Rethinking short nails

[obbanner]

I rethought how short I'm keeping my dogs nails. In the past, I used the Dremel to keep the nails short nubs. Five years ago I started herding and that gave me a new perspective on working dogs. The dogs often work like reining horses with sudden stops, quick turns, instant acceleration. I'm thinking about how nails serve a purpose. For instance, the breed standard for Shetland Sheepdogs includes intact dewclaws.

I'm doing Barn Hunt with Anna and she bounces around on hay bales. AJ is starting herding (the AKC won't title him, but the AHBA will). AJ is too young to be jumping yet, but I was thinking about the broad jump, high jump and bar jump in AKC obedience and climbing hay bales in Barn Hunt. Having nails dig into the grass can't hurt. Since I let my dogs nails grow out, I can feel them digging into my palm if I hold their paw and the curl their paw.

I wonder how many leg injuries are caused by slipping when long nails could have prevented it.

Any thoughts or experiences to share?

Below is AJ in his second herding lesson. He's 14 months and isn't reliable off lead, so he's on a long line and working with penned sheep. He did a WALKUP command and now he's in a STAND.

 

[Lizbeli]

From what I understand, as long as the nails are not touching the ground when a dog is standing (you can hear them when the dog walks on hardwoods) then it won’t harm the structure of the dogs foot/tendons. I imagine that they will be plenty long when a dog is taking tight turns on turf.

I prefer to keep them short as I know the constant battle of fixing overgrown nails (my rescue). However I noticed that even with short nails he still tears up the grass and gets dirt under them. So I'm not entirely sure what a working dog may benefit from.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

So I'm not entirely sure what a working dog may benefit from.

The nails acts like cleats with grip to prevent sliding while making sharp and sudden turns. Without them the dog runs a greater risk of sliding or falling and causing injury to legs or back from torsion by not being able to grip and stabilize movement.

 

[Lizbeli]

Yeah I understand that. I should have been more clear. I meant, my boy has short nails but still seems to dig up dirt when he takes corners on the grass. I am wondering how much longer a nail would really need to be if you had a working dog who needs these attributes to do his job effectively. Interesting subject.

 

[Gelcoater]

Interesting topic, Art.
If there’s one thing I can say we haven’t done enough with Rocky, it’s propper nail trimming. He’s got some claws. Dew claw intact too.

And I do have some anecdotal experience to share.

Some of you probably saw my vacation thread in March, we got the Glamis dunes for a week with friends from out of state.
The sand is pretty harsh on the dogs paws.
Rocky is sevenish years old, he was the oldest dog in camp, and his second experience in sand.
There was also a 5ish year old Rottweiler female, with properly manicured nails.
An 11 week old female Rottweiler with brand new nails!
There was a 3ish year old Chihuahua female with proper nails.
A year old chocolate lab female with proper nails...and more energy than the others combined, lol.

After day three, guess which dog wasn’t obsessing about HIS paws?

During “down” time, when all dogs in camp are plum tuckered from running around together, most were either sleeping or chewing/licking paws.
Rocky just slept.

It’s the only possible answer I could/can find here?
All those other dogs live in the Rocky Mountains, they deal with harsh winters, rough terrain, cover a yard literally 9 times larger than Rocky covers and far less concrete under them than Rocky.

 

[Doberman Gang]

From what I understand, as long as the nails are not touching the ground when a dog is standing (you can hear them when the dog walks on hardwoods) then it won’t harm the structure of the dogs foot/tendons. I imagine that they will be plenty long when a dog is taking tight turns on turf.

I prefer to keep them short as I know the constant battle of fixing overgrown nails (my rescue). However I noticed that even with short nails he still tears up the grass and gets dirt under them. So I'm not entirely sure what a working dog may benefit from.

I grind ours back when I first start hearing clacking on the hardwood. But I don’t go as short as I did when my wife used to show. That was a bit extreme. I also can see a difference in their ability to work.

 

[Silent Dobe]

I agree with Doberman Gang, I tend to keep my dogs' nails on the longer side for function. No clacking on hard surfaces though, frankly, it annoys me. So I just keep them short enough for that. I used to grind Vex's back far more and I noticed he was wiping out really easily in ball play and work. No dragon claws, but functional nails.

 

[jazzies mum]

I've always felt that Jazz needed the extra traction that reasonable length claws give. She is always running through rough country and it is sometimes pretty muddy. She also has dew claws and I can tell when she has done some sharp cornering that they do come into contact with the ground. At a normal walk though no claws are leaving a mark so I think they are ok. I just give them a small prune every week or so, little and often.

 

[Doberman Gang]

I agree with Doberman Gang, I tend to keep my dogs' nails on the longer side for function. No clacking on hard surfaces though, frankly, it annoys me. So I just keep them short enough for that. I used to grind Vex's back far more and I noticed he was wiping out really easily in ball play and work. No dragon claws, but functional nails.

Did you say clacking nails annoy you? Hmmmm, OCD are you ha ha ha
My wife will fly in to a rage if I don’t keep them from clacking lmao.

 

[Silent Dobe]

Did you say clacking nails annoy you? Hmmmm, OCD are you ha ha ha
My wife will fly in to a rage if I don’t keep them from clacking lmao.

