We happen to know a particular hound named Sophie who's endured more than her share of cracked nails and bleeding nail beds, the result of the standard guillotine-type nail trimmers. Though she was a bit wary of the Dremel, she sniffed at it and decided it was harmless. Then we set it on the floor and turned it on.

Sophie seemed concerned for a minute, but then lost interest. We let her get used to the sound of the Dremel for a few minutes, then got down to business. We expected her to cringe and pull away when we took paw in hand, for what usually follows is not pleasant for her. She submitted reluctantly at first to the Dremel, probably expecting the worst, but once we distracted her with a piece of rawhide, she forgot about the nail hubbub and let us carry on.

The whole thing was quick and painless, which made a change for Sophie, and was actually kind of soothing for the humans, which definitely made a change for us.

We followed the advice in the manual and alternated between two paws at a time, not keeping the abrasive on any nail for more than a couple of seconds, and we made sure each nail was cool before grinding it a second time.

If we had a criticism, it would be to wish only that Dremel would include the ½-inch drum for larger dogs like Sophie as well as the smaller one. Other than that, it's a tail-wagger. --Kris Jensen-Van Heste

Customer Reviews Average rating - 3.5

Rating - 1 Date: 2008-09-06
Content: I was not impressed with the dremel to use on pet nails. It did not do well on a small or medium sized dog and the noise really scared my dog. Now it is another thing added to the junk drawer.
Summary: Dremel for Pet Nails

Rating - 1 Date: 2008-09-04
Content: Our cats claws got caught in the seams in the grinding pads. It may work for dogs but it is of zero value for cats. The seams are visible in the product description. There is little or no mention of use with cats in the reviews ... I guess a red flag. I haven't tried the other grinder with a
special attachment but I'm not going to after trying this similar product.
Summary: Not for cats

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-09-03
Content: It works great,not so loud which surprised me in a good way. The only thing that they should mention is that for a big dog you have to use different filing bands that were not included but mentioned in the manual. If you were to buy it for a large breed dog you will also need coarse bands #407 or you will end up spending 30 minutes (like me and my weim) instead of 10-15 minutes to do your dog's nails.
Summary: Great

Rating - 1 Date: 2008-09-03
Content: This purchase was canceled, meaning not purchased, meaning I don't have it, meaning I can't write a review, meaning stop send me emails to review my purchase.
Summary: Did not buy

Rating - 2 Date: 2008-09-03
Content: This product is not powerful enough to get the job done in less than 5 sittings. I had to replace the batteries a couple of times, and it is still not really powerful enough. Any pressure at all exerted against the nail will stop the rotation. I intend to return it, hoping that there is a more poserful tool.
Summary: Disapointment