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Originally Posted by lilgidget  Thanks for the tip. Went on Gentle Paws web site and their price was $19.95. That would pay for 4 trips to the groomer for nail clipping. |
No kidding. It's like $7.50 at his vets so skipping that fee every 2 weeks is a biggie, not to mention going up there every blessed 2 weeks is just a hassle and sometimes they are very busy and the wait prolonged. Plus, with the Gentle Paws you can do them every 4 - 5 days or so and it keeps the grind session shorter and the nails nice and short when you finally nudge that cuticle up further by more frequent grinding. It was a savior for me as I just have a small-dog nail trimming THING using the guillotine or scissors type cutters. Leading up to the actual act of the clipping, I can't help it, I'm SO nervous the poor little dog senses that and tenses up, too. So the grinding tool is a true wonder to me!
Just be sure you take your time and be patient in desensitizing your dog to the grinding tool, and later, to the grinding process, using those treats/toy/praise rewards, keeping it fun as possible. Taking it slow, gradually escalating his exposure to the grinding tool and then it running, and then touching his toenail in tiny bits makes him much more accepting of the entire experience. And in that time, you are gaining confidence in that method.
Tibbe's toes are too tiny to reach through the see-through plastic safety-cover holes to the grinder surface so I had to learn to use the grinder without the plastic safety shield. Gulp, it took some slow going to feel my way through with no safety cover with Tibbe but we got there! The see-through safety cover with toenail holes in it is there to fit the dogs nails through to prevent grinding too close or the grinder getting caught in his coat or anything loose near it. Trust me, your dog will see to it that you don't grind too close and even if the grinder does catch on something, it stops grinding. Once it got caught on Tibbe's long coat but he never turned a hair. I almost jumped out of my skin but he acted as if nothing happened. So I got it out of his coat and re-started it. He was undisturbed but after that, I kept his coat pretty short. Or you can put a sweater on them to contain the coat to prevent that.
And you can use a coarse nail file or sand paper but just kinda be sure you don't saw back and forth so much you make the little nailbeds or toes sore, which is a hard feat(pun intended) with those tiny toes some Yorkies have. For those of us too chicken to use toenail clippers, either of these methods is better than those awful toenail clippers or nail scissors!