# Nails



## redrover

Does anyone else's V have what I endearingly call "beast claws"?

Explanation: Jasper's nails are insane. They grow ridiculously fast. It had been recommended to me to start dremeling them, because I could get closer to the quick, which would recede, and then I could get them shorter and shorter. He used to get nail bed injuries, and dremeling has definitely prevented them from recurring. However, his quicks? Will not recede.

Not only do I have to dremel his nails at least once a week, ideally twice, because of how fast they grow, but his quicks do not seem to want to recede. I get as close as possible to them. I have never been able to get his nails short enough that they do not click on the floors, as was recommended to me. I joke that he's too healthy.

It doesn't really bother me, and the dremel makes things go faster. It's certainly nothing major and quite manageable. But I was just wondering if there were any other beast claws out there!


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## MilesMom

We do!!! If Miles wasn't such a baby about the whole situation we would love to do it twice a week, he needs it. Trimmed last weekend and they are already way too long, we thought as he got older it would get better but they keep growing! Especially his middle 2 on each front paw.


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## ZDOGSMOM

Count Ziva in to the 'TALON NAIL GROUP' ... I swear I could dremel hers every other day! I would swear she's slurping 'grow nail elixir' at night when I'm asleep!


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## threefsh

YES. Both of our pups have nails that grow insanely fast... & that's with the regular hikes/hunting trips. *sigh*


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## lilyloo

Slightly off topic, but any tips on using the dremel? Ruby has become absolutely terrified of the nail clippers. She'll shake and pant and won't sit still, even with 2 of us holding her. it has become impossible to trim her nails with standard clippers. 

Also, her nails are so dark I can't see the quick and am afraid I'll nick her.


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## Carolina Blue

I'm trying to get Kiya used to the Dremel. Agreed, the nails grow super fast! So far I have only been able to get her fronts done over a span of a week .. I think the Dremel is far more safer and efficient than the traditional clippers.


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## MilesMom

My husband holds Miles and I dremel. It's a two person job in our house!


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## KB87

Haeden also has ridiculous nails that grow overnight it seems. However, between his walks on the cement sidewalks in our neighborhood and the floor at daycare he is able to keep his to a manageable length without us having to trim them which is really nice.

The thought of trying to use a dremel on him...oy. There's no way in **** he would be OK with that unless sedated. When we do trim his nails we have to use the old fashion kind by hand and that takes up to 3 days to do because we can only get a nail or two at a time from his bucking around. Usually I send him off to the groomer and have them deal with the bucking bronco. Every time I pick him up they say "he was great" which is total BS because if he was great I'd be doing it myself!


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## candi30

We have only done our puppy's nails once so far. By hand.
My wife held her and distracted her with peanut butter and I was able to clip them all no problem.
I hope every time goes as smoothly.

I don't know how she would react to a dremel. The noise would defnitely prevent us from using our current (sneaky) strategy.


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## threefsh

Pups take to a dremel much faster than you'd think. My mom's chihuahuas would hyperventilate and scream when she clipped their nails using a regular clipper. We dremeled their nails for the first time a few months ago and my mom was shocked. No fits of screaming and hyperventilating. Their nails look great and they don't mind the dremel! It's a much more natural feeling for pups to have the nail slowly ground down. The regular clippers actually squeeze the quick and can cause pain.


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## Big Rick

We take both of ours to the vet regularly for a mani/pedi. We could do it but fear cutting them too short. Once Dexter's got so long they began to turn under when he walked. Danged cat claws!!!


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## candi30

The vet is a good option too. 

Love the pics of them eyeing the squirrel


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## redrover

lilyloo said:


> Slightly off topic, but any tips on using the dremel? Ruby has become absolutely terrified of the nail clippers. She'll shake and pant and won't sit still, even with 2 of us holding her. it has become impossible to trim her nails with standard clippers.
> 
> Also, her nails are so dark I can't see the quick and am afraid I'll nick her.


lilyloo, here are the steps I took to acclimate Jasper to the dremel. I was able to dremel his nails within two days, but some dogs take longer. Move as slow as you need. Side note: Jasper did not like having his nails trimmed with a clippers. Much prefers the dremel.

1. Set the dremel out. Leave it off. Let dog sniff it and interact with it. Put treats around it and on it. Give dog treats for sniffing and interacting with it.
2. Turn the dremel on. Let dog interact with it. Give him treats while it's on, especially if he stays in the room.
3. Have dog lay down. Handle the dremel. Treat for laying patiently while you hold the dremel, turned off and turned on.
4. Start touching the dogs nails as if you were dremeling, without having it on. Treat treat treat.
5. Begin the dremeling. Dremel each individual nail one at a time, holding the dremel to the nail (without pushing it) for one or two seconds. Treat after every nail. I did the front two paws, and then the back two paws. Don't apply pressure (the rotation does the job), and don't hold it too long or the nail gets hot. Ensure time after dremeling for the nails to cool down. Only do as many nails at once as the dog will permit.

If at any point during the above you notice signs of stress, move back a step. Lots of treats and confirmation that the dremel is a good thing will help. Jasper doesn't mind the sensation or the noise, but mostly he just gets impatient if he thinks it's taking too long! We're now to the point were he only needs a treat every couple of passes through each paw. As for looking for the quick, I was once told if you look head on at a dark nail you can slowly see a white-ish triangle form. You're getting close to the quick then. I was also told that if you do quick a nail dremeling, it's much less traumatic than clipping off a big hunk of it, because odds are you just nicked it. Keep styptic powder or corn starch on hand to stop the bleeding. If the nails aren't black, you can try holding a light behind the nail so it's easier to see through the nail to the quick.

