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Sunday, April 5, 2009

Great Pawdicure Tools

Well as most of you know, mum always keep our nails as short as possible because she cringes at the sound of our nails clicking on the floor. Most of the time she will try to file our nails instead of cutting them because we simply hate the nail cutter and occasionally end up bleeding when she cut into our quick!

Even daily walks does not wear down our nails much because 50% of the time we are walking on grass instead of pavements/roads. Mum tried out numerous dog nail filer products available on the market, ranging from the normal dog nail file emery boards to electric nail grinder. Normal emery boards takes forever to file down our nails, it's only good for smoothing out rough edges. The grinder isn't too bad but somehow you have to hold the grinder at a 'correct angle' when filing, else the nail sort of 'trembles' as you file etc.

Recently we learnt a great tip from the Dughallmor Beagles. Their mom file their nails using grip tape (the ones you stick on skate boards to prevent slipping). So our mum decided to try it out too. Our silly mum didn't know where the skate stores in Singapore are located, so she went to the DIY / Self-fix store instead but the store does not sell grip tape for skate boards. Instead the sales person recommended another type of adhesive grip tape from 3M that is also used for anti-slip purposes. Basically it looks and feels like the coarse material on the road, and comes in a roll (see pic below).


3M Grip Tape, available at DIY / Self-fix stores



You will need to cut out a piece of the tape and then stick it on 'something' (like a ruler or a small box etc) and then use it just like an emery board for filing nails. True enough, it works really well filing down my nails! However, it takes a bit more effort to file Barley's thick nails, and black specks of dust comes off from the tape as you file, hence wearing off easily. But it does work better than most dog nail file emery boards you find from the pet stores!

And it was by chance recently that mum discovered yet another great tool. It's a foot/heel scrubber (those meant for hoomans) made of steel (see pic below). Basically it is those very tiny raised steel dots you see that really does the job. Thick nails (like what Barley has) gets filed down amazingly in just seconds! It really works like magic! The best part about it is that it doesn't seem to wear off yet even after using it for a few times!


Foot/heel scrubber, available at all Daiso stores



The Verdict

3M Grip Tape (Rating: 8 / 10)

Pros:-
  • File nails easily.
  • Works better than most types of dog nail file emery boards.
Cons:-

  • Costly ($20+).
  • Requires much effort when filing thick nails.
  • Black dust specks coming off the tape as you file.
  • Wears off easily after a few uses.

Foot/Heel Scrubber (Rating: 10 / 10)

Pros:-
  • Cheap ($2).
  • Tiny raised steel dots file nails very very easily.
  • Does not seem to wear off even after using it for a few times now.
  • Comes with an ergonomic grip handle.
  • File thick nails down in just seconds (WOW!).
Cons:- None so far!


Thumbs up for the steel foot/heel scrubber! Cheap and good! Mum is guessing those foot/heel scrubbers made of pumice stone could also do the job pretty well, but they may also wear down easily (though we haven't tried it). Maybe you guys out there would like to get your mom to try out and let us know which one works best for you!

So, bye bye to horrible nail cutters and HOORAY to no more bleeding due to cut quicks!!!! WOO!!!!


12 comments:

Dughallmor Beagles said...

Wow guys....what a fantastic tip, thanks for sharing! We're gonna see if we can get one today, infact Mum thinks there might even be one inthe bathroom.
We have shows soon and our nails are getting a bit long :D
Slobbers xx

The Musketeers said...

What a great idea !
Thanks for sharing (:

Molly the Airedale said...

We HATE having our nails done and we LOVE giving our mom a really hard time about it! And now that our mom has read this post she'll most probably be running out and buying new equipment to torture us with! Thanks a lot, guys!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Kess And Her Mama said...

What a great tip! After one disastrous nail cutting experience, my humans have given up on that. So, I just go on walks on roads. Mum wants to try this but I say "Leave my nails alone"

fat fat said...

good boy, cocoa ... sharing with frens about your new filing tips ...

good for barley too ... everybody is happy now ...

:D

Sapphire said...

thanks for the great tip. sapphire's nails get pretty 'rough' after a trim. must try filing soon.

DogsDeserveFreedom said...

I'm going to have to try that!


DogsDeserveFreedom

Pipa said...

That's it. I'm getting Carla to buy one of those for me!


Pipa

Amber-Mae said...

We hate getting our nails trimmed too. Mommy always end up cutting Faith's nails too deep because she just can't stand the sight of long nails & Faith's nails are always touching the floor. We're now getting a Pedi-Paw which is a grinder for doggy nails.

Butt sniffs,
Solid Gold Dancer

Dino and Family said...

Excellent idea! Thanks for sharing! Love, Dino

Aki and Poopie said...

we'll keep this in mind boys.. your mum sure is the best.. but of course, with puppies as handsome as the both of you, we cant afford to take risks!

how are you? we missed you lots! hope to see more action in your next post!

love you both!

drooly kisses,

Aki and Poopie

Unknown said...

Excellent Greg. Good, practical stuff. I just floated your article around my network. Keep up the good work.

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