It’s summer time, and that means it’s time for bare legs. It also means remembering just how sharp our dog’s nails can be. If you’re saying “Youch!” Every time your dog comes in for a cuddle, you may want to try rounding their nails the next time you give them a trim.
Rounding your dog’s nails won’t completely eliminate the problem–nails are hard after all, and even the smoothest nail will still hurt when a dog digs them in. Rounding the nails will help avoid sharp points from catching your skin.
Cheat Method
This article is focused on how to round nails while trimming them, but if your dog is difficult for nails and you’d rather not spend time feeling the nail and smoothing off every hard edge, walking your dog for a quarter mile on hard surfaces does a beautiful job of smoothing them.
On the same note, walking your dog about a mile on hard surfaces maintains every nail but the dewclaws, making the need for nail trims less frequent.
With An Emery Board
If yo don’t have a dremel, you can get the worst of the sharp points off with a simple human emery board. Feel your dog’s nail. Anywhere your thumb catches on the nail is a place where you will want to file.
The most common place for the nail to catch is the back side of the nail. Smooth at a 45 degree angle. You should only need to go back and forth with the emery board 4-5 times to get it smooth, so check it by running your thumb against the edge of the spot you filed.
With a Dremel
If your dog is good for nails, the fastest way to smooth them is with a rotary tool such as a dremel. All you have to do is run the dremmel around the outside of the nail at a 45 degree angle, then check for rough spots. If you feel a rough spot, make another pass with the dremel.
Use a light touch when dremeling, as if you are trying to draw a picture on paper with a sharp pencil, while the paper is lying on carpet. Rounding is usually done after the nails are already short, so the goal isn’t to remove excess length. A light touch will keep you from accidentally making the dog bleed.
On the same note, avoid the tip of the nail, focusing on the edges of the cut area. The goal is to round the nail, not take more off.
This should be enough to give you a smooth, beautiful nail. If not, take that pup out for another walk to remove those excess edges.
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Great tips, Andrea! This reminds me that I need to trim Henry’s nails. I do use a grinder, so that helps. But I haven’t worried about the sharpness of his nails. I think your idea of walking on a hard surface for 1/2 mile is brilliant! That would certainly do the trick. I’m sharing these tips with all my dog parents! Henry says your pack needs cookies. 😉
Our youngest dog will still get overly excited and jump up on us. OUCH! I’ll have to try to remember to round them after the next trimming to keep my legs safe until he learns better.
Great tips but with my lousy eyes I pay the groomer or vet to do them as I would rather be safe than sorry plus Nili walks a lot on the side walks which keeps them short all the time.
Wonderful tips, Andrea. I used to do my bunny’s nails, but never brave enough to tackle the Huskies’ nails! I used to walk them around my neighborhood, so maybe they weren’t so bad due to the ground being a “file” as you mentioned, but I did let my groomer do their nails. That was the only thing I bowed out of (for their safety, LOL). But your tips sure are so very helpful and I know it will help others to do some at-home trimming! After reading this, if I had dog now, I’d give it a go and try rounding those nails. Sharing this with my readers!