Ok, I really feel like crap. I returned home from San Diego, which John points out is way to close to Mexico not to be concerned, and came down with the flu. Last night I had to wake him up at 2 AM to get me something for my fever as I thought I was going to die right there. Then a couple hours later I woke up completely drenched in sweat. No fun. My friend Jeff Blake posted on my facebook page that he thinks it could be the swine flu based on the way I can honker down a vegan milk shake. He could be onto something there! Aaaah the memories of Boulder Colorado. I don’t think I have ever seen a place anywhere else in the world with a VEGAN junk food burger place. It had hemp milk shakes and veggie burgers, it was awesome. Luckily for me, Jeff is not only vegan, but also OCD enough to want to eat there every night over the 3 day trial last summer.
Anyway, I had big plans to start my outdoor training today, but I am think I will stick pretty much inside instead. I just HAVE to do my dogs nails. Any of you that struggle with this, here is a great article to help you out, it pretty much sums up how I dremel my pack’s toe nails. It is a good one! http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/dremel/dremel.html
Today I am grateful that I am still here after how badly I felt during the night last night!
Hope you’re on the right side of the flu at this point. I want to comment on doing dogs’ nails. For the first half of his life, my previous dog and I had a nail hate relationship, and struggled with clippers… any style, he HATED it, and of course, so did I. Not a fun time. Then halfway through his 14 year life, I had a brainwave… use my Dremel. Fortunately I have some smarts, and did it exactly like the article posted in this blog describes, and he and his nails were EASY from that point onward. I only came across the article AFTER he went to The Bridge. It’s excellent. I suggest everyone reads it and gives it a go!
Dremel makes a few different models of their basic tool. The one used in the article is fine ONLY IF you keep the RPMs VERY LOW. I have that model myself. It plugs into an outlet. Not convenient. AND dogs’ nails heat up VERY quickly with this tool, and that REALLY HURTS! So I recommend getting the Golf Club or Dog Nail model, and then order a bunch of replacement sleeves from Lee Valley, online or their store, Canada & USA. (leevalley.com). The more you order the cheaper they are (shipping doesn’t change). Here’s what I ordered in Feb this year.
68Z0303F (10) FINE 1/2 x 1/2 Sleeves $3.50 CDN = 100 sleeves for $35 plus $11.00 shipping plus $2.30 Tax (I’m in Alberta, Canada).
I got 2 of their free catalogues as well. That works out to $.48 each, sleeve, which is nearly half the cost of Dremel’s brand sleeves. I’m still using the first sleeve… these last forever!!! I doubt I’ll get through all I have in my current dog’s lifetime, lol! Anyway, my last dog was OK with the Dremel, but here’s an obvious (?!?) warning. WRAP long-haired dogs’ legs before turning on the tool. (He was a Sheltie.) If you catch hair in the tool at speed, you may never get it near your dog again. IT HURTS LIKE HELL!!! I highly recommend their “special purpose” versions (golf or dog nails) because they’ve got only 2 PRESET speeds, neither too fast. Still, keep hair away from the tool when it’s on!!!
My experience has revealed that the golf version (green plastic) is a LOT cheaper than the dog nail version (orange plastic). They are absolutely IDENTICAL, other than colour. Shop around! Spend what you can save on the tool and sleeves on TREATS! Both run on 4 AA batteries (I use rechargables) and are quieter than the MultiPro model. Think of your dog’s hearing. Start slow & easy, and follow the instructions EXACTLY that are on the link Susan has provided here. My current dog (a VERY high drive Belgian Malinois) ONLY knows the Dremel (orange) and I touch-up her nails quite frequently – at least once a week – to keep us in practice. I do it just before we go for a walk. It’s actually faster than only doing them occasionally. Less to do, less stress, and quick! So her nails are VERY SHORT!!! Very tidy. I always wear my treat pouch (to the front) and reward her frequently. She actually GIVES me her paw to work on. How’s that sound?!! It’s pretty nice compared to the Bad Old Clipper Days. To sum it all up, I will NEVER, EVER use nail clippers on a dog. Period. They are very painful for the dog, and are not the safest method by a long shot. Cut the quick… sooner or later… and you know how they bleed… Get a Dremel!
Long post, but worth it. Thanks for the opportunity!
Susan Tombs
Medicine Hat, Alberta
Canada
there are a lot, a lot, a LOT of people not feeling good right now. Hope you feel better soon.
FYI – please browse the attached article to avoid the Swine Flue Panic
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/29/Swine-Flu.aspx
Just curious… any relation to “Dremel Dawn”? BTW – I’ve been down and out since Monday with this same CRAP!! The dogs are getting cabin fever 🙁 Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Sometimes you just have to listen to your body and rest, hopefully this will pass quickly and with the least amount of discomfort. Get well soon
Judith Batchelor
hope you get better soon Susan.. take care
Hope you feel better real soon!
Aww, hope you are better soon
Its always the way when I have a bit of time off after being busy I always get ill
I am still too scared to try cutting my gangs nails, when they are turning into claws we do some long road walks, seems to do the trick
Hope you feel much better soon… yes, we vote for you staying inside today so that you can blog away . Seriously, take good care of yourself and remain in the land of the living. Us dog-training addicts require our SG fix on a regular basis.
Happy dremeling– not my most favorite dog care chore, but having a cooperative and happy partner in the process sure makes it better.