Greg, I saw your post in CMT, so I ran over to respond.  My dog has black nails and just hates getting her nails clipped.  She will let me do it, but only after a prolonged and strenuous wrestling match!  I got the Pedicure but did not think she would tolerate it.  She's scared of the vacuum, my electric toothbrush, the dark, etc.  So, I got one anyway.  I introduced it to her very slowly, turned off at first while using treats.  I took several days to actually use it on her.  She is tolerating it surprisingly well.  I'm careful not to use it very long at a time and am slowly shortening her nails.  She likes it well enough that she took issue with me when I used it on the cat. :-)

I dont have any personal experience with it, but my boss has a pit bull that is scared to death of it. I am thinking of ordering one for my own scaredy-cat cat. He runs when I think the word nail clippers. But I still have room in the drawer for useless, money wasting crap, so I may as well send for one.

I bought it for my rabbits, and they HATE it. It takes way too long and makes a horrible stink.

Darn, I was thinking of getting one for my shephard, because the commercial makes it look so effortless - but if it makes loud noises it will never work.  My dog will chase off a black bear, but will run & hide as soon as I start the vacuum. 

We just got one for the dogs, but haven't used it yet. It does seem like there's less chance of shattering the nail than if we used clippers.  Personally, I'm a big proponent of walking dogs on a concrete surface to wear down the nails, but DH takes them to the dog park for exercise when he has them, so the nails don't get worn down.

My dog is afraid of the clicker.   I wish I could borrow one to see if she would tolerate it.  She's also got black nails and two in the back curl more than usual.  We're going to Petco tomorrow for grooming.   I wasn't going to get her groomed until next spring by bathing and clipping her at home.  But the two vets around here charge $18 and $22 respectively just to clip nails.    So, I may as well get the works for $40.

Both of my sister's are getting one for their dogs so, guess who is going to ask real sweetly to borrow the thingy.  Right now I can clip my dog's nails...we went through 2 training sessions with a muzzle to clip them and now all I have to do is say "muzzle" and she will lift her paw for me to clip the nail. After I complete clipping each foot, I show her the muzzle and say "muzzle" and she will lift the next foot.  (BTW this is a 100 lb doberman so, yes it is black nails).  She hates the vacuum, anything that makes noise, the wind, etc so, she'll probably not like this new little gagget.

We just used ours for the first time this afternoon.  It's not loud, and we just had one person hold the dogs while the other did thier nails.  We took the sharpest part of the tip off - about 1/8 inch, and doing all four paws took about 5 minutes on each dog.  If you hold the dog toe firmly, it seems to go smoother, since it doesn't bounce on the wheel as much.  It does smell bad, but neither dog seemed alarmed.

If anyone is looking for it I saw it in Walmart today for about $20.00.

I have two english bulldogs - I decided to give the grinder a try - I pay $18 (or $36.00 in total) to have both of their nails done at the vet (they grind instead of clip) - I did everything the instructions tell you to do.  I knew before making the purchase that my chances of keeping the device were slim to none.  One of my dogs is 9 1/2 and had ACL surgery in August.  (Major surgery - common in bulldogs - their knees pop out of joint and causes them severe pain)  Anyhow, when I decided to try it (he was fully recovered/healed) - I have never seen him run so fast in my life!  It actually made me laugh.  Needless to say, it went back where it came from and I now spend the money to have it done.  I would be curious to know if you or anyone has had success!  Nancy M.

I have also heard that it smells? 

I also need help clipping my rabbits nails. How do you get them to hold still without hurting them?

The link is... http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html Hope it helps.

Last Edited on: 7/5/09 7:48 PM ET - Total times edited: 1

For the people who still "clip" I got a great tip from a lady I know in Schnauzer Rescue.

She said to let your dog stand in water (maybe an inch in the tub) to soften the nails and then they aren't as likely to split and they don't crack as much which they seem to tolerate better.  It makes it easier which reduces the overall trauma! 

Might need a little longer in the tub for a bigger dog whose nails are thicker than our little schnauzers.

I use it on my German Shepherd. Actually I got a Dremel one because I heard the as-seen-on-tv on was not so sturdy. I got her used to it slowly and now she doesn't mind it.

It shouldn't smell when you use it. If it smells you are using it on one claw for too long and burning it. Should do only a few seconds per claw. The first time it tokk a while to get through all her claws but if you keep up with it, it doesn't take too long.

I use it on my poodle mix.  She lays on her back and lets me grind each nail.  She's not afraid of it, and it doesn't cause her any pain.  The only drawback is that it does take a few different sessions to get the nails as short as I'd like, initially.  Once you are there though, it just takes a few touch ups every few weeks to keep them trimmed.

It takes forever to grind down the nail. Clipping them is much easier, especially for our cats. The dog's nails are harder to clip but they don't have to be done as often.

My dogs were scared to death of it.  One is a larger dog and one a medium size and both were very frightened. 

The dremmel should only be on your dog's nail for a minimum of about 3 seconds. Any more and the nail will heat up and it hurts them  Give the dog time to get used to the sound and feel of it. Sometimes it can take weeks or maybe it will take days. All depends on the dog.     

 pssst, here's a little tidbit, go to : http://positively.com/forum/index.php   This is a dog training forum on Victoria Stilwells website. It has alot of wonderful dog people who can help with behavior and training problems.     They should be able to help more if anyone if having trouble with getting their dog comfortable with the dremmel. (search the forum though, the answer might already be there)

Aw crud, I probably should have said that it worked pretty well on my cat. He didn't seem to mind it too bad and it was pretty quick work. Although he did start to get a little irritated....        But if you want to grind a dog's nails then a regular dremmel on the lowest setting would be enough. (lowest setting being 5,000 rpm, I think, maybe someone else could clear this up..)

Whoops, sorry, I didn't notice that this question was from a year ago. Sorry.

I bought it for my italian greyhound when he was alive. He hated it and it did not look as safe as described. I could still easily go into his quick. My next door nieghbor  got it for her Boston Terrier who also hated it. I will just as soon pay the $10 to get my Japanese Chins nails clipped at the salon. Its worth the cost to me. Its a trip to the fast food join out for me. So I skip those calories and he gets his nails done by a pro. Yeah we can handle that.

Appreciate the new input!

 My mini schnauzer would become extremely grumpy if I tried to make him stand in water.  I tried once to make him stay in a colloidal oatmeal soak for his eczema and he refused.    My guy is very jumpy around loud noises.   He surprised me greatly by allowing me to use the nail grinder on him, which is not all that loud.  I introduced it in conjunction with the grooming process, and he accepts it as part of the grooming process.   I have also used it on him where he is lying on his back on the carpet in the living room in between groomings.  He is absolutely fine with it.  Yes, it gives off a little odor as the nails are ground away. But, he has never indicated that the thing hurts, and he expects his favorite liver treats after.  He never let us use the nail clipper on him, ever.   I have a friend whose greyhounds would never let her grind their nails with the PediPaws.  I'm lucky.