Guillotine
Don’t worry – it’s not as ghoulish as the name suggests! A guillotine dog clipper has a squeeze handle and a looped end. You insert the dog’s nail into the loop, squeeze the handles to drop a steel blade down, and cut the nail (similar to the function of the guillotine you had in your mind).
When Do Scissors Need Replacement?
Even heavy-duty scissors will likely wear down, especially if your dog has thick nails. However, you want to focus on the performance instead of the timeline.
Watch for chips and dents in the blade. While you can sharpen a dull blade, you can’t repair missing pieces. Excessive chipping is the first sign that your clippers need a replacement soon.
Also, check the straightness of the blades. If the blades are warped or uneven, they’ll have difficulty cutting correctly. Unfortunately, you can’t straighten out blades on your own, making replacement the only option.
How to Sharpen Scissors
Pay attention to how well the scissors cut when you are clipping your dog’s nails. If you find that you need to use excessive force to trim the nails, the blades probably need sharpening.
First, you need to dismantle the tool. Each brand is different, but you’ll typically remove a pin or component near an actuating lever in the middle of the scissors.
After dismantling the scissors, you’ll want to clean each blade with stainless-steel cleaner or baby oil. Unlike the routine cleaning you’ll do after each use, you can clean the entire blade’s length because the scissors are dismantled.
Finally, you’re ready to sharpen the blade. You have a few different options for how to sharpen dog nail clippers:
While specifics vary, generally, you’ll run the blade against the sharpening tool at a 45-degree angle. Do this about ten times. You should see the blade visibly sharpen.
For pliers-style clippers, you can sharpen them without taking the blades apart as shown in the video below:
How often should you do a dog’s nails to recede the quicks? | ADVICE FROM A DOG GROOMER
Learning how to trim dog nails properly is a key skill for every pet parent, yet many feel anxious about the routine dog grooming task. That’s because it’s easy to cut the nail too short and nick the blood vessels. Nail care can cause anxiety for dogs, too, but leaving nails to grow unchecked isn’t an option because it can actually hurt your dog.