Nail Trimming and Dremels
Well last night was a busy night with Virgil Tiberius on the table "doing" his "show side"; grooming, ear plucking and cleaning, tooth cleaning and the dreaded nail clipping. For all my comfort and experience with all the other grooming requirements of these guys I have never liked nail clipping. It has always been a bit of a gamble with the dark nails and even the white translucent nails have been a hassle. Anyway last night after intending to try this technique since first reading about it over a year ago I tried a combination of clipping with a mechanical clipper and finish sanding with a Dremel rotary tool. Needless to say I was very pleased with both the process and results. Tools used were a standard curved "scissor" type clipper - I avoid the guillotine type fastidiously - and a Dremel Model 750 2-speed battery operated rotary tool fitted with a course sanding drum attachment. (The Dremel website is www.dremel.com and illustrates their products quite well - there are undoubtedly equivalents from other brands.) The website states that the new 750s run at 6500 or 13000 rpm so use the low speed, my old one might get to 6500 on high speed! Check the price of the DREMEL Pet Nail Grooming Kit Model 761-03 (replacement for 761-01) at Amazon.com It is important NOT to use the standard 110 Vac models as these turn far too fast for use on organic tissue and would result in burned nails/quick and the substantially higher torque capabilities could result in potentially serious hair pulls when hair gets caught and wraps around the shaft - as it did several times last night. (I have one of these as well and would never have considered its use - it revs from 5000-25000 rpm) and just screams. I used the standard nail clippers to remove most of the excess growth but allowed myself plenty of clearance so as not to cut the quick and to leave enough material to "learn" the sanding characteristics and results. (Quick Stop is always available just in case and will remain so!) Once the nails were clipped I isolated the nail to be sanded with my left hand . (I'm right handed so my left hand was used to hold the foot freeing my more co-ordinated hand to manipulate the dremel.) With my right hand I pulled the surrounding hair out of the way "tucking" it into the grasp of my left hand so everything was ready to sand. With my right hand I started and picked up the dremel making sure I oriented it to the sanding line I wanted and proceeded to sand the nail in numerous light passes. Each pass took about 1/3 to 1/2 second. The light pressure and "quick passes" ensured that the sanding drum wasn't in contact with the nail long enough or heavy enough to cause any substantial heating. In this way I was able to sand the nail down to the desired length very easily and in my view quite quickly. Then with just a bit more effort and dexterity manipulating the dremel I was able to contour the edges to remove any remaining sharp edges. Equally wonderful, in some ways perhaps more so, Virgil didn't mind this at all. The relatively slow speed of the battery operated dremel means that it is quiet and easily controlable so he was totally undisturbed. During previous mechanical clipping only he would often get restless and edgy if I had to take a "second" cut to get closer to the quick. On two nails I did go slightly closer than desired but since I checked after each pass all that resulted was a very slight "slow weeping" of a single drop of blood which Virgil didn't even notice - or at least fuss about. If any of you have been thinking about trying a rotary tool but have been hesitant for whatever reason I strongly recommend it. Note that it will spit nail dust and if held on the nail too firmly or too long there will be a burning smell but if you take your time and check after each pass there is no reason that excellent results cannot be obtained with just a bit of practise. One safety step that has been recommended elsewhere and would be a good precaution is to place an old nylon over the dogs foot and poke the nail through it. This keeps ALL the foot hair out of the way and should totally preclude hair getting caught around the shaft and stalling the dremel. (I didn't do this because I have used these tools in modelling for many years and have become quite proficient with them. Even so I got a couple of "hair wraps" but was quickly able to turn the dremel off and unwind the captured hair. The low torque battery motor quickly stalled without tearing out any hair, things would have been very different with the bigger 110Vac model.) I recommend using the course sanding drums rather than a grinding stone or fine sanding drum. The grinding stones are too fine for removal of a soft orgainic tissue and will quickly clog becoming totally useless. The fine sanding drum would take many passes to complete the work and would also tend to "clog up" with the soft tissue quite quickly. I wouldn't want to be paying for several drum papers each clipping, they're not cheap! Based on last night's performance and wear the sanding drum I used will do for several complete nail clippings/sandings. As always I am willing to discuss this further if there is an interest or need. Thanks and Cheers Carl |
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| May I ask why you prefer scissor type nail clippers? I personally prefer guillotine type, it seems faster and easier. I've thought about getting a dremel for nails, but I wondered about the hair getting caught and the noise.... how did you deal with the hair getting caught? |
| I have used the dremel since Jack and Annabelle were puppies and as far as the noise goes, it took a bit for them to get accustomed to the noise, but after that there were no problems. It is a 2 person job for Jack and Annie, because I don't want the hair to ever get caught. CJ holds the paw and moves the hair out of the way, and I do the dremel. It works quickly and rounds off the nail so that they are soft to the touch.
