Gun Dog Forum

Whats hour method. Even as youn pups i struggle with half my docgs

2 things I've learned , especially with pups - no need to do every foot at the same sitting . I do one or two and treat the dog.

No need to get as close as you can to the quick .

I have been use a cordless Dremel tool for years with good results.

I think a lot of it is US getting used to trimming their nails. There is a pet groomer near me that will cut my dog's nails for $5, just drop in, no appointment. She let me pet and praise the dog, takes about 5 minutes and she's done. Easiest option I have found so far.

I've got one dog that will fight you all the way on the front paws... She's small so we hold her and she squirms and struggles to prevent you from trimming and screams and cries when you trim the front nails. But the crazy part is that she relaxes and almost goes to sleep on the rear paws. Almost like you're giving her a massage and she becomes droggy. Weird.

And we started out by trimming with the dremel every other day when she was a pup to get her used to it. And she has always hated the trimming on the front paws.

I am more nervous than the dog when I trim nails. I am always so afraid that I will hurt them. I just go to the groomer.

We start them as baby puppies by going through the motions without actually trimming the nails. Hold the feet, separate the toes, squeeze a little, restrain the pup, etc. They get used to having their feet handled and worked on within a few days. Usually the pup is really interested and pestering about the nail clippers, and this gets them used to them without either us or the pup stressing out. When the nails grow to those sharp little hooks, tip them using people nail clippers. Within a couple weeks move on to regular dog nail trimmer. If nails are tipped frequently you never have to worry about cutting long nails too short.
We also do lots of ear exams, teeth inspections, and restraint when our pups first come home. It gets them used to procedures that they'll have to endure as adult dogs. Almost always a pup will object with a snap or attempted bite and we welcome that...it's a great opportunity to correct that behavior before it starts.
If I had a problem older dog that went bonkers about nail trims I'd go through the whole routine as for a puppy, only I'd muzzle him first.
The effort pays off when you have a dog that will tolerate almost any handling for treating ears, scraping teeth, grooming, vet visits, or whatever else they need.

Neil wrote:I have been use a cordless Dremel tool for years with good results.

What Neil said!

The dremel has made our life so much better! 12 dogs, 48 feet......dremel all the way. I start older dogs (fosters, etc.) with peanut butter and one nail at a time. Slow and steady usually works. Quit while the dog is behaving and submitting to it. Don't keep going until they throw a fit.

Neil wrote:I have been use a cordless Dremel tool for years with good results.

I have one dog (an elderly lab) that I had to quit using the dremel on. As soon as the dremel starts, she begins trembling so badly it is impossible to do her nails. I was working on something in the garage with the dremel once with the door open to the house, poor girl crawled into a closet and buried herself under a bunch of shoes she was so scared of the noise.

I put my dogs on the training table, in a "whoa." Pick up one foot flexed back (as if running), and treat after every clip for a few weeks. If it's really dicey, feed them while you're trimming. Eventually, treat or praise every second nail, etc. until you offer one or two when done. I think the fact that they have to work at standing on three feet helps. Good luck.

When using a Dremel do you use a sanding drum bit? I haven't had much success trimming my dog's nails with the clippers...I seem to leave them much longer than when the groomers or Vet staff clips nails. Is there a certain angle or length from the nail curve you clip or grind to? Black nails are the worst how do you know where to stop when clipping them.

If you look at the underside of your dog's nails, you can see where the long dead hook part joins the thick live part - a kind of V shape goes out. The very tip of that V is about where the quick is so you trim in front of that. Also, you can take off a little nail at a time and watch the what the clipped end looks like. On black nails the dead stuff is a grayish color, but when you get near the quick you will see a darker dot in the center of the trimmed end.
If you should accidentally hit the quick a little flour will help stop the bleeding if you don't have any Quick Stop available.
I dremel the sharp edges off my dogs' newly trimmed nails so they don't tear up the furniture upholstery or snag a rug.
The drum sander attachment works. If your dog has long hair on his toes, don't let it get wound up.
I've never tried to dremel down really long nails, but I would think it would take forever. You have to go slow and make sure the nail doesn't get too hot. Maybe someone who does nails that way will come along with tips for you. But it seems to me that you would trim back with nail clippers, dremel a bit, then use the dremel regularly and often if you don't want to use clippers any more.
FWIW, i've found that the silvery guillotine type clippers are not optimal. The large plier type beats them all to heck.

I always start using the Dremmel on the pups when they are a few weeks old so they will be use to it. Try to do it every week while they are little and just for a minute or two. Not really worrying about the nails but just training to have their feet worked on.

shags wrote:If you look at the underside of your dog's nails, you can see where the long dead hook part joins the thick live part - a kind of V shape goes out. The very tip of that V is about where the quick is so you trim in front of that. Also, you can take off a little nail at a time and watch the what the clipped end looks like. On black nails the dead stuff is a grayish color, but when you get near the quick you will see a darker dot in the center of the trimmed end.
If you should accidentally hit the quick a little flour will help stop the bleeding if you don't have any Quick Stop available.
I dremel the sharp edges off my dogs' newly trimmed nails so they don't tear up the furniture upholstery or snag a rug.
The drum sander attachment works. If your dog has long hair on his toes, don't let it get wound up.
I've never tried to dremel down really long nails, but I would think it would take forever. You have to go slow and make sure the nail doesn't get too hot. Maybe someone who does nails that way will come along with tips for you. But it seems to me that you would trim back with nail clippers, dremel a bit, then use the dremel regularly and often if you don't want to use clippers any more.
FWIW, i've found that the silvery guillotine type clippers are not optimal. The large plier type beats them all to heck.

Thanks Shags...Great info! I'll feel more confident when working the next nail clipping.

I just went thru this last summer with my then 8 week old puppy. But you could use this on an adult too who has never had it done.

With pup in my lap, i started by handling his paws and individual toes, several sessions each day. Soon thereafter I used a metal hand nail file and started lightly filing his sharp little puppy nails. Hold his paws LIGHTLY as too much pressure will cause him to pull back.

This is the conditioning process to you handling his feet. At first just do one Paw at a time and then later do another etc.. Over the course of a few days (depending on the individual) you should be able to do his paws with a hand file without issue.

Next, I bought a battery operated Dremel(Model ?) that had a low and high speed setting. Using the low setting (much quieter) I turn it on and just hovered it around him all the while making no fuss whatsoever. Even put the non-sanding end against his feet so he can sense the vibration. Now.... you are conditioning to the sound and feel of the Dremel.

I was actually quite surprised how quickly he took to the sound without issue. When it came to actually touching his nail for the first time(again on low setting) I just used a quick light touch and withdraw the dremel. Check for his reaction and proceed if no issues. This is a process and each dog/pup may be different on how long they come to accept it. I don't remember exactly how long it took before I was actually able to do an entire paw or paws without him making a fuss, but it wasn't more than a couple weeks.

ONe trick that worked for me during the initial period and may be best on a young pup is to have a chew toy or anything that will keep their mind occupied, while you are doing this. I found that without anything to keep his mind occupied, he was a little more apt to resist me. But soon i was able to do all four paws in a single sitting on LOW setting.The higher speed setting was not needed for his small nails.

The whole trick to Dremeling is the conditioning in small steps and a reward/treat plus lots of praise at the end of each session.

What SHAGS says!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Program the pup for ANYTHING you want to handle them for later. It won't be a big deal later.