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Home Grooming The Companion Old English Sheepdog

Whoopee For OESs!
Another Way To Hold Back OES
Foot Hair While Grinding Nails

Below is just one way an Old English Sheepdog owner tends to her dog's nails.  Dogs often need to be slowly desensitized to any new process.  You need to proceed slowly, respect the dog's limits, praise and reward lavishly so the dog will learn to tolerate it.  Only you know your dog and how he or she may respond.  Seek assistance from a professional if there is any chance your dog could be harmed by it's exuberance or fear or if the dog could display an aggressive behavior. Follow all product safety instructions provided by individual manufacturers.  Try to make grooming a special one-on-one time that both you and your dog will look forward to.   These instructions are offered as-is and without guarantee or warranty. 
* DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOUR DOG IS ALLERGIC TO THE MATERIAL.

For Beginners...
When using a nail grinder, it's important to keep the foot hair away from the rotating drum of the nail grinder. 
Some grinders may stop if hair is caught... others will rip out hair so you MUST hold the hair back. Some
people simply use their fingers, others poke the dog's nails through nylons. I use a whoopee cushion...

 I determine the disk size needed.  Dogs with longer foot hair need a larger diameter whoopee-circle in order to hold the hair away from the rotating drum of the nail grinder.  The bottom of a drinking glass/tumbler was the right size for my dogs that are kept in a shorter coat.  I set the tumbler on the whoopee cushion and traced around it with a pen.  I cut the circle out with scissors and end up with two disks because a whoopee cushion has two layers of material.

 

Using a pen, I trace a circle on the whoopee cushion, then cut it out.  And this is what I'm left
with... I made this one
about a 3" in diameter circle.		 I make an "x"
in the center.		 I cut the "x" with a unility knife or scissors. The hole needs to be big enough for the nail to slip through. BUT not so large that it's
loose or the hair I'm trying
 to hold behind the disk will
 poke through the hole.

 
 
 
 
 
I grind my dogs nails down with a Peticure attachment, then do finish grinding with a standard grinder.

This nail was ground back
but needs to be rounded up to smooth the sharp edges.

I slip the rubber
disk over the nail...

 ...and push the disk
back toward the nail bed. 		I then grind the nail down
to the proper length and
round up any sharp edges.

I still need to use care when grinding the
nails, being careful hair isn't poking through
the disk along with the toenail. I discard rubber disc
if it becomes damaged during the grinding process.

Copyright 2011- J. Dunne.  All rights reserved.  The photographs and instructions on this page are the property of the author. Do not reproduce or copy for public use without written permission from the author.

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The Companion Old English Sheepdog

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