If your pooch loves being cuddled but acts annoyed every time you touch his front paws, then hes certainly not alone in his behavior. A lot of dogs get extremely touchy when it comes to the idea of their feet being in another individuals hands, literally. This often is fine and dandy — until nail trimming time inevitably comes around. Of course, if its a new problem, make sure your furbuddy hasnt injured his paws.
Dogs tend to be highly tactile in their interactions with fellow canines, whether theyre playing together or simply greeting one another. Although they might do a lot of touching, you might also notice that they usually keep away from feet. Not only do they generally abstain from touching others feet, they also usually abstain from smelling them, too. Disliking having their paws touched might just be an instinctive doggie characteristic. Dont take your pets dislike of it personally.
If your dog gets a little testy when you touch his front paws, it could be because you do so abruptly and out of nowhere. Canines are naturally protective about their paws. After all, dogs in the wild often dont stand much of a chance once their paws are wounded — and this apprehension transfers to lots of modern dogs, as well. By putting your hands on your dogs quickly, you might just be startling the poor thing — and creating a negative, frightening association with the action as a result.
By getting upset when you touch his front paws, your dog might be interpreting your behavior as being an “alpha” one. Whether youre attempting just to pet his paws or to trim his too-long nails, your pet might perceive your paw-touching action as a display of social status, and in turn might make a big show of expressing to you that he objects to it and wont stand for it. He might even think of it as being an attack — definitely not your intention.
Your dog might be irritable about contact with his feet because of all of the sensory components that are contained within them. Dogs paw pads consist of nerves that communicate with oscillations. These are useful for enabling canines to figure out the firmness of terrain for traveling over it, often for running. The spots in the middle of their paw pads feature uber-delicate nerve tips that also might contribute to their deep dislike of their feet being handled by others. In short, dogs often feel uncomfortable — and awkward — when people go near their paws, either front or back.
One of the most major reasons you want Maggie to get comfortable with someone touching her feet is because dogs have to have their nails cut. Also, dogs sometimes have medical conditions with their paws such as parasites, infections, or wounds. All of these cases involve the need for your dog to allow paw touching. This is why there are active steps you can take to get Maggie more comfortable with touching her paws. First, you can get Maggie acquainted with nail clippers. Show them to her, rub them against her back and eventually her paws. Also, begin touching Maggie’s paws gently and soothingly. You can then work your way up to a doggy foot rub. This will gradually get Maggie having her feet touched. Work on shaking Maggie’s paw and offering her treats when she complies. Also, make sure not abruptly to touch Maggie’s paw, but allow her to see and be aware of what you are doing. Sometimes dogs are just startled when their owners grab their pooch’s paws without warning.
You have been making an effort to touch Maggie’s feet more. You are now even able to give her a short foot massage. You also have acquainted her with the clippers, and although she remains somewhat fearful, you are taking baby steps to getting her comfortable. You have been providing her tasty treats when she shakes your hand, and you feel all these steps have decreased her anxiety around foot touching. She no longer is so pawthetic when you try to touch those feet.
Paws are a commonplace that harbor bacteria and parasites. They also commonly get injured by extreme warm or cold temperatures. Additionally, paws have the most contact with the ground and get foreign objects, such as pebbles and sharp objects lodges in between the toes. All of these issues make it difficult to touch Maggie’s paws. A puppy foot massage may be beneficial as it gets blood flowing and may relax your furry friend. If any injury to your dog’s paw seems serious, it is important to take her to the vet. It’s important to begin touching your dog’s feet as soon as you get her. If you start touching your dog’s paws from an early age, she will be that much more used to it and will be more likely to let a groomer take on those nails. If your dog is overly squeamish and even becomes dangerous when her paws are touched, it might be time to call in a trainer who might be able to alleviate the situation.
A dog’s paw is quite an intricate system. First of all, it is the last protective layer that a dog has before its foot hits the ground. The paw acts as a shock absorber and protects the bones and joints in the foot. Many dogs are aware that if something were to happen to this paw, they would have a hard time functioning with their day-to-day lives. After all, the paw is essential to Maggie’s survival. Dogs use their feet to run away, communicate, defend themselves, etc. Paws also have a unique system in place that warms up cooler blood when it is cold, and the nerves in a dog’s paw even help them evaluate the terrain, so they know when it is safe to run. Moreover, glands on paws even leave a scent that Maggie can use to find her way home. Although domesticated dogs may not depend as much on their paws as their ancestors once did, they are still vital parts of their body’s, and dogs usually not want humans poking around them because dogs are aware of the importance of their feet. Paws are also composed of sensitive nerve endings and are the last protective layer that protects them from extreme temperatures, such as hot tar. Some dogs may not want you to touch their paws because they have been abused in the past. Other dogs may have had a bad experience getting their nails cut in the past. A dogs nails are living and have their own blood supply. If you cut too far, you can cause the nails to bleed and possibly become infected. This pain is enough to stick with a dog and may make it difficult to cut her nails again in the future. Paw touching can also be viewed as an alpha dog behavior. Maggie might object to you touching her paw because she thinks you are trying to exert dominance over her. Still, it is important that Maggie learns to get somewhat comfortable with paw touching.
