Feet - If you can hear a clicking sound when your
dog is walking on a solid floor then the nails are too long. Nails
should be shortened regularly to achieve a tight compact foot. Nothing
looks worse than a Miniature Pinscher whose nails have been neglected.
Dogs with neglected feet will have thin ugly feet with outspread toes.
There is also the risk of in-grown nails, which can become infected and
cause the dog-unnecessary pain.
If your dog doesn’t mind having its feet touch then nail trimming can
be an easy task, however if your dog hates its feet being touch then
sedation or restraints may be required. If you own such a dog then it’s
easier to gain the dogs trust and desensitise its feet.
Desensitising feet - This is best done whilst the
dog is asleep. Begin by resting your hand on the dogs paw. If the dog
wakes up, just remove your hand without even looking at the dog. After
repeating this process several times you will eventually be able to
rest your hand on the dogs paws without disturbing the dogs sleep. This
can take anything from a couple attempts to several weeks.
Once you are able to rest your hand on your dogs feet you can start to
gently move their toes apart, once you can do this without disturbing
the dogs sleep you can move onto the next step which is touching their
toenails and lightly tapping against the ends of the nails. With a lot
of patience you’ll achieve the desire results and then trimming nails
will no longer be stressful for you or your dog.
Miniature Pinschers that exercise on a hard surface regularly wear
their nails down naturally, and may not require trimming as often if at
all.
Please Note:
This article is provided as a source of information
only. It is not intended as a substitute for veterinarian advice or
care.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
