Does this look scary to you? Frightening or threatening in any way? Because Chappy (checking it out, to make sure it’s safe for me to take its photo) absolutely hates the thing.

I’ve been neglectful of doing his nails lately, and last night told him that absolutely must work on them–you can hear him walking around from the far end of the house, and it can’t be comfortable to walk on those long nails. Of course, he insisted he was fine, and going one more day wouldn’t hurt . . . but, well, can you believe them when they tell you these things??

So I pulled him in my lap, liver treats near to hand. Grinded the nails on one paw. (Good Boy! Have a treat.) Ground nails on paw number 2. (Very good! Here’s another treat!) Three nails into paw three . . . the whirring head caught in the long fur on his toes and, well, ground to a halt. Ouch! Quickly turned it off, untangled it, gave him a bonus treat, rubbed the paw where the fur had been pulled . . . poor boy! And when I turned it on again . . . let’s just say he was not a happy camper. He still sat and let me do his nails . . . Well, mostly. He sits very still, but moves the paw around so I can’t hold it still . . . which is what I tell him causes accidents like the grinder getting tangled, but does he listen?? Anyway, we finished the fourth paw, bonus treats all around, and then he sat on the rug, sulking, and licking at his nails. I’m sure I heard him grumbling to himself, “I can do this myself. She doesn’t need that thing. It’s just a torture device. I swear she pulled out half the fur on my foot…”

You must realize that Chappy is generally the sunniest of dogs and is not normally prone to sulking. Still, using a nail grinder is far, far better in my book than using clippers. I tried those and managed small accidental cuts that drew a drop or two of blood until one time when Katy jerked her foot at just the wrong moment and it took 30 minutes to get the blood to stop. I much prefer using my Dremel!! (And have been known to resort to really rough emory boards in a pinch–quiet and almost as effective–and you don’t even have to look at what you’re doing.)

For any dog-owners interested, the best–by far–instructions I’ve ever read on using a Dremel on your dog’s nails is located at www.DoberDawn.com site. Highly recommended.

  To get back to knitting content, my second order of Brooks Farm yarn came today. Yummy color! These two yarns are going to look fabulous together. Now I just need to decide what to do with them…

I want to get some spinning done tonight–what with all the mending, it wasn’t possible last night and I wouldn’t want my pretty purple roving to feel neglected!

Lastly, here’s an article from today’s Boston Globe on sock knitting, which I read about on Katherine’s blog. Interesting!

The Joy of Socks

• Tags: Chappy, Family, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Pet-icure //