Maggie is such a good dog. She is loving, mellow, and usually listens to your commands, but she hates, absolutely hates it when you even attempt to touch her feet. Maggie will whine and run away, and sometimes will even growl at you. This behavior is a bit surprising because she loves it when you pet her anywhere else on her body, but her paws seem to be off-limits. This makes it extremely difficult to get her nails done, and you have only found a few places that are successful with this necessary aspect of grooming. You feel that there has got to be a way to get her more comfortable with people touching her feet, but how?
So Why Does My Dog Hate Having His Paws Touched?
If you own a “paw-phobic” dog, rest assured you are not alone. Many dog owners struggle with dogs who hate having their paws touched making those nail trims dreaded events.
So why do dogs hate having their paws touched? And most of all, what can be done about it?
A better understanding of dogs and a closer insight to the ways they use of their feet, reveals some interesting findings.
Dog feet may seem very tough compared to our feet, considering that we are destined to wear footwear for most our lives, while dog feet are purposely designed to withstand rugged use.
Sure, those doggy paw pads are like thick leather and meant to allow dogs to walk comfortably on surfaces humans can only dream of, but they are also loaded with lots of nerve endings.
This is not surprising considering that dogs need to feel whats under their feet.
For those dog nerds out there, it may be interesting learning that a dogs paw pads are lined up with super sensitive sensory receptors known as “pacinian corpuscles.”
Pacinian corpuscles allow dogs to detect minimal mechanical and vibratory pressure.
On top of having sensitive paw pads, the top of a dogs paws are also highly sensitive and loaded with nerve endings that fire off sending a warning to the brain upon sensing pressure.
With so much going on at a sensory level, its therefore not surprising why dogs seem to have a universal dislike to having their paws handled!
Many dogs hate having their paws touched.
Dog feet play an essential role for a dogs survival and its as if dogs are aware of this, but at an instinctive, adaptive level.
This instinct therefore helps dogs preserve a body part that they so highly depend on to carry out so many functions.
For instance, dogs use their feet for locomotion. In the wild, loss of functionality would translate into the inability to hunt and escape hungry predators.
A dog with an injured foot would therefore become very vulnerable.
On top of locomotion, dog feet are used for a variety of tasks such as digging, scratching an itchy spot and removing debris from the eyes.
Dogs use their feet also for communication. In the article: why do dogs kick dirt after pooping, we have seen how dogs put their legs and feet to good use after eliminating.
While a common sight, many dog owners are not aware of the fact that dogs kick dirt because they have special glands in their feet that secrete pheromones.
Just a few backward scratches into dirt releases those chemicals which are ready to be detected by other dogs who happen to visit the area.
With all this wealth of purposes, its quite understandable why dog feet are important and why dogs may be particularly nervous when their owners (or veterinarians or groomers) happen to start touching them.
Some dogs dont really hate having their feet handled, but once you get ahold of them, theyll pull them away. Whats the rush?
Once again, lets get into our dogs mindset and appreciate things from their perspective!
Unlike us, our dogs front paws are used for walking, so when we lift any of our dogs paws, this will somewhat unbalance them.
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It comes natural for them to therefore want to go back to a balanced state, so theyll instinctively pull their paws away.
Dogs may be naturally inclined to being leery about having their paws handled, but things can get much, much worse when their natural suspicions are confirmed by negative associations.
All it takes is to handle those paws a bit roughly or injure the dog while trimming nails, and things may start really deteriorating.
One main issue is the fact that dogs have very thick nails that are difficult to cut through.
To make things even more challenging, many dogs have black nails which makes visualizing the “quick” quite difficult.
The “quick” is simply the soft cuticle rich in blood vessels and nerves thats found under the nail and that can lead to bleeding and pain when the nail is cut too short.
Nicking this area is quite easy and unfortunately dogs tend to easily store bad memories revolving around painful procedures.
By now, its shouldnt therefore come as a surprise why dogs hate having their paws touched.
Their instincts, coupled with the localized sensitivity, and the potential for negative associations, can easily turn a routine pedicure into a dreaded activity.
Its not surprising therefore understanding why groomers and vets charge a premium for nail services, with nail trims often costing more than a regular human manicure (especially in those instances where sedation is needed!).
Learning to accept having paws handled requires a level of trust.
Now that you are aware of why dogs hate having their feet handled, you may be interested in knowing what you can do to make handling those feet less uncomfortable.
This is important considering that a day may come when you may need to inspect your dogs feet for thorns, cuts or burrs and you will need your dog to be collaborative. Following are several tips.
If your dog is normally fine having his paws touched, but now hes acting defensive, consider that there may be something wrong.
Perhaps there is a cut, a blister, an interdigital cyst or pyoderma or some foreign object embedded.
When in doubt, its best to have your dog see the vet for proper diagnosis and treatment.
Prevention is worth a pound of cure! Start paw-handling exercises with puppies from a young age by creating positive associations.
Make it a habit of touching/rubbing each paw (dont forget in between the toes!) and delivering tasty treats.
If your dog has ever growled or shown any signs of aggression, please consult with a dog behavior professional, using kind, positive-based behavior modification.
My DOG Won’t Let Me TOUCH His PAWS (6 Reasons Why)
Many dogs hate having their paws touched, thats a fact. If upon touching your dogs paws, your dog has a fit, rest assured you are not alone.
Some dogs go on to push their bodies against peoples hands just to persuade them to pet them.
But touch those doggy paws and youll get the evil eye. What gives? Lets discover more about what may be going on.