Peticure Review – A Dog Owner's Perspective

A few weeks ago, a member here at the Academy was interested in a new product called “Peticure”. I personally had never heard of such product, so I had to visit their website for more information. It seemed like an innovative product which filed the dog’s nails instead of using clippers.

This new method intrigued me, ironically I had never even thought of doing it that way. I had always used the clippers on my dogs, and I have to be honest, it was not a task I enjoyed doing.

So I spent a few hours doing research on the product and read many reviews on different forums and blogs. The reviews were very different; some people fell in love with the product while others hated the thing. Many people had problems with the company itself, with shipping, returns and battery life. So although these negative reviews would have normally discouraged me from purchasing this product, I decided to buy one anyways.

I placed my order over the phone on March 20th and I received my Peticure about six weeks later. When I ordered, the gentleman told me that they were backordered and that my credit card would not be billed until the package was shipped. So although it did take a long time to get my package, it was not that bad since they had notified me before.

I was very eager to get my Peticure after six weeks of waiting, so it was great to try it out once it arrived. It was shipped in a cardboard box with a battery charger and instructions. The instructions could have been better, there is no instruction manual but instead they give you a piece of paper with written instructions on it. I personally would have loved to have gotten a manual with pictures, angles and how far to grind the nails. But in all fairness, they do have this available on their website.

They have two models available; I purchased the stronger and bigger version called the Elite. Basically, the unit is like a normal dremel tool but with an added cover so that the dog nails fit perfectly into the hole, and it collects the dust that is created when grinding the nails. I find that emptying the cover is a breeze, all you need to do is to squeeze the two release buttons and it comes right off. The unit also comes with a small wrench so that you can change the grinding paper easily.

The Peticure does produce quite a bit of noise; it’s not heavily noisy but to a dog, can be quite scary. I had to acclimatize my dogs to the noise of the peticure before I could even start grinding their nails. I started by turning it on and then giving my dogs some treats, I would then let my dogs investigate the unit on their own and give them some treats. I then started petting them with the unit’s handle and the cover blocking the grinding surface. It must have felt like a miniature massage for my dogs, but in the end, they didn’t mind the noise from the unit.

One thing that I first noticed about the peticure elite is its colour. This will be different for everybody, but personally, the colour didn’t do it for me. They put it a kind of dull green with a beige hint in it, really not that great looking. I wish it came in a dark blue colour or something.

I mentioned in the beginning that many other people had complained about the batteries being junk. I personally have not had any problems with the battery whatsoever. In fact, I haven’t even charged it yet and it’s been over two weeks. The big inconvenience I can see with the battery is that you have to take the peticure apart in order to charge it. It does come with a battery stand to charge it, but I remember buying my electric toothbrush about five years ago which is automatically charged by simply placing it in the stand. Surely they could have replicated the same technology for this item; perhaps I am being too picky.

I find that the grinding is quite easy to do and goes pretty fast. In the beginning I really started slowly, grinding one nail per day so that my dogs don’t get too overwhelmed. One great tip that was mentioned in the instructions booklet is to not let go of the paw. What I noticed with my dogs is that they initially wanted to take their paw away, because they were afraid of the vibration, noise and smell. But as they realized that it wasn’t hurting them, they stopped to struggle and got calmer.

Once the unit is operating in the higher speeds, around 8, it really grinds the nails down pretty fast. I was very surprised at how nicely they look after. I’ve clipped my dog’s nails for years and I always complained about how the nails were shorter, but were much sharper after clipping them. So what I loved about this product is that I could grind them smooth on all angles.

Overall, I think this was a really great purchase. It was a gamble for me to purchase this because I had seen so many negative reviews; I knew it could go either way. But for now, this will be my main tool for taking care of my dog’s nails. So I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to try something new.

I give it 4.5 our of 5 stars.