good for finishing any nail to remove the sharp edges or to slightly shorten a nail. If there is long hair you can slide your free hand under the hair and pull it back. Long hair can get wrapped around a dremel and upset you and your dog!!!
Walking on concrete helps any dogs nails and with enough walking some dogs never need their nails cut. Dewclaws never touch the ground so they must ALWAYS be checked!
Dang, that might be the longest post I ever wrote!
