Dugan the Dog gets his nails filed.

Dugan is all relaxed from his tooth brushing and ready for the weekly nail filing.


"Dugan, quit talking to me, you are making me loose count on the number of strokes"


The best tool I can find for Dugans nails, a 10" "fatherless" file


One of the many ongoing maintenance things that are commensurate with dog ownership is nail trimming. Dugan the Dog has a genuine set of dog nails! They are big, they are tough, and they grow fast. He doesn’t have dew claws, and I’m not sure if he was born that way or maybe they were removed by the breeder before we got him. Anyway, the sixteen claws he has are “industrial duty”. It is amazing to see him at work when he gets in a digging mood. He can really make the dirt fly. He never digs just for the sake of digging, but reserves his digging efforts for trying to get gophers, or if I am involved with some shovel work Dugan will join in and try a little digging too. I call Dugan my “helper dog” because he frequently tries to get involved in the things I am doing out in the yard. He means well and he has a good heart, but I usually need to straighten things out after he is done. I feel kind of mean if I discourage him and tell him to get out of the way. After all, he is just trying to let that “helper dog” spirit shine through.

Anyway, you would think that with all the long walks on concrete and asphalt, and having a big yard to play in, that he would wear down those nails, but not so! It is really painful if you are barefooted and he steps on your foot, it makes you utter an anguished cry of pain. The problem with Dugan is that he does not want you cutting those nails! Whatever type of nail clippers you have, he will not sit still when he feels those clippers touch his nails. You may say, “No problem, just hold him down or get someone else to hold him”. It’s easier said than done my friends. Dugan would be a great wrestler; he can get out of any hold you can think of. My vet said they would trim his nails for a small nominal fee so I hauled him down there. After a few minutes, the vet came out and admitted defeat. They had put him on a table and several of the staff (some of them strong men) tried to hold him down but he wouldn’t submit. Of course Dugan never gets mean or mad about all of this; he just wiggles out of anything you try and gets unhappy but never bites. The vet suggested sedating him and we did that a few times, but I didn’t like the idea of doping him up the rest of his life for nail trimming, so I devised a plan.

I had been successful in training him for tooth brushing, so I started playing with his toes when we were done brushing and he still had his feet up while he is on his back. I gave up with the idea of ever “cutting” his nails, so I started devising ways to sand his nails down. After trying a few different ideas, it turns out the best thing is to use is a file that you would find in a metal shop. In shop tool terminology it is called a 10” Flat Bastard Cut file. It is a “course” file (that is why they call it bastard, it’s almost like an extra fine wood rasp) made for the quick removal of metal. For the sake of our more sensitive readers, I will hereafter refer to it as the “fatherless file”. So every Monday morning immediately after the tooth brushing is done and Dugan lies relaxed on the floor, each nail gets 25 to 30 strokes of the fatherless file. He does good putting up with it, but he does get impatient when I get to working on his rear feet. We get the job done anyway. Any other dog would be eager to display his masterfully filed nails, but Dugan being the kind of dog that he is, keeps his nails modestly concealed under his fur. Dugan is so humble.