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Dremmell recommendations please?

JudyN

JudyN

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A combination of my gammy knee and Jasper's corn means that he's not getting the pavement walking he would normally, and his claws are getting longer... and longer... Occasionally he'll let me clip one, but he was pretty grumpy about that today. I'm thinking of trying a dremmell - could anyone recommend a cordless one, please? Preferably not to noisy, he's a sensitive flower ;)
He's a big lad, so it doesn't want to be only suitable for dainty little whippet feet.

I reckon, with very careful introduction, I might be able to remove an atom or two of nail in about... oooh.... six months, knowing him :confused:
 
We use “Dremel 7300-PT 4.8V Pet Nail Grooming Tool” from Amazon.

Ari hated the whole nail trimming process and tolerated one paw at a time with a lot of cheese.

Miles hates it even more.
 
I actually use a dremmell,I use cutting discs,then finish off by sanding them down. I wouldn't recommend using the cutting wheel unless your dog is mega relaxed with it. The sanding pads are pretty good,just like a nail file except at speed. You can get one at pets at home which does the sanding down. Suppose they will be on eBay,but my dogs grew up with this method from pups so are really relaxed with it.
 
Thanks both :)

Ari_RR said:
We use “Dremel 7300-PT 4.8V Pet Nail Grooming Tool” from Amazon.
Click to expand...

That one's £90.08 on UK Amazon:eek: I wonder if that's an indication of quality or because it's not easy to get in the UK. I'm wondering if I need one with a hair guard. I'll have to keep one eye on J to see how he's handling it and the consequences of getting his hair caught don't bear thinking about.
 
$29.99 on US Amazon, and free delivery.... which is, if my math is correct, about £23.
So, no, not a quality indication.
The battery doesn't hold charge as well after a while... at which point we just order a new one.
Over Ari's 8 years we've gone through 2 or 3 of them. So figure every 3 years it's another $30, and a brand new dremmel.
But compared to the costs of a groomer (not counting the stress and aggravation, if it's even possible at all, we never tried a groomer with Ari) - a pretty good deal, isn't it? Even if include the cost of cheese at each manicure/pedicure session :)
 
I have used a sandpaper block in the past on dogs which hated any form of nail clipping. It's quiet and the dogs didn't seem to mind it.
 
Ragsysmum said:
I have used a sandpaper block in the past on dogs which hated any form of nail clipping. It's quiet and the dogs didn't seem to mind it.
Click to expand...

That could be worth trying too - does it take long to remove a reasonable amount?
 
Ragsysmum said:
I have used a sandpaper block in the past on dogs which hated any form of nail clipping. It's quiet and the dogs didn't seem to mind it.
Click to expand...
That’s a brilliant idea!
It may be much slower than dremmel, but if the dog tolerates well - then might as well spend 5-10 easy minutes every day than an exhausting hour once a week/month wrestling with a 4-legged monster.
 
JudyN said:
That could be worth trying too - does it take long to remove a reasonable amount?
Click to expand...
Well it's obviously much slower than clipping or dremelling but I used to run it over several claws in turn several times on each. Not too long on one claw as it will get hot and then the dog will object. My dogs often lie next to me on the couch so it is easy to do a bit on each foot every day and keep them down. I do walk a lot on hard, rough road surfaces too and that really helps with some claws but really hard ones need more. Anything is worth a try if you have an intolerant dog though.
 
Dremmel training has started - he'll let me hold his paw and hold the dremmel (turned on) close to it for a very-high-value treat but he does look a bit worried. I wonder with J if I'm better off using just kibble as he gets quite overwhelmed with roast chicken, which could mask how he's feeling - and he won't stand still either as he's so excited about the treat.

Though this morning, when I lay on the floor next to him, he pulled his paw away whenever I touched it so it's still not something he's comfortable with.

However... I thought I'd try teaching him to file his own nails. After just two short training sessions today, this is where we're up to:


I'm not sure it'll shorten his outside toes, and training for his back feet might be interesting, but it's the middle two at the front I have most concerns about so this could be at least part of the solution, maybe even the whole solution :)
 
JudyN said:
I'm not sure it'll shorten his outside toes
Click to expand...

If you get successful with the sandpaper, you could glue some into the inside of a piece of guttering. That helps (apparently) with outside toes.
 
JoanneF said:
If you get successful with the sandpaper, you could glue some into the inside of a piece of guttering. That helps (apparently) with outside toes.
Click to expand...

Ooh, that's a good tip - thank you!
 
Miles is a lot more tolerant towards dremmel for his back feet.... maybe a combination of different methods for different paws?
 
I'm happy to mix & match as long as Jasper is, @Ari_RR ! Though his back claws don't seem to get too long anyway, and he's tended to be less keen to have them clipped than the front ones.
 
I now have a bigger, coarser scratchboard and just look at what we have achieved - previously, these nails were pointy! :)

48018840851_e942b65e66_c.jpg


An internet friend has some old bits of pipe and guttering he's going to send me and I'm going to experiment to see if I can get the side ones shorter as well. I've not been worrying about the back claws - one step at a time - but it'll be fun experimenting with different methods.

In the meantime, I can move the dremel very close to his feet, resting on the floor where he should feel some vibration, but touching his claw is a step too far, and I've decided I need to focus on general paw handling first. There's an excellent Facebook group called Nail Maintenance for Dogs and one thing I've picked up is that you shouldn't advance the training until you get a positive conditioned emotional response from the current step - not just 'If I let Mum hold my paw I'll get a treat' but 'Woo hoo, Mum's holding my paw, I love it when Mum's holding my paw' (cf. Pavlov's dogs who drool when a bell rings.).
 
JudyN said:
you shouldn't advance the training until you get a positive conditioned emotional response from the current step
Click to expand...

I have managed so far for Mr F to find a piece of guttering. He can have beer when he glues the sandpaper in - do you think i am doing it right?
 
No, all wrong - that's operant conditioning. You have to give him all the equipment - guttering, glue, sandpaper, brush - and then feed him beer. Then remove the equipment, and then remove the beer. Rinse and repeat. You want him to get all excited when you give him the equipment, and disappointed when you take it away (because the beer will also then stop). By the time you've got through 10 pints, he should be happily interacting with all the equipment. What could possibly go wrong?

I'm sure this is generalisable to all sorts of DIY activity. But maybe not anything involving electricity or chainsaws.
 
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