Drama Queen Approved

I received this product with a discount in exchange for an honest review.

His name is Tiny Wiener.  He loves long walks, Beggin' Strips, barking, warm blankets.  He hates having his nails trimmed.  As a matter of fact, he would rather die. At the sight of a pair of traditional clippers, he puddles on the floor and tips over on his side, too weak to move.  When you pick him up, he starts squealing like a stuck pig.  Drama queen.

"Tiny Wiener, can I do your nails?"

"No.  Go away."

  

Enter the Almago Electric Pet Nail Grinder. 

The package is very standard and features a simple plastic display with the unit and a display card.  On the reverse side of the card, are simple instructions on how the unit works. 

First, you need 2 AA batteries.  I use rechargeable batteries, which seemed to work fine, but the unit really does drain them rather quickly.  I found that I needed to keep refreshing the batteries often.  I suggest using a heavy duty battery that is made for products that tend to drain faster.  This product would be really nice if it had a rechargeable lithium battery in it that could be charged when it is not being used.  I will take away 1 star for this, since hunting down and charging batteries when getting ready to trim a frightened dog’s nails is not something I particularly like.   I am unaware if the lack of power was because the batteries were draining so quickly or if the unit itself was not powerful.  My guess is going to be the batteries, since when they were fresh from the charger, the unit seemed to function quickly, gradually becoming less powerful and functional as the batteries drained.

The unit is very quiet and was not startling to my pets.  Like I implied at the beginning of my review, I have a very dramatic little dog that will scream the second you even discuss trimming his toenails.  He was the one I reviewed the product on and he did not recoil at the sound at all, took his time smelling the unit and got used to the sound rather quickly. 

NOTE:  Because I love to add in the obvious, keep the cover on the unit when you first turn it on and let the dog smell it.  We are not trimming doggy nose hairs.  I should not have to mention this, but there are a few people on the planet that actually do need to be told that the coffee is hot...so...

The business end.  Keep the cover on while the animal gets acquainted.

The back of the display card suggests using  the various “ports” according to dog size, though I found it easier to hold the unit like a baton and bring the dog’s nail down to the side ports  instead of trying to feed the nail into the end. 

I should mention here that the instructions have been translated and they are rather broken English.  While the directions are able to be followed, they can be a little confusing simply because the translation is not completely correct.   They do cover use as well as care and cleaning in a convenient, brief, bookmark-sized card.

After some convincing and having to take the entire chore slowly due to my own pet’s anxiety, he did finally settle down and allow for me to trim his nails.  This is actually a small miracle since just showing him the traditional nail clippers would make him puddle on the floor.  While he never really relaxed, he did yawn once during the procedure, and turn his nose up to give me kisses at one point.  

Aside from the power issue, the quiet motor, the diamond wheel, and ease of use makes this a good suggestion for an affordable alternative to the vet, as well as a gentler, less invasive alternative to the traditional pet nail clippers.  I will give it 4 stars, with a clear alert to the battery issue and suggest again a rechargeable unit for future models.  I give it 4 out of 5 stars.