Time For A Pedicure!

Nail trimming is not one of the most favorite things for the dogs. Truthfully, it's not a task I enjoy doing for them either because they're rather difficult about the entire process and it turns into a long, drawn out ordeal for everyone involved. No matter how much I try to explain to them that it's for their own good, they don't buy it. Both dogs need to be chased down and essentially sat upon to get their nails trimmed. And they both have this funny way of curling up into little balls half their usual size, scrunched up into the cracks between the couch cushions, and tucking their paws under their bodies to make them inaccessible for trimming.

I used to use regular dog nail trimmers to clip their nails until I heard that it was easier to use a Dremel to trim their nails. So, I figured that it was worth a try. We started doing this on Boris a couple of years ago. We got him used to the Dremel over the course of several weeks, and then gradually started doing his nails over the course of more weeks. By "we" I mean the hubby. This has turned into his weekly routine for the dogs. And I help by giving the dogs very liberal amounts of cheese and calming them while they're getting their nails done. As much as they dislike the Dremel, they hate the nail clippers much more. And I think the Dremel does a nicer job on their nails anyway. It leaves the edges much smoother and you get a lot more control over exactly how much you want to take off, so there's much less risk of cutting into the quick and making them bleed. Roxie's nails grow like crazy and absolutely have to be trimmed weekly.



Boris' nails grow much more slowly. But his nails are thick and they take awhile to do. We usually go through a course grit sanding band each time we do Boris' nails!



But, in spite of this unpleasantness that we put the dogs through, they're very forgiving about the whole thing. Especially since they know that they get cheese as their reward!