I'm so glad Jasper's not the only one with crazy nails!


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## SteelCityDozer

When ours were pretty young I used a groomer bec they just behave better on that table with the groomer than at home. Once they got the gist of it I started practicing at home. A few nails ata time with treats. Our very first nail trimming training was giving me a paw, then treat. Then tapping the clippers on the nail, and treat. Clip one nail, treat. You get it. Small steps. Moving on when pup is relaxed. Dozer still hates it but Penny sits in my lap while I clip. If you're planning on using a dremel I would just turn it on and treat for a few days before using bec the sound might be scary.


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## ZDOGSMOM

*Re: Nailsss*

If you have 2 people at the beginning it can help alot. Have a supply of little treat bites.. something your pup likes...have one person feed the pup treats while you use the dremel, just a little at a time on each nail. 

In the past it took my husband and I both to do Ziva's nails but now I do them on my own. She sees me coming with the battery operated dremel and she just lays down and turns upside down and looks at me like OK MOM LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH! I always treat her afterwords as well.

If you clip or dremel them on a regular and frequent basis it will help the blood vessel to begin to recede so you can get them clipped relatively short like they should be. Now having said that, I am always saying to myself.. OK now in another 5 days I'm going to do this again... and of course life gets in the way and it's a couple weeks or more and I realize her nails look like Edward Scissor Hands again! 

I might also add, that years ago (when I was young and didn't have back issues) I had my own dog grooming business. Doing the dogs' nails was always the thing I hated the most. There are very few dogs that enjoy having their nails clipped. During the years I had my business I was pooped on, peed on, puked on and at times bit, more than I care to remember! :


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## lyra

Our freak dog once again seems to confound normal V behaviour! I did it for the first time a week ago (she's 5 months and they hardly seem to grow) when she was sleeping next to me on the sofa. Obviously she woke up but she didn't react at all to the clippers.


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## Cleveland2LA

The groomer said that Vizsla's have really dense nails and should be ground vs clipped. She said the pressure bothers some dogs and thus they freak out when needing a trim.


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## LifewithLouie

I tried to dremel Louie's nails once, but it was so loud he wouldn't even come near it when it was laying on the floor. We've been using clippers, but I'd love to try the dremel again if someone can recommend a quiet one.


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## NowakVizsla

I like the dremel idea but was curious what attachment you all use? 

And Igor has super crazy velociraptor nails as well! They grow so fast. And we hate using the clippers because we get scared of cutting them to short and having them bleed. I feel like "sanding" the nail down would take away some of that fear of just cutting off too much.

Thanks!


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## Nelly

Lyra, we also do Nelly's when she's sleeping. It's something the breeder started so she's not really phased by it. Could be a different story when her nails become more dense and need more pressure though.


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## einspänner

Nowak, I use an earlier version of this pet specific dremel which comes with sandpaper drums. http://www.toolbarn.com/dremel-7300-pt.html?ref=base&gclid=CMLFi8DpkLYCFQrqnAod0RAA9g

I believe the sandpaper is 60 grit. http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=408

I find that more than the noise, it's the vibrating sensation that bothers my dog, so I try to hold the nail at the end to dampen the vibrations. Humming Good, Good Vibrations is optional.


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## redbirddog

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2013/05/trimming-baileys-nails-video.html

Nail trimming video I did this afternoon with Bailey. This is a You Tube Video.

RBD


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## hobbsy1010

Great vid Rod 

He really looks like he's not bothered at all 

Is it a sanding drum on the Dremmell ?

Your lucky its only a chore every two months :-\

We have to do ours monthly as our daily walks are across grasses and woodland and don't have much chance to wear down on man made surfaces!!

Hobbsy


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## candi30

Wow RBD how did you get Bailey so comfortable with the dremel/nail cutting?

-Chris


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## redbirddog

> Is it a sanding drum on the Dremmell ?


Hobbsy, yes it is about a 60 grit sanding drum. The "petacure" head has different sized openings. The Pedicure cordless motor was junk but the head fits on my industrial grade dremmel.

RBD


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## Darcy1311

redbirddog said:


> http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2013/05/trimming-baileys-nails-video.html
> 
> Nail trimming video I did this afternoon with Bailey. This is a You Tube Video.
> 
> RBD


 I have just bought a Dremel for Darcy's nails... ;D..but I have yet to pluck up the courage to use the thing .....might try it today...


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## Nelly

Awesome video RBD, this is the way I've been trying it with Nelly now that doing it when she's half asleep just don't cut it anymore! Practise practise. Oh and Bailey's stunning


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## Nelly

Data, would I be right in saying you only need an attachment for the dog's nails if you already have the actual dremel? My partner is a carpenter and has one but I was saying it probably had to be a different dremel altogether? Sorry I'm completely ignorant when it comes to these things!


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## MCD

Hi there. can anyone tell me what type of bit or size bit to use on the dremel to trim the nails with? Also has anyone ever used this method on cats or guinea pigs successfully? I do use little nail clippers on the cats and have tried on the nails of the baby GPs but I often end up cutting the occasional quick. Is the answer to start as early as possible after getting the puppy?


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