Cut hair in foot pads?

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natalie78

Did you die?
O.G.
May 6, 2008
4,990
18
On of my dogs has longhair and I noticed a lot of hair in between the pads on his feet. I've never thought about cutting it and it doesn't seem to bother him, but a coworker said that the fur in the pads should be cut or it could cause problems like infection. Anyone ever heard of this?
 
i had a lhasa apso who had hair that would grow on his pads....he was groomed often and the hair was always removed from his pads....i dont really know if that would cause any type of infection but it does get the hair dirty in there....
 
Hi,

I'm not a professional, so I don't know if the proper answer is YES/NO to your question about infections. But I do cut my dogs pad hair.And I think the best thing for the dog is to do so. This because if the hair grows long extending beyond the pads it can cause your dog to have improper footing or even to slip on certain floor surfaces.
Sand, pebbles, and dirt tangled with hair hurts to walk on as well!

Snip the excess hair off with scissors, level it with the pad. Do not attempt to go deeper with scissors..
 
our pomeranian always gets the hair by his foot pads trimmed by a groomer. but like CeCChanel said, it only gets leveled off- not deeply trimmed. i've noticed that when it gets too long, he slips and slides a little on our kitchen floor.
 
I don't know about small dogs or warm climate dogs but having owned two larger dogs in a cold climate, you must cut the fur in between the pads because snow and ice build up and cause irritation. That can then lead to infection and all kinds of nastiness.
 
He's not a small dog, but we're also in the south, so snow and ice really isn't an issue. I guess I'll go ahead and cut it myself. I really don't want to bring him to a groomer just for that.

Thanks everyone!
 
We have boxers so I've never had the issue of gromming my two, sorry.:weird:

The dog we had when I was growing up was groomed later in life (from about 6 on) and always have her behind and private area shaved and her paws leveled off. She was a very finicky dog when she got older and would let my mom know when she was unhappy.
 
He's not a small dog, but we're also in the south, so snow and ice really isn't an issue. I guess I'll go ahead and cut it myself. I really don't want to bring him to a groomer just for that.

Thanks everyone!

Definitely do it yourself, Natalie. I trim our Cavaliers' pads. They tend to slip on the hardwood floors otherwise.

Don't attempt to trim between the pads, just do the excess.
 
Yes, your supposed to trim the hair on the pads (I dont do it myself, I let the groomer do it). It helps prevent infection (so Im told from the vet) and helps to provide better traction on their feet on slippery surfaces so they dont hurt themselves.