How to Protect a Dog’s Paws

Instructions

1. • Look at your dog’s feet regularly so that you can spot any developing problems like cuts and sores. It’s also a good idea to pay attention if your dog is biting at his feet or constantly licking them. Other signs like limping, not using the foot or refusing to walk should be heeded and checked out.

   • Watch where your dog walks and keep his home and play area free from hazardous items like broken glass, chemicals, sharp objects and abrasive surfaces. Do as much as you can to eliminate insect pests and irritants that could irritate a dog’s feet, like getting rid of weeds with burrs and using safe or no products on your lawn

   • Stay off of hot pavement during the summer months. Sidewalks and roadways can burn your dog’s paws when the temperature soars. Opt for walking on the grass or on surfaces like wood chip paths. Softer, natural paths can be easier on your dog’s paws and you’ll have less chance of burns and sores.

   • Wash your dog’s feet off with warm water after she’s been out in the snow, ice or on any area that may have been treated with a chemical de-icer. This helps to melt any snow or ice balls that have formed between your dog’s toes and it gets rid of harmful chemicals that your dog might ingest later while licking her feet. You can apply petroleum jelly or bag balm to the pads if sores develop or for protection against snow and ice (just be sure to wipe it off when you come inside).

   • Buy your dog boots or shoes to wear in rough terrain or when it’s cold and icy. You can purchase boots at most pet retail stores. Your dog may need some time to get used to them and some dogs are quite adept at getting boots off quickly.

   • Take your pooch to the vet if you notice any signs of injury or if the paws seem chronically painful. It’s normal to have small issues crop up from time to time and many can be treated at home, but if you are unsure or if the problem gets worse, make an appointment.

Fear of Nail Cutting

Swimming, particularly in warm water, can help your dog relax and also drain her energy. If you have a small dog, you don’t even need a pool. You can use a small tub of water. Simply hold the dog by the sides and let her paddle. If your dog is uncertain about the water, start by holding her on an incline, just let her bottom half touch the water. Wait until your dog begins to paddle with his front legs, and then you can slowly lower her front half into the water. If the dog begins to splash around and panic, calmly return the dog to the inclined position again – with the back half of the dog touching the water. Then once the dog relaxes and begins paddling with the front legs again, send her back in! Continue this until she becomes comfortable with the water.

Once your dog has reached the lowest level of energy, begin by holding a paw and presenting the nail clipper to it without cutting anything. Then send her right back into the water to drain even more energy. At the same time, you are softening her nails, so they will actually be easier to trim. Then, after another round of swimming, you present the nail clippers again. This time cut a little bit, just to let her experience it and see her reaction. If she panics, send her right back in for more water therapy, but if the dog remains calm, do the whole foot – and then send her back into the water! This way, you’re not giving the dog time to focus on the nail clipping, instead she is focusing on the water. We are exchanging one challenge for another! Your dog can learn to associate the nail trimmings with the time in between swims that she gets to relax and collect herself.

Keep repeating this process – allow your dog to swim, trim the nails, and put her right back in – until you’ve trimmed all four paws.

I encourage you to visualize the scenario going well before attempting it. Don’t panic or feel sorry if your dog is stressed. Instead, make your dog feel safe by maintaining the calm and assertive energy of a pack leader.

How Can You Tell When Dogs are Playing or Fighting?

Common dog-park scenario number 1: people watch while two dogs play. Suddenly, the dogs are snapping and snarling at each other. The dispute ends quickly and nobody gets hurt, but the humans are shaken. None of them saw that canine argument coming.

Common dog-park scenario number 2: two dogs bounce and wrestle. They never stop moving, flashing their teeth at each other, snarling, growling. Their people watch them anxiously, then wade in to break up the “fight.”

Can You Tell if Dogs are Playing or Fighting?

In the first scenario, the humans missed the signs of escalating tension between their dogs. In the second scenario, they missed the dogs’ mutual signals that all the roughhousing and horrible noises were play. This week, play–how dogs communicate playful intentions, what play styles different dogs enjoy, and how to tell when the game may be about to go awry.

How Do Dogs Signal They Want to Play?

Most of you probably already know that play often starts with a “play bow”–front end low, butt wiggling in the air.  Behavior nerds call the play bow a meta-signal, meaning it tells the recipient how to interpret what comes next. When Reagan offers Puppet a play bow, she’s communicating that subsequent lunges, growls, bounces, and snaps aren’t real threats. When two dogs know each other well, they may barely sketch the play bow.

Do Dogs Laugh?

