Over the past two months, I've been training my dogs to deal with the dremmel. Fortunately, because I've tortured them so much as puppies they are pretty good about letting me do their nails. Cynthia had a great tip to use Squeeze Cheese but I didn't have to resort to that.
The only one who REALLY gave me a hard time was Qor. Shel had to feed feed feed her treats while I did each nail. Qay let me do one nail and then I could treat her... Targ.. well he just rolls over and lets me have my way with him.. I get a while foot done before he starts looking for some goodies.
I've started doing their nails every Sunday.. they really are monster nails. . They don't grow that fast anymore but since I got a little lazy with the Guillotine clippers (because it was REALLY hard for me to get through them without pinching them) their nails need to be worked back a little at a time. So new routine.. nail torture and THEN we get our Sunday Marrow Bones
**insert holy sounding choir here**
Have you ever smelled hot nails... ew... and the powdery dust gets everywhere.. my glasses are covered.. and since I hold their paws on my lap.. my legs get covered..
It's stinky.. and it's a smell that clings even after two hand washings.... with my Thieves soap even!
If you go clean a litterbox that is filled with scented litter afterward, that will take your mind off the burnt nail smell. I envy you your short-haired dogs when it’s dremel time. Fluff draws her front paws into her ruff when the dremel turns on. She would rather watch me untangle the dremel from her neck hair than just give me the stupid paw already. Fortunately the dremel is no match for her hair and just chokes on it.
And aren’t you glad you wear glasses so they’re coated instead of your eyeballs? That thought makes cleaning my glasses afterward so much nicer!
kabbage’s last blog post..Sleek Update
LOL Kabbage! That is funny about the cat litter… maybe I’ll try that next time…
I heard that if you stretch a stocking over the long haired paw and let the nails poke through, it’ll keep the long hair back out of the way… it’s a thought..
Targ is also a master at pulling his nails in.. no fur to catch but after I’m done and he takes off, I look at his nails and think “did I even touch those!?”
How about wearing some thin latex or rubber gloves when you dremel? It might be more trouble than it’s worth though. Depends on how slippery they are. I’ve been meaning to get a dremel for awhile now. My frenchies nails grow so close to the pads that it is hard to get the nail trimmer to work without pinching her. You aren’t the first person to complain about the smell. Not looking forward to it!
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Not a bad idea, Marie.. but I’m still covered in it.. I’ll probably just shower AFTER I do nails..
I have a big dremel for Targ’s feet but the girls do a have a few nails that are close to the pad.. one of Qor’s I had to do with an emery board.. I could trim the top back but underneath was too close.. I’m going to get a smaller dremel just for her feet, I think.
ummm sounds like you are holding the dremmel on the nail too long. It should be touched in short bursts and never long enough to make he nail hot the touch. – Every had your nails done by a tech that is over zealous with the drill? ouch that hurts and is HOT… feels he same way on the dogs if you hold it there too long. Just one swipe at a time.
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Believe it or not, that is exactly what I do… short bursts.. and sometimes, I’ll do a short burst on each nail and then go back over them all again so that each nail has a chance to stay cool..
I’ve actually zipped my own nails and my fingers with the thingy.. it’s on really low…
Personally I hate the stench of the cat litter more, but I have fewer and smaller nails to dremel than you do. Thanks for the stocking suggestion. I may need to put the stocking over her head and neck first to control the neck ruff. You know, if I use the same stocking over head, neck, and front feet, she’s not going to be able to move much. That could be good!
I do trim the hair on Fluff’s feet. Although she’s an Aussie, I think she read the Cavalier standard about “slipper feet” and thought they would look cool on her. So it’s really just trying to find the nail in the sea of hair that is her ruff.
You could try a grooming smock and welding helmet or biohazard suit when you dremel!
And let me know when you read LTJ’s TTouch book — I’m a practitioner and always enjoy hearing about people’s reactions to the work.
kabbage’s last blog post..Sleek Update
I get that nail dust all over the place, too. I haven’t really noticed much of a smell, though. Maybe my dogs’ nails are just smaller than yours, as my dogs are too. 🙂
Cynthia Blue’s last blog post..Too Busy to Rest
Or maybe my dogs nails are FILTHY!
Which model of Dremel are you using? I just upgraded to a more powerful model and it made a big difference! And used to think running it on low speed was better, but at high speed, it seems to bother them less and goes faster.
Still get that burn smell, too, but our claws are smaller, and we go outside to do nails. Do the quick touch-touch and go back to redo any that still need them. Sometimes follow-up with a curved nail file for the backs of nails where the Dremel can’t reach.