Trimming Nails on Those Paws!

Have you ever tried to trim your dog's nails? Do you spend more time wrestling with your dog than actually clipping the nails? Or perhaps, you used the "guillotine" style such as the ORRCO PET NAIL CLIPPERS Guillotine trimmer? While these are great clippers, you know it is difficult to judge where the nail and quick meet and a nip in the quick is painful for your dog.

If your like me, you hope your canine gets enough exercise to keep those nails worn down naturally and if not, you leave the task to your veterinarian when you go for the annual checkup. But hey, even my vet has hit the quick on occasion and I found myself wondering if there was an easier way to promote natural nail trimming. Luckily for us, a breeder shared her strategy which I think is worth passing along.

She got a small piece of plywood and a couple of boards and built a ramp. She then purchased some self-adhesive, safety strips for stair treads from the local hardware store and attached those to her ramp. These strips are basically made out of sand paper. Since her dogs like to ride in the car, she sets up the ramp and then has them walk up the ramp to get in the car. When she isn't using the ramp for the car, she has it set up in her backyard and has trained the dogs to walk up it as a playtime activity. It's like having a giant emery board they walk across and it gets the job done! I thought that was a great idea.

But in case you don't have time to build a ramp and your looking for alternatives to the "guillotine" style, many breeders and groomers use the Dremel 761-03 7,000/14,000 RPM Cordless Pet Nail Grooming Rotary Tool so they can safely grind down the nail.

Another tool that we are seeing on TV lately is the new PediPaws. We have not tried the PediPaws yet so if anyone out there likes this product, then please let us know.

Happy Trimming Means Happy Paws!