Dog Nail Trimming-Dremmel vs. Clippers

Nail trimming... The bane of many dog owners. With every dog I've owned, nail trimming has been a stressful experience. From my childhood German Shepherd Onyx, who would yelp and jerk her paw away with every single snip of the clippers, to my first service dog, a Rottweiler named Fawkes, who would tremble and shake and only allow me to clip a couple nails at a time before putting up such a fuss that I had to quit, to my current mobility service dog, a German Shepherd named Malcolm, who would yank his paws out of my hands when I even brought clippers close to his paws... Stress!

I've come to realize a few things. First, I truly believe that using most nail clippers on most dogs is actually painful. Most dogs, especially larger ones, usually develop an aversion to having their nails clipped. When I worked at veterinary clinics we had dogs come in that would have to be sedated every single time they needed their nails trimmed. That can't be healthy physically or emotionally. I remember practically having to sit on some dogs to try to restrain them for nail trims. Not good... I believe that this is because the mechanical action of the clippers causes pain, pure and simple. Couple that with getting their quicks nipped a few times (also painful, if not excruciating), and you've got a recipe for a nail trimming aversion.

With my chronic health issues, stress is a HUGE trigger for me. Trimming my dogs' nails became so stressful for the dogs AND me that I tended to avoid it. That's not healthy at all. Nails that are too long affect how a dog walks and moves and even affects the way they hold and move their legs. This can lead to joint stress and even injuries. With a working mobility dog, being in healthy physical shape is essential to working ability. I had to figure something out...

I decided to try using a dremmel to grind down my dogs' nails, instead of using clippers to clip them. The change was MIRACULOUS!!!! I went from a dog that would jerk his paws away and try to run away to a dog that literally rolled over in my lap and allowed me to dremmel his nails without complaint in TWO SESSIONS! I vowed NEVER to use nail clippers on him ever again. Not all dogs will be rehabbed so quickly, especially if they've had a lot of negative nail trimming experiences. But the results were so obvious that it made up my mind. I do my best to let my dogs tell me what they like and dislike. Obviously, some things just have to be done whether they like it or not. But I try to make those things as easy as possible.

I went from a dog trying to get away from me to a dog that actually ran up to me excited when he heard the dremmel turn on! Yes, I used treats to help reward him for calm behavior. But that's not what did it. I used treats with nail clippers for YEARS and my dogs NEVER came up to me when the nail clippers came out, EVER. And treats NEVER helped them get over their stress and fear with trimming with nail clippers. Now, Penny and Malcolm practically bicker over who gets to have their nails done so they can get the treats.

I think treats are important to this process, but technique is also very key. First, I realized that Malcolm was much more sensitive about his front paws. So I started with his back paws. I let him sniff the dremmel while it was off and rubbed the off dremmel on his paws. Lots of treats with that. Then I turned it on and lots of treats for listening to it while on and letting me touch the back end of the on dremmel to his paws so he could feel the vibration. I was able to start this so quickly because he was already quite comfortable with me handling his feet. If your dog isn't comfortable with even having their feet handled, start there first. Using positive reinforcement and even clicker training can help speed the process along. The process may go quickly or may take many sessions. Please try not to be discouraged. I truly believe that once the dogs realize that nail grinding with the dremmel won't hurt them they'll make a breakthrough and the process will go faster and easier.

Once he was ok with that I started with his nails. It is ESSENTIAL to NOT spend too much time on a single nail. Grinding makes the nails get hot, which can become quite painful. I started with the dremmel on low. I "tapped" each nail a few times, zip-zip-zip-zip on each nail and then moved to the next. I alternated which feet I was doing. I created a bit of a pattern to the "tapping" so he would learn what to expect. You're not really tapping. I'm just using that as a way to describe to just use maybe a one second touch of the grinder to the nail, a few times, and move to the next nail. It helps to hold each toe and nail firmly but gently so the nail doesn't slip around or vibrate too much.

Grinding too long on a nail will allow that heat to build up. I went over each toe and then to the other foot, then back to the first foot, then the second foot again. I never spent too much time on one toe or one foot. Part of that also helps make sure you're basically trimming each foot about equal to the other foot. You don't want the nails of opposite feet to be too different in length as this will create stress on the dog's movement.

At first I gave a treat after every single toe. This was to create a positive association with the grinding as well as reward him for not jerking his foot away. After he seemed fairly comfortable with the process I went to rewarding after a couple of toes and then once I finished an entire foot. I continue to alternate toes and paws so no one toe or paw gets too much attention at one time.

With his latest session I was able to use the grinder on high, instead of low, and the "trimming" went much faster. It is absolutely ESSENTIAL to only spend a short amount of time on each nail when you have the dremmel on high. The heat builds up MUCH faster. Some dogs may only ever be comfortable with the dremmel on low, and that's ok. Also, I'm using a cordless dremmel. Cordless dremmels rotate at a lower speed than corded dremmels. I would avoid using the high speed on a corded dremmel to do dog nails. The heat will build up way too quickly.

As I said before, the difference is absolutely astounding! Malcolm now gets excited and comes running up to me when I pick up the treat pouch and dremmel. He willingly lays down and lets me grind his nails without jerking his paws away. I still allow him to get up and take a break if he needs it so he can stretch and move around a bit. But he comes back willingly and lays down readily to finish the process. He even rolls over onto his back, practically in my lap, as I do his front paws. It's like night and day from the fight it used to be to try to use nail clippers.

I haven't mentioned Penny much in this post. Penny doesn't really have an issue with her nails. I'm able to use the clippers to trim them if they're a bit long, as well as use the dremmel to grind them back. As long as I have treats she'll let me do just about anything I need to with her. :-) Malcolm has been the one to have issues. Because of his size, his nails are MUCH larger and thicker than Penny's. I think that is a big contributor to his issues. Trimming his nails with clippers, I think, is just more painful, given the size of clippers and the thickness of his nails.

I highly advocate using a dremmel to trim your dog's nails, instead of nail clippers, especially if they have issues with getting their nails trimmed. It is a process to get them over a nail trimming aversion if they've developed it. But I've seen that it is absolutely possible to do so with using a dremmel instead of nail clippers. It's well worth the effort to try. It will be much less stressful for both you and your dog.

How does your dog do with nail trimming? Do you have any tricks to help with the nail trimming process? Please feel free to share in the comments.