Stormi and co. |
| In case anyone was curious about getting one, I did a tiny bit of searching and found one that's made especially for pet-nail clipping. I'm definitely going to invest in one of these - DREMEL Pet Nail Grooming Kit Model 761-03 (replacement for 761-01)
Thanks for posting about this tool, it certainly seems like a helpful way to keep the nail trimming trauma (drama?) to a minimum.  |
| Willowsprite and Stormi,
The battery operated model 750 is much quieter than the big 110 Vac models so it shouldn't really be a problem. Virgil is now very used to being groomed, clipped and trimmed, etc., as needed so not a lot stresses him and the noise level of this dremel wasn't one of the things that does. If your dog does dislike the noise then it is a matter of getting them familiar with it through exposure. Start just by running the dremel near them when they are on the table, do this every grooming session for a week or so without even touching them. Then bit by bit just touch the toenail and leave well enough alone. As you increase the exposure and touch the dog will, over time, come to accept the new tool and you can take full advantage of it. The hair captures weren't much of a deal at all. The battery operated dremels are not very strong so it stalled as soon as hair wrapped around it. Once I turned it off I was able to unwind it and on the single occassion when it pulled out a small tuffet of hair it was easily removed. The alternate for doing this alone is to put an old nylon, stocking, panty hose over the foot and push the nail through the nylon. This will hold all the hair back and virtually eliminate any chance of a hair capture/wind. The reason I don't like guillotine nail clippers is their tendency to "twist" during the clipping motion if they are not aligned perfectly with the nail or if my wrist/hand rotates during the squeezing action. I also find the "action" of the scissors type nail clippers shorter and hence quicker reducing the time both my hand and the dogs nail must be kept still. Personal preference, I learned on guilotine clippers but came to prefer the scissor type. For those that are comfortable with them they are equally effective, just not for -me-. Cheers Carl |
| That nylon idea is excellent.... I laughed when I pictured it in my mind,...lol.. but I can see how that would work very well! |
| Nail Trimmers all,
I went to the dremel site www.dremel.com to compare their "baseline" cordless model and their "Pet Nail Grooming Kit" and noted a few things that may be of interest to you. The 750-02 basic cordless model DREMEL Cordless Tool 750-02 is the new version of my old 750 and comes with everything that you will require to do your dog's nails as I described in this thread's opening post. In my opinion it is the best suited overall "package" on the site for the purpose. The only "optional" item that you might want other than the "included" items is at an extra battery pack. It may also be more comfortable in your hand as it seems to have a much more contoured shape than my older model. The 761-01 grooming kit's cordless motor tool DREMEL Pet Nail Grooming Kit Model 761-03 (replacement for 761-01) is the same dremel I have and use with two variations, one being moulded plastic colour - no biggie - and secondly it uses four AA batteries instead of a battery pack. That to me is a very big issue  I hate buying batteries and invariably they fail in the middle of use when there are no replacements in the house!! If you check hobby shops and other dremel vendors you might be able to find the appropriate charger and battery packs for this dremel (I'll post the actual numbers later - I'm at work right now and don't have them readily available) which would resolve the issue of AA batteries. Personaly I think this an example of "packaging for profit" with no benefit or added value when compared to the basic tool/kit.
Just a few comments to assist in evaluation for those considering the purchase of a demel. Cheers Carl DREMEL Pet Nail Grooming Kit Model 761-03 (replacement for 761-01) DREMEL Cordless Tool 750-02 |
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