Well trimmed nails are essential for a dog's comfort and well-being. Untrimmed nails can lead to splayed feet, sore nailbeds, and even a torn nail. When nails are too long, the dog's toes spread apart while walking. This leaves more space for snow and ice to build up in winter, turning a winter walk into a painful ordeal. (Click Here to read more about winter paw care.)

Pedipaws is a cordless rotary tool designed especially for safe and gentle pet nail grooming. It has a rotating emery wheel that files and removes nail growth just a small amount at a time, in thin layers. There's a protective cap surrounding the grinding wheel with an opening to insert the pet's nail. The cap also catches and holds nail filings. Pedipaws is powered by 2 C alkaline batteries.

Even though my Weimaraners are usually quite excitable, they were more curious than nervous the first time they saw and heard their new Pedipaws. The noise from this battery operated tool is minimal.... just a very low buzz. I took the Pedipaws out of the box, sat down on the floor with them and ran it for a minute or two, lightly touching their paws with the outside of the tool. I did this several times over a few days before actually using it to trim their nails. Now, after initially pulling back a time or two when trimming begins, they relax and just lay there and ignore what I'm doing. The noise or the grinding does not bother them at all.

It is a bit more time consuming than nail clipping. Weimaraners are large dogs, but even the first time I used Pedipaws, it worked very well on Schatzie. Fritz is a slightly larger dog with thicker and much tougher nails than she has. His nails also grow faster and were longer than hers. It took quite a long time to do the nails on his first paw, so on his remaining paws I used a nail clipper to trim away just the outer tips that I was certain I could remove safely. I then went over the partially clipped nails using the Pedipaws to shorten and smooth rough edges.

Using Pedipaws...
Since friction from persistent grinding can produce some heat and discomfort, do only a few short grinds on one nail then start the next nail. Using a rounded motion, go across the nails on one paw, a few seconds per nail (no more than 3 to 5 seconds is recommended), on one nail after the other. For extra long nails or thick and tough nails, you may have to repeat this several times before moving to another paw. The motor will slow down when applying too much pressure, but according to the Pedipaws website video, this is normal and expected. Only light pressure is needed to successfully complete the job.

Unscrew the protective cap and empty the filings after each use. I rinse the cap and dry it well before screwing it back on.

After several uses, you'll need to replace the worn filing band head with a Pedipaws replacement head. I replaced the filing head after completely trimming both dogs nails twice. I noticed a decrease in power after trimming their nails for the third time. I've replaced the batteries so it's ready to use next time.

Do introduce the Pedipaws gradually, as suggested above. Follow the directions on the Pedipaws website. You can also watch an instructional video.

For extra long, extra thick nails on a large dog, you may want to use a conventional pet nail clipper to remove the outer nail tips, only as much as you are comfortable with, then use Pedipaws to shorten and smooth the clipped nails.

Nail care is easier, gentler and less intimidating using this rotary trimmer. My dogs' nails are now neatly trimmed and better looking. I will continue to use it every time I groom their nails. Instead of having rough and jagged edges for days after trimming, their nails have smooth, rounded tips immediately. Since I'm able to get the nails shorter than I was safely able to do with a clipper, trimming doesn't need to be done as often.

I think Pedipaws would work exceptionally well on medium and small dogs. The filing bands wouldn't wear as fast on smaller nails and battery life would be longer.

The Pedipaws Pet Nail Trimmer is available online at Petco.com and PetSmart.com. Pedipaws Replacement Heads are also available online at PetSmart.com.

Pedipaws may not be the best nail grooming solution for every dog. Extremely high strung, nervous dogs who hate being groomed in any way, may not cooperate and allow the grinding or even tolerate the low noise. Trimming by a professional in a grooming salon or vet's office may be the only solution.