Posts tagged Grinder

Question : Getting my dog used to the nail grinder?
My mother and I purchased a dremel grinder that we were told by our vet would be a much safer and comfortable alternative to cutting our dog’s nails with a guillotine style clipper. Thing is, she’s a little anxious with it. How can I make her a bit more comfortable with the sound/aspect of having it around her?
If it helps, she was incredibly anxious about the other clipper and refused to go near it.
dog nail grinder

Best answer:

Answer by victormins
You’re going to have to take it slow…holding her down and forcing her will just traumatize her.

You can start by leaving the dremel turned off, and let her come and sniff it and see it’s not evil. Maybe give her treats when she does investigate it.

Once she’s used to it, then try turning it on and sitting it down so she can get used to the noise.

You could also practice just handling her feet a lot with your hands, not the dremel yet.

After she is good with you handling her feet, then maybe try touching the dremel to her claws when it is off.

Once she is used to you handling her feet and hearing the dremel turned on, try to dremel one claw for just a second, then let her go and give her a treat.

Just keep building up.

Remember to keep your practice sessions very short, and give lots of treats/praise.

A good thing to remember is that when you do start to dremel her nails is to only touch the dremel to the nail for a second at a time. It heats up very quickly and will hurt her.

Here is a good site on dremeling your dog’s nails http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html

Edit: In the meantime if her claws get too long you can try to get her to play on pavement some to wear them down. Just keep an eye on her pads to make sure they’re not getting worn down and bleeding.