No dog enjoys getting their nails trimmed. While it is tough to complain too much about Harley, who accepts it with little resistance, it is certainly not a pleasurable experience for either of us. After seeing the Pedipaws Pet Nail Trimmer advertised on TV I thought that perhaps there was finally a better solution, and decided that it was worth a shot.
Product Description
The Pedipaws pet nail trimmer is a cylindrical device roughly 2″ in diameter and 11″ long. Inside the device is a rotary sanding drum which works to shape down your dogs nails. The access to the drum is limited to a small hole for both safety, and catching of clippings/shavings. The device weighs 8 oz. and is simple to operate and easy to manipulate.
It is recommended that you allow your animal to familiarize themselves with the Pedipaws before attempting to use it, both before and after turning it on. Harley reacted decently well to the device itself, giving it a good sniff and a couple of licks. Once turned on however, he appeared somewhat uneasy about the sound and vibration. To operate, one nail at a time is held through the opening against the sanding drum. Harley is easy going and felt fine allowing us to do this.
Our high hopes were quickly dashed when the grinding proved quite ineffective. The power of the device and the grit of the emery filing wheel were not enough to efficiently shape Harleys’ nails. It took significant time and effort to make progress, too much to ask from even a patient dog. As time went by Harley seemed more and more irritated by the vibration, to the point where he had clearly had enough. Perhaps it would work well on a smaller dog with thinner nails, but in our case the Pedipaws was not the solution we were looking for.
Final Thoughts
We were not too impressed with the pedipaws either…play bows,
RA
Tried it n fried it! The whirring grinding noise was distracting for the dog & the dogs nails actually got hot as the whimpy thing tried to grind down the big strong nails of my Newf. Back to regular parrot nail clipper! Oh & forget trying this on your cat (my arms are finially healing now & kitty finally crawled out from under the sofa after tearing up the curtains from just the sound)!
I wondered how animals would react. I hate the clippers; couldn’t imagine sitting still long enough for that thing to work.
Well BUMMER! I recently got one of these, as the new dog Katie is a bit skittish about her nails, occasionally doing the pre-emptive yelp, which makes me nervous, which makes her more nervous…etc. And last time I actually nicked her. So I thought this was going to be the solution. The good thing is, I didn’t pay for it. When I mentioned to one of our dogsitters that I was thinking of buying one, she went into the back room and came back with a new unopened PediPaws box. She said “here ya go!” Apparently she had about a dozen back there that people have donated to her grooming business. I guess that should have been a clue. I hadn’t tried it yet, but had high hopes. Oh well…
Hopefully you will fare better than we did Brenda, but if not at least it was free! Please let us know how it goes!
Just saw this review and though it’s been a while, thought I’d chime in. I had similar experiences with this product. I used it on my Sheltie- who doesn’t have very tough nails- and it does take a long time to make an impact. Too much to ask for a skittish dog. If you insist on this product, trim the nails with clippers first, then use this product for “finishing” to make the nails smoother- much more effective. And definitely give your pet time to adjust to it- for several sessions, turn it on but don’t touch the dog with it, just give him/her treats till she’s used to the sound.
Alternatively, I use a Dremel rotary tool (mini-mite, i think it’s called). They do come specifically for pets, but i just picked one up in the hardware section of walmart for under $20 and it’s the same thing. MUCH better tool. Grinds the nails much faster, which reduces stress on the dog. It has about the same volume level, so again, condition them to the sound and having it near their feet before actually attempting to grind the nails. And there’s no catch for the filings, but personally I found that part of the pedi paws to get in the way anyway. ~ I worked as a bather in a petsmart a while back, and this was the tool we used for grinding. Again, always more effective if you clip first then grind to finish. For my dog I don’t have to clip first, but he doesn’t have tough nails like labs and such. Hope this helps some of you… –Kate V. & Shiloh
Thanks for the tips and recommendation! The Dremel sounds like it would do a much better job on Harley’s thick nails. I will have to look into this option!