Grinding Nails

I'm planning on running up to walmart today to pick up one of these dremels.  Does it come with the sandpaper wheel thing, or you buy that separately?  If separate, is there a number, or grit I should look for, or just "fine sandpaper" ?

It comes with the two sandpaper rolls with one already attached on the wheel for you.

Here is a picture of what your looking for.

Look at this, I just found it on dremels website:
http://www.dremel.com/en-us/tools/tool-detail.htm?H=188091&G=69668&I=69841

I much prefer the coarse sandpaper, I think it's 60 grit that I use. I find that the fine sandpaper generates a lot more heat for the amount of nail it grinds off. The coarse paper goes more quickly, and both the dogs and I think that is a good thing. Why drag it out?

I got mine this afternoon! Thanks a ton for the pic, bluelighting, it was very helpful. (I was in a hurry, but was able to spot it right away!) That's the one I got.

In my walmart it was near the lighting fixtures and with the sanders, if that helps anyone.

Blah, I went to one walmart yesterday, didn't have it in stock, called another one today, they didn't have it either.  Does anyone use the actual one by Dremel for pets? (see link a few posts back)

You can also get a regular dremel at any home improvement or hardware store. I got mine at Home Depot. If you get one with an accessory kit you can use it for all sorts of things around the house. I've cut bolts, pipe when I couldn't find the saw, use it to sharpen the lawn mower blade, etc.

Dremeling thoughts/experiences from a total newbie for other total newbies:

So, use treats to make the association dremel=good. But don't use super super good exciting treats, because then you'll get the association dremel=the most exciting thing to happen EVER IN THE UNIVERSE, and then your dog won't hold still any time you have the dremel in your hand.

Although using pantyhose to pull fur back works somewhat, if you're clutsy like me you're a lot more likely to get the dremel caught in the pantyhose that's loose and flapping around than you are to get it caught in short foot hairs.

Don't be afraid to really grind, you're not going to do any harm. The first time I tried I was so nervous I only held it on the nail for about a millisecond each time, and it took FOREVER just to get the bottoms of the nails on one paw flush with the ground.

So you're being careful about getting too much dust in your nose, but don't forget your dog's nose as well! This may seem self-explanatory, but if you're me, it's not. Grinding nails above dog's nose is not a good idea. This is probably easier if you have a larger dog, but can also be solved by throwing a towel over the dog's head.

I find the fine-grain sandpaper wheel works a lot better than the rougher one than the rotary head thing that comes already on the Walmart one.

The learning curve (if you're a clutz like me) is longer than you might expect. Don't get your hopes up right away - don't expect to have all 4 paws perfectly done in a half hour. It's taken me forever, mostly because I'm trying to figure out how to hold dog, nail, and dremel optimally. Be patient!

The end result is really cool!! I'm definitely happy I'm learning how to do this. Eventually it will take much less time (shorter nails already, more experienced owner!) and then I'll be really glad I'm being so crazy now.

I found having Sammy laying on his side - which he does very willingly for me - works the best.  Or you can have them standing and turn the paw upside down, but then I have a hard time seeing his quick (clear nails).
 
I like a medium/fine sandpaper, the coarser stuff vibrates the nail too much.  You can also trim the hair between the pads first if you think it will get stuck.  I dont have a problem with it.
 
This is definitely so much easier for both of us that clipping, just keep at it, the rewards will be worth it!

And the nails look so nice afterwards!! None of the cracky/splintery sort of stuff I would see with regular clipping. Very impressive.

I called Walmart today and got lucky; they had one in stock so I had them hold it for me and went and picked it up.  Haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to take the advice and get her used to it just being around for a while.

I use a $30 battery operated Craftman portable rotory tool with a stone wheel on my Italian Grey Hound. It takes a little longer, but he is less leery and I do not have to worry about him bleeding
 
BobW

I have a kind of super-duper Dremel model for craft work ... It has an extension head which I am using because it puts the actual motorized part over a foot a way, and the extention doesn't make any more noise than the whirring of the head. Our first session today went great!

Okay, so you folks with extra furry doggies... how the heck do you manage to grind the dew claws without ripping all the hair off? I did one of Rascal's, but I just couldn't get the claw far enough away from the leg and hair to do it effectively. Is there a trick? (I tried the pantyhose, but the dremel just got caught in the pantyhose.)

I just tried the dremel on Star for the first time today and I think it went pretty well (it could have been a lot worse)  Naturally she wanted to lick the thing, but I decided to just take the direct approach and picked her up and flipped her on her back and calmed her down, then just started - she didn't mind it a bit.  So I did a little on each nail (I need to get a mask as I was breathing in that fine dust) and it made a big difference even the first time.  I used the low setting of 5000rpm with the fine grit head.  It didn't do the work very fast and I was able to notice the heat building up after I touched her nail with my finger so the advice of not keeping the dremel on the nail for more than 3 seconds is definitely good advice.  I'm sure the closer you get to the quick, the more they can feel the heat too.  After a while she did get sick of laying there and started squirming around so I stopped for today.  But I was able to go a lot farther with the dremel than I recently did with the guilliotine clippers and didn't hit the quick.  I'm glad I learned about the dremel tool on here; so much easier and safer than clipping!