What is the best tool to quickly/efficiently and also safely take of small amounts from the end of the spur, such as 1/4in or a bit more? I have nail trimmers for my 80lb dog, but her nails seem softer than the spurs and I'm worried the timmers might crack the spur. Normally I trust guillotine-type trimmers more, but I've never had good luck with those on large nails like my dog's with those, so hers are scissor-type clippers. I tried a dremel with a sanding attachment briefly, but the abraisive surface got hot really fast. I've read others use dremels; did I use the wrong type of attachment? I also have a file that would be good to smooth the edges after a good trim, but trying to use it to remove any significant amount of material gets a bit absurd; even though my roo holds still for it, it's like trying to be a farrier for a toy horse.
I am not trying to de-spur my roos or anything like that. I just have one roo that is a bit of clumsy dummy, and a while ago he ripped the entire keratin sheath off one of his spurs by botching a jump onto a roost - that was really quite awful to treat and I want to avoid a repeat, since that could have been a very bad event if I hadn't been able to intervene right away to try to stop the profuse bleeding (which wasn't easy - it took hours for me to get it to stop completely). I'm pretty sure the sharp tip snagging on part of the roost is what caused the injury, so a shorter, blunter spur seems less likely to have that happen. He's a silly fluff ball in a safe enclosure and doesn't free range, so he's not going to be needing stabby spurs for defense purposes. For the moment I've got his remaining spur a rounded down a bit, but it took several filing sessions and doesn't have as much material removed as I'd like (he still bonks it on things pretty regularly).
I am not trying to de-spur my roos or anything like that. I just have one roo that is a bit of clumsy dummy, and a while ago he ripped the entire keratin sheath off one of his spurs by botching a jump onto a roost - that was really quite awful to treat and I want to avoid a repeat, since that could have been a very bad event if I hadn't been able to intervene right away to try to stop the profuse bleeding (which wasn't easy - it took hours for me to get it to stop completely). I'm pretty sure the sharp tip snagging on part of the roost is what caused the injury, so a shorter, blunter spur seems less likely to have that happen. He's a silly fluff ball in a safe enclosure and doesn't free range, so he's not going to be needing stabby spurs for defense purposes. For the moment I've got his remaining spur a rounded down a bit, but it took several filing sessions and doesn't have as much material removed as I'd like (he still bonks it on things pretty regularly).