Dogs may also laugh to initiate play. I Grace Bryson describe the laugh as a “pronounced forced, breathy exhalation”–panting, but a particular kind of panting, with a broader frequency range.   Puppies who heard recorded pant-laughs often picked up a toy or approached people and other dogs who were present. Another puppy-typical play invitation is the face-paw–Puppy A swipes a fore paw at Puppy B’s face.  This action involves extension of one of the forelimbs toward the face of the other animal.  That really doesn’t quite convey the cute, does it? Some adult dogs paw-swipe, but my observations suggest that it doesn’t always go over so well, especially when a big galoot directs his paw-swipe to a smaller dog.

What Are the Different Kinds of Doggy Play?

Play itself can be lightning fast, one reason humans often find it difficult to interpret. Chase, wrestling, and tug are a few common forms, and dogs have individual preferences and play styles. A personal favorite of mine is “face fighting,” where two dogs stand or lie face to face with their teeth bared, scissoring their heads back and forth and snarling ferociously. In her younger days,  now Reagan and Puppet try to grab any loose skin they can get hold of and drag each other around our house. Play that intense can easily devolve into fighting, but Puppet and Reagan are especially close friends and rarely does their play go wrong.

When play’s going well, you’ll see constant, fluid, loose movement and lots of turn-taking.

How to Tell When Dog Play Is Going Well

How can you tell when play, especially intense play, is going right? Look for constant, fluid, loose movement. As the play goes on, you may see the dogs take turns being on the bottom or being chaser and chasee. Surprisingly, though,  play between pairs of dogs found that switching off rarely produced a 50-50 balance between the dogs.  Reagan and Puppet  see that it’s important for subordinates to make it especially clear that play aggression doesn’t reflect a serious challenge.

Watch the dogs’ faces. Look for open mouths. You may see teeth and hear snarls and growls, but again these will be in the context of fluid movement and lots of change–the dogs won’t lock into any one position. Their ears and the corners of their mouths will likely be back rather than forward.

Socially Skilled Dogs Can Deal with Their Own Minor Mistakes

You don’t necessarily have to intervene every time play goes wrong. Even socially skilled dogs who are good friends sometimes make mistakes–nipping a little too hard, for instance, or body-slamming with just that bit too much enthusiasm. Usually, they’ll de-escalate all by themselves. The dog on the receiving end of the mistake will yelp or snap and the dog who made the mistake will move out of the other dog’s space. One or both dogs will probably “shake off,” as if shaking off water. Next may come a renewed invitation to play, which may or may not be accepted. Either way, the dogs have handled the situation just fine; unless this scenario takes place over and over and over again, there’s no call for humans to step in.

How to Tell When Dog Play Is Going Seriously Wrong

On the other hand, if you see brief freezes, or if the dogs are stiffening up, making more stiff movements, it’s definitely time to interrupt. If the players are vocal types, listen for growelling that grows deeper and more intense. Boxing, with the dogs standing on their hind legs face to face, can be benign or can mark the prelude to a fight. Much depends on the individual dogs–some de-escalate easily, whereas others get more and more amped until suddenly it’s toddlers out of control on the playground and you’ve got a fight. Gladiator breeds and various terriers often seem to have hair triggers, especially with dogs they don’t know well. If you’ve got such a dog, the crowding and random mingling at dog parks probably aren’t well suited for her–play dates and hikes with compatible dogs would be a better choice.

Can Dogs Who’ve Fought Become Friends?

Play does sometimes turn into a squabble even between socially skilled dogs and even between good friends. So the fact that you’ve had to break two dogs up doesn’t necessarily mean they shouldn’t meet and play again. Give them a breather from direct interaction–the humans should step away to open up the space around the dogs, and maybe take a stroll together.  Then see what develops. These dogs may become friendly or indifferent non-playmates, or they may just have had some differences to work out. If play goes south repeatedly, though, the simplest response is to help the two dogs to steer clear of each other. You don’t get along with every person you meet, and rare is the dog who gets along with every other dog.

Can Three Dogs Play Well Together?

Dogs play best in pairs; when a third dog joins the mix, whether in chase or wrestling, two often gang up on the third. An explanation that with multiple dogs it’s easy for those “we’re just playing” signals to get lost in the mix.  Often one dog winds up lying on his back with his tail tucked between his legs and his neck exposed, while the others stand over him, stiff and tense. Or the victim dog will stand at bay, also with tucked tail. The others dart in and out, nipping. Or a chase game suddenly goes from “Yippee!” to “Uh-oh, they’re really after me!” Again, you’ll likely see the chasee’s tail tucked, and if the chasers catch up with her they may body slam her to the ground and then stand over her.

These ganging-up scenes are a pet peeve of mine. People often seem oblivious to the victim dog’s distress and will allow the bullying to continue until the victim explodes–at which point, guess which dog gets blamed? Fortunately, the more we learn about body language and behavior, the better we can respond to difficult situations.