Grinding vs. Clipping Nails

The following article was composed from a post written by Betty Reed.

When you clip your dog's nails, you're only removing the tip of the nail. Because of this, the outside edges of the nail can keep on growing, and eventually turn in and come together if not clipped often. When you grind the nail, you can turn the grinder over the bottom of the nail to remove this edge. By grinding gently, you can make this area of the nail flat instead of rounded. When you do, the nail looks like the bottom of a horse's hoof. The outside part is the nail, and this layer will go around the quick. The quick in the middle will change color, even on the Blacks, but it is easier to see on the Yellows.

After this area is smooth to the feel, with no rough areas or longer outside nail edges, you can then just flatten the front point to shorten the nail, and round off the edges from the front and on the top of the nail to shape it up. If you keep doing this, the bottom will start being flat instead of curled, the quick will recede and you won't have to grind as often. Just keep it up regularly.

Some dogs have longer nails than others and some have wider bases than others. It is easier to see on the wide nails. I learned about this method at a Seminar of Pat Hastings, and it really works.

I happen to use a Dremmel drill fitted with the fine sand paper ring on it. This type of drill can be purchased at a good hardware store. You can also purchase electric grinders made specifically for nails. These are faster and stronger, and do better if you have many dogs. There are also rechargeable battery grinders that are quieter, don't have a cord to hassle with. They aren't quite as powerful and take a little longer to grind the nail, but I really like them better and the dogs don't seem to mind the sound nearly as much. In my opinion, the Oster nail grinder is the only kind to get. I think that these are of better quality, and should last forever.

Editor's Note: Although I do not use a nail grinder, I've been able to follow Betty's technique very successfully with the use of a good nail file or emery board. I start off by clipping the nails as short as possible with a clipper, and then I file off the bottom of the nail, thereby removing the edges which tend to curl in, and flatten the underside of the nail. I'll also file the front part of the nail to make it nice and round. By doing this regularly, I've noticed that my Labrador's nails do not grow as quickly, and do not tend to chip as often as they used to.

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