Mission to Dremel!!!

[Adina P]

As much as I promote use of a dremel tool for doggy nail trimming...I suck at getting the job done. By that I mean I suck at being consistent enough to dremel regularly to actually get those nails to shrink. I am reminded of this every time Rosco scratches across the floor when running fast...or when Thule springs into the air to meet her collar at walk time and her claws scratch my legs. Or when Rosco's fat paws land on my bare foot. Those claws are tooo long!

There is a very distinct image in my mind of a pair of perfectly short doberman nails I saw once at our kennel club meeting. I looked at those nails with amazement at how unclaw-like they were. They are my GOAL:

I heard/read somewhere that to get those nails short enough and to help the quick recede I must dremel a little every 2 days. As of yet I have not been successful...but I will be. Thus I created a chart that now hangs on the fridge and am checking it off each time a doggy gets dremeled. So far since August 16th Rosco and Thule have had SIX nail dremel sessions. RECORD HIGH! So I'm hopeful and determined given that claws and upcoming soft baby skin are not a good match. Wish me luck and if any of you have managed to accomplish short nails via dremeling alone, please share with me your experience and tips!

By the way...I used this guide loosely to get my dogs okay with the dremel: http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html

Mine don't actually lie down like these dobes, but they tolerate it mostly.

[Adina P]

Now that I reread that article more thoroughly it sounds as though my goal of every 2 days is more than necessary...so I'm doing excellently then!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Lucky you. Both of mine don't like it and I don't even try anymore. The trainer will usually dremel nails for us every few weeks. Having more than one person really helps. I do think that the doberman's nails are a bit too short and I wonder if that hinders a dog in any way. Anyway far too intensive work wise for me. I always think that if you do everything you should do, from vacuuming your refrigerator coils and onward, you'd never have time to breathe.

[Adina P]

I agree about fridge coils..LOL.
Beeelieve me...I don't do everything 'I should'. But I am picking this battle because I simply can't stand those claws any more :)

It doesn't hurt them to have them that short...they don't do agility or anything like that...and they'd still have traction.

I haven't had any problem with their toe fur getting caught.

[Diane]

We're having a hard time keeping up with it with just one pup! I think the chart is a great idea, or writing it in the day planner. If it were as easy to get at the doodle nails as it is with a short haired dog (we use the same instruction "guide"), that would make it an easier task. She mentions putting some nylon hose over the paw with nails poked through to prevent the hair from getting caught in the tool but we haven't had a lot of success with that. Any other suggestions??

[F, Calla & Luca]

My trainer has put a plastic bag over the paw and had the nails poke through. Still the hair is what makes it so difficult, even when trimmed, and if you ever get it caught....My dogs have their dew claws and they are really hard to get at.

[Diane]

I'll try the plastic bag idea. Thanks for sharing that!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

I, too, suck at the consistency part. Samantha sits quietly for most of our pedicure times until she says "I have sat for a long time and enough is enough, it isn't my fault you don't do my nails more often and they are long. I'm outta here! Okay, Mom?"
A chart - great idea!
I wasn't aware that the quick can recede with consistent filing. I was afraid of hurting them NOW I will make sure both girls get regular pedicures.
Thanks for the reminder!

[Adina P]

I think I've been doing it slightly wrong on Rosco. His quicks are so far forward and nails SO thick...I think maybe it is getting too hot too fast for him with my technique. So he's gotten MORE hesitant lately whereas he used to sit happily. I still use treats to help him bear through...but when he's really fidgety I put on his leash and we turn it into a 'sit-stay' lesson.

[F, Calla & Luca]

It is recommended that you only stay 3 seconds on a nail, even if you have to return to the same nail again, to avoid heat buildup. I've followed Dober Dawn too but through this web site :
Dremel. you have tto go to the main page to get to the How to Dremel...

[Gwen A]

I used delicious paper thin slices of chicken hotdogs to train Gabby to sit quietly for her dremel. I did do it every morning until I could do two feet without a problem. Now I try to do it a few times a week. She still expects that special treat when we're done.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Wow. Those nails are creepily short. Looks like the dog was butchered. LOL . I was recently at a bookstore this years Christmas Present of the Year is out n shelves (Ripleys Believe it Or Not) There was a picture of an 83 yr old Chinese womans foot that had been bound all her life. The toes were curled under and flattened, and the foot was literally folded in half.. I actually almost lost my lunch.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I actually just read about a woman whose nails made it into Ripley's. She subsequently had a car accident and broke them--sometimes fate needs to intervene. I think extremes are almost always bad.