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Bought A Dremel


DogPaddle

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Bought a dremel with lots of bits and attatchments and thingies.
Having good success getting the boys used to it. They will now tolerate short periods of lowish rpm "grinding" with a softish grinding/polishing bit. It doesn't really take off much of their nail at this point. Does wonders on grinding down people nails - I tested on me. On Kavik's pail nails it makes some progress. On Zaphod's super hard black nails it does next to nothing.

The dremel I got goes from 8000 to 33000 rpms. It has two stonelike grinding materials. One is for hard metal, one is for other stuff.

Anyone have any suggestions for rpms and grinding bits/materials?

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Don't use the stones (bummer I know), they heat up to quickly from the friction on the nail. Instead get a pack of the sandpaper bands, a medium grit. I think I have the same power dremel as you, and here's how I use it...

Level 3- Chewing through the tip of the bigger dogs' nails, and occasioanlly if they're really long, I'll use it to work away a bit of the nail. It tends to heat up the nail pretty quickly though at that speed, so passes are much shorter than at lower speeds (like 1 or two second on average). Rarely use it on the smaller dogs, unless one of them has super hard nails, and even then, never use it on any dog when I'm close to the quick.

Level 2- I use this to grind back the nails on all the dogs, right up until I'm close to the quick. I'll use it steady for 2-3 seconds on each nail initially, then switch to quick swipes or to level one when I get really close to the quick.

Level 1- This one I use if I'm really close to the quick, and at one or two seconds per nail, or just quick swipes if I'm really really close. I also use this speed to round out the edges and to bring the bottom of the nail flush and without any sharp edges (with some dogs, the quick curves down, so you have to be careful doing this with them).

I don't use levels 4 or 5 at all with the dogs.

With the five dogs (2 large, 2 small, 1 medium, and the two large ones get done weekly), a band usually lasts at least 2 months, so a pack would last you quite a while, and they're not expensive at all. The dremel will pick up a lot of grime from the dog's nails, so I dismantle the bit and clean it, as well as open up where the carbon brushes are and get out any nail dust/fur that's in there about every month or two.

ETA: forgot you had long haired dogs as well... don't forget to keep their fur out of the way, even at the lower speeds, it'll hurt if it gets caught. Common sense I know, but figured I'd throw it out as a reminder.

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Thanks Goo. That was very helpful. My dremel came with a bunch of sandpaper type bits so that should work great. As for the toe fur - I plan to trim that back first but good thing to mention.

Mei - Don't buy a pet store dremel they cost 2x as much as a regular dremel and don't seem to be any better. I'd go to a hardware store.

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if you have a dog with fuzzy toes, put a piece of pantyhose over the foot and only pull the nails through a small hole, one at a time. helps to keep anything out of the way of the dremel that shouldn't be there. :)

also - if you have long hair yourself, make sure you keep [b]that[/b] well out of the way too. it can hurt pretty bad even if you get just a few hairs caught.

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My version of grinding them back means to simply snip the nails off with regular nail trimmers and then grind them back further and smoother. With the nails already tipped, you don't have to spend so much time with the grinder on the nail, trying to work it back. Of course, if you have a dog that doesn't put up with the clippers to begin with, it's a moot point. My dogs don't care either way.

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I have a dremel, but cant seem to get Bailey to let me do it at all - shes scared to death of it, but then shes scared to death of clippers too :roll:
I took her and had petsmart do it once and it took three of us holding her down, and Im sure it was absolute torture for her :(
I still dont really know what to do, but I did have good luck (accidently) when I took her to play in a tennis court. chasing her ball around (and skidding) filed her nails down pretty good! (except that it also "skinned one of her pads a little too :cry: guess I cant win)

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