Many of my students
have asked me for the easiest, most humane way
to keep their dog’s nails short and smooth. Many
are tired of using a guillotine-type nail
clipper; sometimes cutting their dog’s nails and
having them bleed profusely. This is why I
decided to write this article on “How To Grind
Nails.”
Because of the
therapy work I do with all my dogs, their nails
have to be extremely short and smooth. That
being the case, I grind their nails on a weekly
basis. I use something called an “Oster
Grinder,” although a “Dremel tool” will work
equally as well on the dog’s nails. Both have an
attachment used for grinding/sanding and work in
a similar manner.
There are a couple
of things to remember when grinding nails. The
first thing to remember is to NOT PINCH OR
SQUEEZE THE DOG’S TOES WHILE YOU ARE GRINDING
THEIR NAILS. Pinching or squeezing is NOT
necessary in order to accomplish this! All you
have to do is to GENTLY SEPARATE each toe and
hold it very gently with your dominant hand (in
my case, my right hand). And, if your dog has
‘issues’ with having their toes separated (in
order to grind their nails) you can do some
“Raccoon Ttouches” on their nails the week
before you actually grind them. Here’s how to do
the “Raccoon Ttouch” on your dog:
Take your dominant
hand, separate one toe from the others and
gently “acknowledge or expose” the toenail of
that particular toe. Then, all you have to do is
to take the fingertips of your dominant hand and
GENTLY hold the nail that you are (eventually)
going to grind for a couple seconds. Do this
with each toe, each nail, and each paw for at
least one week before you grind.
Once your dog is
comfortable with having “Raccoon Ttouches” done
on their nails, you can let them sniff the
grinder. Do NOT turn it on at this time! Let the
dog smell it first. Rub the base of the grinder
with either hot dog, or string cheese and let
the dog lick it off if necessary. If your dog is
comfortable with this, the next step is to turn
the grinder on LOW and let them ‘listen’ to the
sound. Turn the grinder on low and set it about
10 feet away from the dog. If the dog is
comfortable with this, then move the grinder
closer. Eventually, you should be able to move
the grinder (with it turned on low) right next
to his paws. If he is fine with this, GENTLY rub
the grinder that is turned on LOW slowly over
the dog’s paws (being careful not to catch the
fur in the grinder). Then move the grinder,
turned on low, slowly up and down all of the
dog’s legs, using only the base (not the tip) up
against their skin. If your dog is very
comfortable with this, then pick a position
where the dog is most comfortable so you can
progress further.
If the dog likes his
tummy rubbed, encourage him to lie on his side
and rub his belly with your hand. Then turn the
grinder on low and place it near him (about 5
feet away). IF your dog is very scared of the
grinder noise, you may put a cotton ball in each
of his ears to ‘muffle’ the sound**. Just
REMEMBER to take them out after you are finished
grinding his nails (This way he will come when
you call him!)!
By now, your dog is
enjoying his belly rub and is comfortable (or at
least a little more comfortable) with having the
grinder turned on about 5 feet next to him.
Continue to move the grinder closer and closer
to him and repeat the process of slowly rubbing
up his legs and paws with the grinder on low
(dogs that lie with their bellies ‘exposed’ are
in a submissive posture, so please respect this
and be very gentle and respectful of them while
doing this exercise).
When your dog
accepts this, then take one of his front paws
with your dominant hand and GENTLY separate one
toe and expose one nail. The KEY is to hold the
toe and nail VERY gently, with just enough
pressure that would be the equivalent of putting
your index fingertip and middle fingertip and
resting them lightly on one of your eyelids.
This is about a “pressure # 1” in TTouch
terminology. That light pressure you feel on
your eyelid with the tips of your fingers is the
type of pressure you should apply to the dog’s
toe and nail. This pressure can also be ‘SEEN’ –
meaning that the top half of your thumbnail
should be pink and NOT white – indicating that
you are putting too much pressure on your dogs
toes before you cut or grind them! This is very
important to remember, as it is one of the
reasons why dogs “fight” their owners when their
nails are being cut. Their toes are being
pinched, so the dog pulls back their foot. In
the meantime, the owner (or vet, or groomer) is
‘battling’ with the dog in order to try to clip
their nails with the guillotine clipper. No
wonder the dogs get scared and their nails bleed
profusely!
When your dog will
accept you separating one of their toes and one
nail, then gently touch the grinder to the tip
of the nail. This is a gentle pressure! Many, if
not all, dogs have VERY sensitive feet and toes!
Try this on your own toes to see how it feels
(keeping the grinder on low). THEN you will
realize how sensitive our feet are, as well as
our dogs!
When your dog is
relatively comfortable with this, then slowly
and gently move the grinder around the tip of
the nail to grind it to a smooth round surface.
Again, very little pressure is needed – both in
the actual grinding of the nail and the holding
of the toe/paw. Make sure that your thumbnail
stays ‘pink’ and not ‘white’ – indicating too
much pressure is being applied. Make sure that
you move the grinder in a continuous motion and
not keep it in one spot for too long. Otherwise,
you could end up grinding down only one section
of the nail too much. If necessary, you can also
have a second person FEED the dog treats in
order to distract him from the sound of the
grinder and the feel of it on their foot. Have
some relaxing music in the background to help
soothe both you and the dog before you grind
their nails!
The ‘beauty’ of
grinding nails is that you can actually SEE the
beginning of the “quick” (or flesh) BEFORE you
actually cut and bleed it. Therefore, I think
this is a MUCH safer method than clipping their
nails with a nail clipper – especially if the
dog has black toenails. You can actually see the
“quick” (or flesh) of a dog that has
clear-colored nails. It looks similar to our
nails. If, however, your dog has black toenails,
than sometimes it can be more difficult to see
the quick. However, if you grind them and
visually check to see how far down you are to
the quick, you can very easily stop before you
hit that sensitive part (the quick) of the nail.
If, however, you do
happen to hit the quick while grinding the nail,
you can easily stop the bleeding by treating the
area with powdered “Quick Stop.” This contains
the powder that is used in a styptic pencil. I
usually take a Q-tip, dip it in the Quick Stop
and have it on hand JUST IN CASE I have to use
it if the nail bleeds. So far, however, I have
not had to use this.
Many dogs have very
hard nails. If that’s the case, you could grind
their nails right after a bath OR gently soak
their feet in warm water before you grind them
(which will help soften the nail). All
manufacturers recommend using safety glasses
when you grind your dog’s nails and that’s
strictly up to you. I wear glasses and this is
good enough for me. You can purchase an Oster
Grinder (or Dremel tool or similar grinder
product) from the following websites:
BOTTOM
LINE IS THIS: I personally feel that
grinding nails is a gentler, kinder, less
stressful approach to keep your pet’s nails
trimmed. You will appreciate the time and
effort put into learning this procedure and
your canine friends will love you for it! If
you have any questions about this article, or
would like to schedule a private session with
me and your favorite pet (dog, cat, bunny,
bird, etc.) please feel free to call me at
(860) 399-5634, or email at
Cinderbin@snet.net.
Enjoy your dog!
**There is a
choice between an electric and a
battery-operated grinder. I believe the battery
type is much more quiet. I understand there is
now a compact grinder available. Apparently it
fits in the palm of your hand and I believe
Oster makes it. Also, Walmart sells a grinding
tool for $24.44, which is a great buy! You can
also purchase packs of replacement sanding
strips for approximately $2.66 each.
