Dog nail clippers - any recommendations?

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I need to get some new ones, just wondered what people use? I prefer the guillotine type as I find they crush the nail less.

For 2 greyhounds, 2 lurchers and a little Squee terrier 😆
 
I bought some new ones recently, like you I prefer guillotine type as I think they cause less pain.

Resco Deluxe Nail Clipper. Deluxe just means they have a black rubbery handle grip :). I also bought spare replacement blade. I bought the large size but you could use with large and small nails.

I am happy with them, though the dog who had never had her nails clipped previously is less impressed.

In the past I have used a Dremel on some dogs - you can't spend too much time on each nail as the nail would get hot but it does a nice job and good for black nails because you can't take too much off at a time so less chance of accidentally hitting the quick.
 
It won't apply to you, Lev but if anyone has a long haired dog the Dremel is not such a good idea for obvious reasons. It can be done but a greater element of risk.
 
I use a dremel. I could no longer steel myself to cut all the black nails on my lot. Much less stressful now. For a long-haired dog put an old stocking on the dog's paw and push the nails through before using the dremel. A much bigger hazard is the long-haired terrier's tail. I have learnt to pin it down under one of my legs to stop him whipping it up into the dremel when I least expect it.
 
planete said:
I use a dremel. I could no longer steel myself to cut all the black nails on my lot. Much less stressful now. For a long-haired dog put an old stocking on the dog's paw and push the nails through before using the dremel. A much bigger hazard is the long-haired terrier's tail. I have learnt to pin it down under one of my legs to stop him whipping it up into the dremel when I least expect it.
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I take my hat off to your ingenuity, Planete. I would never have thought of that.
 
I have an ordinary common or garden Dremel and a cordless rechargeable Dremel imposter which, being cordless, is easier. I tended to use the rough sandpaper drums or sometimes the ones like orange stone - don't know the technical term for either.

For better advice, I would wait for Planete to comment :)
 
There's a pet dremel as well. Has a protective cover over most of the blade to return the hair pull risk.
Mine hates it more then the clippers(noise sensitive so it's taken a lot of counter conditioning to get her to tolerate it) but its pretty easy to use.
 
I bought a Dremel 3000. It has variable speeds, handy for getting dogs used to it (low speed = low noise), a cord which has not been a problem, and is powerful enough to do the four dogs quickly. There are some good videos around on how to use dremels for dogs' nails, well worth a look if you want to avoid overheating the nails and for tips on how to get dogs used to them. It is also a good DIY tool. I only use the 120 grit emery bands as worried a stone drum will overheat.
 
My dogs don't like the dremel and are good with clippers. I like the Miller's forge ones with the orange handles. I had dogs in the past that I could use the dremel and I used a cordless one. Also, look into the diamond belt head. I hear it is expensive but worth every penny.
 
I use Mikki ones and thankfully the two shepherds I have now are very laidback about letting me cut their nails so it’s not the stressfest it used to be with other dogs.

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Crackers (the one we inherited from mum) is the first dog we have ever had to trim nails on, all the rest were self trimming.

I got him a pet dremmel type thing, with the guard. Very safe, he doesn't mind.
 
JeremyWIN said:
I have a really bad experience with guillotine clippers. So many times i cut too much of the nail.. So now i`m looking for more safer tool for nail trimming. Now i`m considering from 2 nail grinders i found on this article: https://ourpetsmag.com/the-10-best-electric-dog-nail-grinders-of-2020/. #1 is Lucky Tai, #2 is Casfuy. Has anyone tried these nail grinders and could share the experience?
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I have the Casfuy one. I can't get it anywhere near my dog. He is frightened of the sound. This dog, who is fine with the pheasant shoot, the fireworks, any loud noise you can imagine, cannot cope with the sound of that grinder. I've never used it on his nails.

I wish I could get it near him though. I caught a quick the other day and it was awful.
 
