How do I take care of my dog’s feet?
This is a very important question that every dog owner should ask herself. After all dogs do not wear shoes neither they can take care of their own feet themselves. And their feet work really hard for you, the master of the dog.
Typical foot care routine should take care of two things
1. dog’s claws
2. pads of dog’s feet
Setting up a regular routine of checkups for the good health of your dog and completing the tasks involved is not difficult at all and anybody with love for her dog and little patience can easily do this without any professional help.
When it comes to the question of taking care of dog’s nails a silent and undefined fear overpowers dog owners. Two factors that contribute to this fear is anatomy of dog’s claw and the dog’s reluctance to take part in the process.
Keep in mind that there are blood vessels and nerve endings (known as ‘quick’) inside the claws of a dog and cutting too deep will cut the vessel causing bleeding and huge pain for the dog.
So some precaution should be taken not to cut the quick. This is a bit difficult for dark colored claws whereas light colored claws do not pose much problem because position of the quick can be estimated easily with a little care.
For dark colored claws do not go deep, cut only the sharp and pointed edges away. Or you can just polish the sharp edges and points. This will serve the purpose as our intension behind the whole exercise is protecting the dog from getting hurt by its own claws or getting entangled with carpet etc which can be a very painful experience.
Use proper tools for trimming, make sure that the dog will remain still while you are on the job, if required take the help of someone who will hold the paws in position so that the dog can not pull it away.
Be optimistic but at the same time keep yourself prepared for any unwelcome incidents.
If by any chance you touch the inner soft area (i.e. the quick) with your trimming tool and cut any blood vessel bleeding will start. Hold tissue paper at the point of cut, this will help to stop bleeding; or if you have a styptic pen/stick at your disposal you can use that to stop bleeding. Styptic pen or stick is very effective for this purpose.
For your dog’s pad regular and careful visual check is essential. Also keep close watch on your dog’s walk. If you find that the dog’s walk looks bit abnormal or the dog is limping check for any foreign object that might have pricked into the dog’s pad which is soft and at risk of getting hurt by foreign objects like thorn, small piece of broken glass etc.
These foreign objects if not taken out at right time might cause painful infection. So regular visual check up is an important part of your dogs health care routine.