How to Dremel Your Pet's Nails

Clipping your pet's nails can be a traumatic experience for both pet and owner. If you cut to close to the quick (and even the most careful owner has done so), your pet will cry out in pain and you'll have to clean up the bloody trail it left running away from you. The dremel, a kind of portable sander, takes care of this issue by letting you sand away a little bit of the nail at a time.

Things You'll Need

  • Dremel
  • Sanding mandrel attachment
  • Sanding bands
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Instructions

    • 1

      Secure your pet. Especially if you have a larger or skittish dog, you may want someone to help hold it down while you dremel.

    • 2

      Try to get your pet used to the tool by touching their nails with it slowly while turned off. Do this several times and reward with treats if your pets reacts calmly.

    • 3

      Hold one paw loosely and dremel one nail at a time. Start on a low setting with the dremel angled perpendicular to the nail.

    • 4

      Grind around the outside of the nail to remove any rough edges.

    • 5

      Grind the tip of the nail until you begin to see a two-tone texture (the shell and the meat). When you reach this point, be careful to avoid grinding directly into the more sensitive "meat" area.

    • 6

      Finish off trimming by sanding any rough edges of the nail.