Clodagh said:
I've never cut a dogs nails! Good info on here if I ever need to though.
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I was just thinking, 'no, me neither', when i remembered we had to trim the JRT's dew claws because the grew round and dug into her leg if we didn't. She was reasonably co-operative and her claws were white, so it was relatively easy.
 
Dober dawn did a video on how to Dremmel a dogs nails. Comes up on google as u tube videos now. ( dober dawn how to dremmel dog nails)
...the only reservation I have with her video is she grinds the nails far too short.

ifound it useful,and use a dremmel on my larger dogs,but a guillotene for their dew claws.

the smallest dogs I’ve had have the guillotine clippers when needed.

For puppies I used cat scissor type nail cutters.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/253327547760361394/
 
Bellasophia said:
Dober dawn did a video on how to Dremmel a dogs nails. Comes up on google as u tube videos now. ( dober dawn how to dremmel dog nails)
...the only reservation I have with her video is she grinds the nails far too short.

ifound it useful,and use a dremmel on my larger dogs,but a guillotene for their dew claws.

the smallest dogs I’ve had have the guillotine clippers when needed.

For puppies I used cat scissor type nail cutters.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/253327547760361394/
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There seems to be a bit of a fashion with some Dremel users (particularly in the US it seems, on Facebook at least!) to file the nails down to little nubs. I don't like that, since the nails do serve a purpose. I hate it when I've cut my nails short but have an itch to scratch ?
 
Dobe people have the idea of short nails to make the feet fit the breed standart.

I use a Miller's forge nail trimmer. On my dogs who were OK with it I used a dremel. i am BIG weenie about quicking animals. I would rather cut a little bit and have a dog not terrified of having the nails cut.
 
On the flipside, overlong nails (particularly in dogs where the foot conformation means the nails don't wear down naturally) can cause the dog to redistribute their weight and cause knock on joint/soundness issues. I'm convinced this is one of the reasons why my middle dog (who came to me later in life) has had intermittent and seemingly random lameness, compared to my older one, who has very tight feet.
 
CorvusCorax said:
On the flipside, overlong nails (particularly in dogs where the foot conformation means the nails don't wear down naturally) can cause the dog to redistribute their weight and cause knock on joint/soundness issues. I'm convinced this is one of the reasons why my middle dog (who came to me later in life) has had intermittent and seemingly random lameness, compared to my older one, who has very tight feet.
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When anything older dog comes into my salon hobbly and stiff, 9 times out of 10 it has overgrown nails. Some breeds are more prone but people don’t realise that the longer you let the nail get, the longer the quick inside gets, so you end up in a catch 22 where you can’t trim the nail back too much because you’ll catch the quick. The answer is to trim it back every week or two to just before the quick and the quick will start to recede.
Best way to do this on black nails is to pick the foot up like a horses foot and take tiny shavings off until a circle appears. Very carefully carry on until a little black dot appears in the circle and that’s when you need to stop. There are some YouTube guides on this from groomers.

I use regular dog nail clippers (I have 2 sets) and a grinder for shaping and taking sharp edges off. I do dogs nails everyday.
 
Scats I think I’ll nominate you to do Colin’s nails ? lots of nail training coming up, he is appalling.... I’m too used to rescue greyhounds who just patiently stand there on 3 legs while you clip the claws on the 4th leg! Colin gets absolutely hysterical ?
 
Levrier said:
Scats I think I’ll nominate you to do Colin’s nails ? lots of nail training coming up, he is appalling.... I’m too used to rescue greyhounds who just patiently stand there on 3 legs while you clip the claws on the 4th leg! Colin gets absolutely hysterical ?
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Haha, poor Colin. A lot of them do find it traumatic. I’d say 80% of the dogs who come in hate nails being done. I’ve come up with some weird and wonderful ways to do it without getting bitten or nicking a quick, but it definitely takes practice!
 
My terrier was awful to trim nails. Despite having the same sort of training for nail cutting as all my other dogs, he was the only one who started screaming as soon as I picked up the clippers. He would also keep jerking his foot even when the clippers were nowhere near him. Big dogs are so much easier to do. Enjoy Lev!?
 
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