Yes, I'm crazy about feet!

For those of you that do not know me that well let me explain today's blog title.  I have a thing for cute dog feet.  I love a nice tight foot that has a nice strong pad, nicely arched toes and SHORT TOENAILS!  Toenails are generally done twice a week in my household and one of the days I set aside for doing toenails is what I call "toenail Tuesday" (there is also manicure Monday if I'm feeling really adventurous at the beginning of the week).  Now I'm blessed with two dogs that have pretty feet, Dodge and Swing (well her back feet are a little ugly right now but she is just about to start teething so I expect all of her feet to look ugly at some point) and so far pretty much all of the GraytSky dogs have pretty feet.  Feet are probably the most important structure on the dog if you stop and think about it.  I mean if they do not have good feet (and good feet vary from breed to breed, I know that a sighthounds foot would not look like the foot of a sporting dog) then you can not expect them to hold up in performance events.  So let's take a look at some feet...

Clay's feet (Dodge's daddy)

Yep, when I went to see him at Westminster one of the things I looked at were his feet and I liked what I saw (tight, well arched toes, short nails, strong pads).  Feet like that should stand up to a day in the field or the jumping and turning in obedience and agility as well as moving easily around the conformation ring.  If you saw Clay you know that his movement was lovely.

Dodge's feet (are they too cute or what?)

Fortunately Dodge got his sire and dam's nice feet.  Other than adjusting his toes everyone once in a while (generally after running at an agility trial), he's never had an issue with his feet and he handles any type of footing with ease.  We've received many a compliment about his short nails and I have been pretty diligent about grinding them weekly (again, usually twice a week or every 3 to 4 days).  He accepts the procedure with little resistance and I am careful not to nick him or draw blood.  Grinding allows you to get close to that point without causing bleeding like a pair of clippers (guillotine or scissor like) can do.  There is rarely a need to have Qwik Stop handy when using a grinder.

Dirk's foot

Poor Dirk has the biggest and ugliest feet of all of my dogs.  Unfortunately he had a rough beginning and even after 10 years this is the best that I have been able to do with his toenails.  They are at least half as big as I like them, he's flat footed and his pads are quite soft.  This foot would not hold up to a long hard day (which is why Dirk's idea of a hard day is having to get up off of the couch more than 6 times a day) and anyone who knows Dirk knows that he is all about his creature comforts!

Swing wasn't being too cooperative this evening so getting a shot of her feet will have to wait for another day when she isn't sore at me for grinding her nails.  But I can report that she has nice nails, good arch to her toes, pads that are starting to thicken and toughen and a nicely shaped foot.  As I mentioned earlier, her back feet are a bit flat and resemble a hair foot at the moment but I expect them to improve after teething and maturity.  For now you will have to accept this shot of one of her little feet...

Yes, it is bedtime and the little munchkin is snoring away in that bolster bed.  We'll revisit this subject in the future and if any of you are inclined to take pictures of your puppies feet I would enjoy seeing them.  There are some judges out there who appreciate nicely manicured nails and good feet.  So please do not forget about the foot when you are getting your dog ready to show or contemplating taking up some dog sport (flyball, dock diving, agility, obedience, rally, tracking, hunting, etc.).  Until next time...