Haha most things do not annoy me but high pitched whining (even the quiet ones lol), continuous licking of the genitals ( THE WORST PET PEEVE), and dog nail clacks lol.

 

[Panama]

I always try to keep Joker's show-short. However, the last time we did FastCat, I was looking at all the other dog's feet and noticed they had some serious claws. Those dogs were doing 100 yards in 6 to 7 seconds... and here I thought Joker's 8.2 seconds was amazing. So next time, if we're just doing FastCat and no Conformation, I won't do his nails and see if it makes any difference.

 

[Doberman Gang]

Haha most things do not annoy me but high pitched whining (even the quiet ones lol), continuous licking of the genitals ( THE WORST PET PEEVE), and dog nail clacks lol.

Enough said I hVe already made my evaluation leaf earring girl!!! Lmao

 

[GennyB]

While training Rumor to be my service dog I talked to several SD people (even a couple of mobility dog handlers) and learned it would be best for her to have longer nails. Helps her being able to get me up. I now leave both dogs nails longer and I find those cat feet really cut down on clacking. They tend to sit higher up on their feet and don't seem to be as obnoxious as other dogs with longer nails. I have wood floors and and even cork floors in the kitchen and no clacking or damage after 10 years of 2 dogs.

 

[Rits]

Haha most things do not annoy me but high pitched whining (even the quiet ones lol), continuous licking of the genitals ( THE WORST PET PEEVE), and dog nail clacks lol.

I'm not alone! ALL OF THESE. I tell my dogs they can do that stuff in private, lmao.

Our girls have their dews. I dont mind them one bit and do see them using them. Their nails are functional long. Definitely not as short as show Dobes.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

While training Rumor to be my service dog I talked to several SD people (even a couple of mobility dog handlers) and learned it would be best for her to have longer nails. Helps her being able to get me up. I now leave both dogs nails longer and I find those cat feet really cut down on clacking. They tend to sit higher up on their feet and don't seem to be as obnoxious as other dogs with longer nails. I have wood floors and and even cork floors in the kitchen and no clacking or damage after 10 years of 2 dogs.

No damage? After 10 years? I don't understand how that's possible. Do your Dobes not take off running in the house when they go to bark at the front door, for example? In our house, there is damage every time that happens.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

This is an interesting topic for sure.

The term "show short" is new to me with this thread, and I'd like to see how short that is.

I like to keep my Dobe's nails pretty short, but I don't know how that compares to others' practices. I don't like to hear them clacking on the hardwoods, that's for sure!! Each click and each clack is a grating reminder that I am behind on the very stressful task of trimming Oji's nails.

In my estimation, I keep the nails at a length where they have the ability to contribute nicely to traction but they hopefully don't mess with the natural function of the paws and throw things off and put problematic wear and tear on the joints. It seems to me that having a dog with nails that are long enough to come to a point is having them at a length that is unhealthy; but I could be wrong.

Oji has his dews (I have actually jumped into the pro-dew camp) and I certainly have found some sod collected in those dewclaws after he has taken an aggressive tear through the grass. No doubt in my mind that they come into contact with the ground and contribute to traction.

 

[GennyB]

No damage? After 10 years? I don't understand how that's possible.

We refinished the floors in 2008 before we moved in so I guess it's been almost 11 years. They still look like they were just refinished. I keep throw rugs on them for the most part and keep then clean, but I think the secret is the extra coat of poly we put on. As far as the dogs, they are pretty much taught craziness is for outside. They do get a burst of energy when someone come to the door or after bath zoomies but for the most part they pretty much control themselves inside.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

We refinished the floors in 2008 before we moved in so I guess it's been almost 11 years. They still look like they were just refinished. I keep throw rugs on them for the most part and keep then clean, but I think the secret is the extra coat of poly we put on. As far as the dogs, they are pretty much taught craziness is for outside. They do get a burst of energy when someone come to the door or after bath zoomies but for the most part they pretty much control themselves inside.

An extra coat of poly. I'm glad you mentioned that. We are about to have the floors redone at our new house. Neither this floor guy, or the floor guy we talked to in Minnesota before having those floors done said there is anything that can be done to prevent dog nail damage. They both just talked to me about keeping dogs' nails trimmed and rounded.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Rubies nails don't ding up the floors I think because they're very rounded and much thicker. Moo's tear them up because they're a totally different shape; much more narrow and longer by design. He still get's dremmeled but we're not quite up to the point of being able to round everything off real nice quite yet.

Despite my grinding twice a week for 3 years... Rubie's nails always click (but have never touched the floor while she's standing). It drives me crazy. BUT we do agility and she definitely needs the ability to grip. I do get nail envy when I see show dogs, though.

 

[Brioddy]

I trim my dogs nails regularly (every one to two weeks) but leave plenty for them to run around comfortably in. Brinks is like a mountain goat on hikes so I’d say that his nails definitely come into play and aid him measurably. I’ve watched him scrabble over boulders and everything else you can imagine, we’ve tackled trails that park rangers and other people say you can’t take dogs on because it is too difficult. I guess no one told Brinks! They’ve all done a fantastic job of tearing up clods around my yard.

In the house their nails do not touch the ground at all while standing but I do hear clacks. It doesn’t bother me at all, reminds me of hooves on pavement which is a sound I’ve always associated with positive vibes.