# Owners of long-haired dogs, I have a question.



## RavensShadow (Feb 20, 2013)

Do you trim the fur on the bottom of your dogs' paws? Like, on the underside in between the toes.

Robin has a terrible time with our tile floors, which is about half the floor of our house, and in pet store floors as well. I imagine it's partially due to his bad conformation, but I read somewhere the fur between the toes, when overgrown, can contribute to this too.

However, on the other hand, my friend's Rottweiler has a hard time with the hot concrete on walks, walking slower and purposefully pulling her towards the shade, whereas my dog, although he does walk slower, is clearly less bothered by it.. Seems like the fur would protect their pads a little, but am I wrong about this or..?

I'm gonna be trimming his feet soon since the fur on them likes to grow ten times longer than it should, so I was wondering if I should try to do this too, or what others think about it.

Also, one other thing- how close to the quick can you go before it's too risky? I'm trying to get his super long claws to the point where they're very short, but the quick needs to be pushed back and I'm not sure how close to do it to. And how short should a dog's nails be, ideally?

Thanks!


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Yep. Kylie's not super long haired (couple to three inches long, single coat), but she has tufts coming out from between her paw pads, that really affect her traction, so I 'scoop it out' with a clipper every once in a wile. We don't do much walking on artificial surfaces outside, though, so there's no super hot asphalt or anything.

As for nails: Short enough not to touch the ground when standing is ideal. Pushing the quick back - you get within more than about || that far and it's gonna hurt. The quick will retreat from there. That said: There is nothing, nothing, better than a 'pedi-paw' type rotary file to get a dog's nails shorter and the quick to retreat. The real dremel is better, but the little pet specific one works just fine. I have FINALLY gotten all my dogs nails down to 'short enough', after I got the thing for Thud's (black) nails.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

I just trimmed my dog's paw pad fur, the other day! It was the first time she let me do it with the electric clippers. She has a double coat, and it's kinda long in some places, she always collects stuff in her feed when s he has long fur, so I always try to make sure it's cleaned up and trimmed.

I can't give any advice on nails though, Sydney has black nails and I hit the quick once and have been so paranoid ever since. I cut them, but not as much as they should be cut. I'm hopefully going to try getting a hold of the dremel that the groomer at my work place has and use that.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Yes, I do feet trimming about once a month with both my current longhaired, single coated dogs and then with my past longhaired double coated dogs.

This is what mine look like if I let them go 2 months between groom jobs. Hair everywhere!


mieqy by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

And then all cleaned up:


DSC_1381 by Summer_Papillon, on Flickr

hock down on the back feet and then from the wrist pad (I dunno the technical term) down on the front. Even up the feathering on the legs and bum a bit. Then we're good to go. I use shears and thinning shears.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Max has extremely fuzzy feet. I tried to leave them like a Cavalier, all fuzzy but after a tiny seed caused a big knot I started trimming. I just use scissors and cut off the part that grows longer than the pads. That leaves a lot of fuzz between them and he seems more comfortable and of course with just scissors it is much safer to do it this way. Since the fur is about an inch shorter it doesn't collect seeds and he rarely even has trouble with mud balls. He slips even when his fuzz isn't covering his pads. Neither dog seemed very heat conscious, they wouldn't walk on the paint rather than blacktop on hot days for instance. I know when I was a kid that that cross walk paint is much cooler than the blacktop! I brush up the fur on top of his feet and trim that too so they are nice and neat. I could get fur off if I did this daily and if done weekly I cut off 1/4" of fur. Sure grows fast!

I dremel around the quicks and mostly take off the very tip of the nail rather than get close to them. His nails don't click if trimmed that way. Sassy's never stopped clicking no matter what.


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## BernerMax (Mar 15, 2013)

For some reason the way the hair is on my Berners feet and legs is kinda short, so no I dont trim it. My Giant Schnauzer girl however has long "furnishings" and very hairy feet-- a Bouvier owner showed me how to lift her foot up and fold it back (gently) like the ways you see people holding horses' feet-- and then you trim the fur back using the paw as a guide-- gives you a nice even trim on each foot that way.... I dont do the underside, and both dogs are active enough that they wear their nails down short easily without any help from me- the fur between their pads is worn down in the same way. (I just do the back dew claws on the Berner which he lets me do for a treat)...


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## RavensShadow (Feb 20, 2013)

Interesting, thanks. ^^ Robin's flat feet allowed his claws to get overly long, to the point I've gotten more scratches from him, since he's very grabby, in four months than in eight years from all my cats, and he's still clawing me a bit so I wasn't sure how short they needed to get.

Robin gets some ridiculous foot fur if I don't keep it in check.. His feet end up looking like a Clydesdale horse's feet, which although fitting since we call him our little horse, just accentuates his flat feet. Then in addition, he gets super long tufts that grow between each toe that come up about two inches when fully grown. So yeah.. xD


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## hueyeats (Apr 2, 2013)

I do. When I clip Roman's nails I will clip the hair too if too long.
I use a human nail clipper (big one for feet).


