Dremel nails issue

[Labradorks]

I've been dremeling the boys' nails since they were pups using a real dremel from Home Depot. I have the appropriate head and grit.

Both dogs can hardly stand it when I do their front feet. Both nearly fall asleep when I do their back feet.

I always wait until they are tired after a hike or similar, which makes it easier, of course.

I've never nicked either of them, not even when I've used clippers in the past (which, I am not sure I've done with Linus, maybe Sam). I am sure they have felt some heat or discomfort at some point on their quick, but I can pretty much guarantee they've never felt pain. I have put the dremel on my own fingers to see if it was hot or something. And, I even dremeled my own real nails for practice (not recommended as it really weakens them) several times without any pain.

I've taken a step back and am rewarding more often.

Anyone else have this issue? Is it me/my technique?

[smartrock]

Chase lies still and has a relaxing grind, front and back. Lark acts like I'm electrocuting her, mainly on her front feet also. I can't seem to fondle her feet enough or reward her enough to make it less freaky to her. I've asked the kennel to clip them on rare occasion if they've been boarded and I can barely see any difference pre and post clipping. She must give them a fit also. I, too, hope someone has the remedy.

[POPTOP]

I dremel Mardi's nails. DH lays down with her, talking to her, giving belly rubs. Her nails are very hard and grow very fast we are at it all the time. She's the same, it's harder to do her front paws. She absolutely loves being brushed so that's her reward to being good during dremeling and of course a treat.

I did accidentally nip the quick one time; it was back leg. My thought is that the front paws are more sensitive, they use them more for more stuff, digging, manipulating toys, etc. The back end just seems to follow along.

I can't do Archie's even after all this time working with his feet. PetsMart is a regular stop and he does OK there. One will hold him, the other clip. He doesn't fuss about it, just does not like it.

[Jeff]

Could just be them, I have been struggling with Hemi lately, for about 4 months, cutting nails. I just cut them. I have never nicked them, I actually use a flashlight and shine through the nail so I know where that quick is but suddenly when I started taking out the clippers and treats and light he just took off running. Running scared like no dad please don't do this. I had to leash him to get him, which doesn't make it any more pleasurable for him. Cutting nails is something we have done since he was a puppy, it took a long time to get him to lie still as a puppy he was always curious what I was doing but was never scared. I can also touch and hold his paws no problem, so he hasn't developed a paw phobia.

Recently in the last month I have been able to get him to come to me on his own, hesitantly and accept we are going to do this. Basically I get the treats and everything ready, he takes off. I go and sit in the living room on the floor, playing with the treats, acting like I am eating them and how good they are. He may come in like oh treats, then back away like ohhh clippers. Sometimes I have to go real high value like dried liver and so on. Eventually the desire for food overcomes the fear of the clippers usually with a big sigh and an ok lets get this over with look. It can take 20 minutes before he gives in, I am just patient and wait him out. Then its over in like 5 minutes.

Like you no idea where this came from or why.

[shellbell]

I think it can feel hot on their quick when it gets too close to it. Cabo’s nails grow super fast and I dremel them at least once (sometimes twice) a week. He actually seems worse about doing his back nails for some reason, and I wonder if that is b/c they are shorter and it doesn’t take long to get to the quick. Even on his front feet, he will be fine until I get to a certain point on the nail, and then he tries to pull back. I think the quick is just super sensitive when it feels the dremel. Probably not necessarily painful, but to them just a weird sensation.

Tux has super sensitive feet in general, and the only way I can dremel his nails is to lay on top of him which is stressful for both of us. So we just go to Petsmart and he does fine there. Luckily his nails do not grow that fast, he only needs it done every 3-4 weeks.

[Snowshoe]

I don't dremel but Oban was a lot more antsy on his front feet than on his back. I would clip the backs standing up overtop of him and picking them up like a horse's hooves. For the fronts he had to lie down on his back. Weird but no big deal. Till one day I forgot whose feet I was doing and did his fronts first, standing up, facing back, like a horse, like I did Jet's. He started to get antsy and I still thought I was doing Jet so I told him to cut it out and he did and I've done the fronts standing up ever since.

So I wonder if you could convince yourself that they are ok with the fronts maybe that would help? Can somebody else do their fronts, say your Vet? To show you they're playing you? It is awfully hard to convince yourself, I did it by accident.

Another thought, the dremel does make the nails warm and maybe the front feet are more sensitive so what about trying clippers on the fronts? Maybe it's not the heat but the slight vibration?

[Laura]

Theo carried on like a maniac and had me convinced that, even though the breeder had been working with him for weeks, he was just going to die over getting his nails done. I abandoned the Dremel and went to clipping, but he was still a nightmare. Then my Vet showed me that I was being played. Right there in the office, clip clip clip with barely any resistance.

I clip weekly and every week it gets easier. Last week, he started to put up a fuss with the first two nails and I just kept on (like the Vet said to do) and managed to get the rest of them done after he flopped himself on the bathroom floor. He really is a lot like a toddler. Now I wonder if he would have eventually been okay with the Dremel.

[JenC]

All depends on the dog I think. Get out the dremel, Grace disappears. Grizz allows the front, not too keen on the back. Jack is OK on front too, I can clip the back with scissors. Jed will let me do it all, no problem.

[labsnewfy]

If Sarah sees me get the dremel she takes off running to hide, when I find her she just lays there and lets me do her nails. Her feet are ticklish I guess for a better word and she does pull back and shake the foot out mostly with her back feet. Ginger is like Tootsie I can do anything to her left side but the right side is a bit of a struggle not sure but they both have vision issues on the right side.

I had to wait until Bailey was sleeping else it was a game and me trying to keep his face, tongue and hairy parts away from the grinder.

[Lauranj]

Are you holding their foot and the nail firmly so it doesn't vibrate? I used to end up doing most of the neighbors dogs and I would have them show me how they did it and often they were not holding the foot and nail tight enough so it was vibrating which is probably uncomfortable? Or they were just being manipulated a little by their dogs. I have managed to hit the quick once or twice and this summer my dh accidentally nicked our one ram lambs hoof and they all recover and as soon as bleeding has stopped, I do another nail, or hoof. If you ever nick the quick, be sure to do at least one more nail with lots of reward. End it when it is positive.