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Yup. Pip is more feathery than truly long-haired, but his toe hair is ridiculous. He gets snowballs in the winter and mudballs in the summer. So although I find it adorable I usually keep it trimmed these days.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

I think I am OCD about foot hair. I want to trim my friends' dogs' feet hair too. And dogs in pictures with long foot hair too.... I think I may have a problem. I could never have a cavalier, lol.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

count me as another who trims up the feet. All mine get a foot trimming at _least_ every two months.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I trim the fur even with the pads using scissors. Apparently you can get really close with clippers, but I haven't tried. I also brush the fur up from between the toes and trim that, then trim around the edge of the foot to make it look neat. I trim the feathering so it doesn't get stepped on.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Here are some pictures of untrimmed Cavalier feet for your enjoyment 





































Her feet are actually not really hairy for a Cavalier, though.


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## RavensShadow (Feb 20, 2013)

Oh my gosh fluffy feet. o.o That's some serious Clydesdale feathering goin' on there. Robin's actually look like that when I let them grow out, although his legs don't taper into his paws, and it's more like two layers of fur and the bottom layer and top layer are visibly separated with the tufts sticking straight up and to the left/right. Really weird, but he's never had a groomer go to town with him so it just kind of grew all over. xD He looks SO much better when he's all trimmed up.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

I would shave/trim my dogs furry feet just to prevent mats from forming. Also it seems if kept trimmed bring in less dirt and easier to clean on a rainy day. But, I am like Laurelin OCD on feet hair. If I owned a Calvier, feet would be trimmed no matter what the standards say.


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Lyra is a show dog, so I have to care what the standards say  she's a grand champion already, though!

I only trim the underside of her feet, but either way it doesn't bug her. I think it actually protects her feet some when we're walking on the roads esp in the hot sun.

ETA: I never have any problems with the long hair, though. No mats, ever. She has more mats on her ears.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I trim the fur on the bottom and sides of Crystal's feet (plus do the other grooming Laurelin described) and I also trim the hair on the bottom of Casper's feet. That's the only trimming that's allowed on AKK. His doesn't get too long, but I clean it up to give him better traction.


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## RavensShadow (Feb 20, 2013)

Lyra is a purty doggy. :3 I've always liked the look of Cavaliers.
I'm a perfectionist, so I get really..bothered when, after I trim his feet, it grows out again after about a week or two, even the slightest, and I make a plan to cut it down. Figured I should make sure it was okay I did the bottom of his feet too, since they clump together due to mud build up and such, and that way I can just do it all at once.

Not to mention he has to look good for his trainer, heheh. ^^


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## lucidity (Nov 10, 2009)

Thanks!  long hair itself doesn't bug me, but stained long hair does. Especially if it's red. LOL i get the urge to cut everything off if it's stained. I'm really, really OCD about nails. I can't stand nails that click on the floor, so I cut as close as I can without quicking.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

I understand with Lyra being a show dog and not being able to trim feet. Congratulations on the show career  That is a lot of time and work. My OCD would be so out of wack, I do not think I could own a show Cavalier. I would totally be laughed out of the ring because my Cavaliers would have the prettiest trimmed feet.


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## Rowdy (Sep 2, 2007)

We trim Toby's fur in between groomings, and our groomer does a great job of trimming his feet. It really cuts down on the foliage collection in the summer and the snowballs that make him crazy in the winter.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

I trim the fur on the bottom of Jasper's feet monthly. I don't like the look of it when it is long and he has a hard time walking on slick floors.  If I shave the fur between his feet then I can go a couple of months between having to shave again.  

Another reason I trim it is because we hike a lot and he would get burs in between his toes when his fur was long.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Haha yes, I feel my OCD coming out. Must. Trim. All. The. Feets.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

I am ocd about foot hair, I keep all my dogs feet neatly trimmed  I admit that that the slippers on cavs drive me nutty lol


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## Flaming (Feb 2, 2013)

With my previous mutt and eskie, I would trim their foot hair during summer but not in winter. 
it was insulating in winter, though it did on occasion collect ice balls but in summer it was just a hazard with sliding all over the floors and getting poop stuck in there. 

With my current newfie...I'll see what happens when summer is in full swing.


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## AmyLynn_2009 (May 10, 2013)

Yup! I clip between the pads of most dogs with long hair or even double coats. Helps my Newfoundland walk on the tile floor.  I also like the look of it. My yellow lab would get crazy hair between her pads. I use a #10 blade.


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## moluno (Apr 29, 2009)

Yep, I scoop out all the hair between the pads with a clipper. I don't know if there's really any benefit to it, I just do it because I don't care for the way hairy feet look. Plus all the hair just picks everything up... they act like sponges and bring in all sorts of water and mud and blech.

She had out of control Grinch feet when i adopted her:


Neat and trim!


I get annoyed by feathering in general, and I think that's just because I'm more accustomed to having a short haired dog. That feathering on the back of her legs in the first photo? Yeah, I cut that all off too. And I keep her belly hair trimmed up and I keep her pants cut short....


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## Yesett (May 22, 2013)

I'm a groomer.This post is very helpful to me.So thanks for the posting.........


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## BernerMax (Mar 15, 2013)

Actually what I realized is-- I am much more obssesive about trimming the hair under the tail and around the anus! The dingle berries drive me nuts ( I went a little overboard with the Berner and some clippers but am satisfied that THat will not be a problem for awhile!
The groomers here call it a bikini clip for you to come in and get a sanitary trim...


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

Susie gets really long "leggings" on her back legs and I end up clipping them down short. Looks funny for a while but soon grows back and she hates having it combed. Just looked at her yesterday and she really needs her feet trimmed up. With her having Bernese in her, she gets tons of coat in the winter time.


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