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The dog is skating across the floorboards on tufts of hair that have grown out over the pads, and something has stuck to the back end again. The next groom is three weeks away.
Both are jobs you can do at home, and both are the ones most likely to end in a nick if you go at them with kitchen scissors. This guide covers what to use, how little to take, how to hold a foot that does not want to be held, and where to stop.
Can I trim my dog's paw pads and bum at home?
Yes, a pad tidy and a sanitary tidy are the two trims most pet owners can safely do between grooms, provided you use a small trimmer or a fine blade rather than scissors on skin. Both areas are hygiene trims, not styling. The aim is hair level with the pads so the dog gets grip and stops collecting mud and grass seeds, and a clear strip under the tail and around the genitals so nothing sticks. Nobody is judging the finish.
What makes them safe is the tool. A trimmer with a short cutting length cannot take more than a millimetre or two whatever angle you hold it at. What makes them unsafe is speed and a squirming dog.
What tools do I need to tidy my dog's feet?
You need a small trimmer or a clipper fitted with a #10 blade, a comb to lift the hair, and a pair of curved scissors for the outline of the foot only. That is the full kit for both jobs.
A quiet, low-vibration cordless trimmer with a 46mm adjustable blade head that sets between 0.5mm and 2.5mm, up to 100 minutes on a charge. Built for the tricky places, faces, feet and points, and labelled as not suitable for large areas or full body clips. The width suits a medium to large foot in a couple of passes.
Shear Magic Rocket 4500 Foot Trimmer
An ultra-light battery touch-up trimmer for face, ears and paws with a 0.5mm blade and an easy-grip handle, running on two AA batteries. The small head fits between the toes of a small dog. Comes with a cleaning brush and oil.
Trimmers and clippers do different jobs. A trimmer has a narrow head and a very short cut, right for between the pads and around the genitals on a small or medium dog. An A5 clipper with a #10 blade takes 1.5mm with a wider head and stronger motor, and is what a groomer uses for the whole sanitary strip and the pads of a large dog. If you already own a clipper, the #10 blade that came with it is the one for these areas.
A lightweight, quiet cordless A5 clipper with a 35W permanent magnet motor, supplied with a #10 blade set and compatible with A5 blades from other makers. The one to buy if you want a clipper that does the pads and sanitary today and grows into body work later.
Steel A5 blades in sizes from #40 at 0.25mm through to #3F at 13mm. The #10 at 1.5mm is the pad and sanitary blade, and the #15 at 1mm goes a touch closer for a dog that packs mud between the toes. Fits any A5 clipper.
How do I trim the hair between my dog's paw pads?
Hold the foot from behind, spread the pads with your thumb, and run the trimmer flat across the pads from heel to toe so it only takes the hair standing above them. That one movement, repeated, is the whole pad trim.
Step by step
- Comb the foot first. Lift the hair between and around the pads with the fine end of a comb so any grit, burr or grass seed comes out before a blade goes near it.
- Stand or sit the dog on a non-slip surface at a height where you are not bending. Pick up a back foot first: most dogs mind those less.
- Hold the foot in your palm from behind, fingers on top, thumb underneath. Use the thumb to spread the large pad away from the toes so the webbing hair stands up.
- Run the trimmer flat across the pads, blade parallel to the pad surface, heel to toe. Let the blade skate on the pads. Do not point it down into the gaps.
- Take the hair between the toes only as far as the trimmer reaches on the flat. The webbing between the toes is thin skin, and it is where nicks happen. If hair remains deep in the gap, leave it.
- Tidy the outline with curved scissors held flat to the floor, pointing away from the dog, so the foot looks round from above. Never cut with the points toward the pads.
- Put the foot down before the dog pulls it away. Three or four short holds beat one long one.
ProGroom STYLE 7" Grooming Scissor - Curved
A 7 inch curved shear in Japanese 440C steel with convex edges, built for following the shape of faces, feet and toplines. The curve lets you round the outline of a foot with the points always turning away from the pad. More in curved scissors.
ProGroom STYLE Grooming Comb - Large
A 248 x 45mm steel grooming comb with coarse and fine pins. The fine end lifts the hair between the pads and around the sanitary area so you can see what you are cutting, and it is the tool that finds the grass seed before the blade does.
How do I do a sanitary trim without hurting my dog?
Clip with the blade travelling away from the skin folds and never across them, keep the skin pulled taut with your free hand, and take only the strip of hair that actually gets soiled. On most dogs that is a hand's width under the tail and a small clear area around the genitals, and no more.
Under the tail
Lift the tail and hold it up firmly at the base with one hand. With the other, run the trimmer or #10 blade downward and outward from just below the anus, following the direction the hair grows, in short strokes. Clear a strip roughly the width of your palm. Do not clip the anus itself or the skin immediately around it: that is bare skin and it is the first thing a blade will catch. On a long-coated dog the hair either side can be shortened with the trimmer so it does not hang across the gap.
Around the genitals
Have the dog stand, or lie on its side if it is more settled that way. Pull the skin gently taut with your free hand so the folds flatten, and run the blade with the hair growth, away from the body, in short light strokes. Male dogs: clear the hair around the tip of the sheath and stay off the sheath itself. Female dogs: clear a small area around the vulva and stay off the skin fold. Thin, moving skin is where nicks happen, and the way to avoid them is tension and direction, not a closer blade.
Keeping the blade kind
Check the blade against the inside of your wrist every couple of minutes. A blade running on skin heats quickly, and a hot blade is the usual reason a dog that was fine suddenly is not. Oil it before you start, and if it feels warm to you it feels hot to the dog.
Clipper blade oil. Two to four drops on the teeth and bearing surfaces before, during and after use keeps the blade running cool and cutting cleanly, which is most of what stands between a smooth sanitary trim and a hot blade on thin skin. More in blade care.
How do I hold a dog that will not keep still?
Hold the foot from behind and support the joint, work at bench height on a non-slip mat, and stop before the dog has decided to leave rather than after. A dog that pulls its foot away is usually not being difficult. Either the position hurts, or the foot is being held out to the side in a way its joints do not go, or it has learned that the only way to end the session is to fight it.
Fold the leg naturally. A front foot is held with the leg bent back at the elbow, the foot pointing behind the dog. A back foot is held with the hock bent and the leg folded up under the body, not pulled out sideways. Older and stiff dogs need this more than most; if a foot will not fold comfortably, work with the dog lying on its side. Keep each hold to a count of ten, put the foot down, reward, pick it up again.
A light mist of conditioning spray over the leg feathering and the sanitary area before combing makes the comb slide instead of catch, and a dog that has not been pulled stands still.
Melanie Newman Everyday Conditioning Spray
A light conditioning and detangling spray with tea tree, peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils, no SLS or synthetic perfume. Mist it over leg feathering and the hair around the sanitary area before combing so knots release without pulling.
How often do the feet and sanitary area need doing?
Pads every three to four weeks, the sanitary area every four to six, and both more often on a long-coated dog in wet weather. Pad hair grows faster than most owners expect, and once it is long enough for the dog to slide on hard floors it is long enough to hold mud, grass seeds and ice-cream-stick splinters against the skin.
| Coat | Pads | Sanitary |
|---|---|---|
| Short (Staffy, Labrador, Kelpie) | Rarely needed | Rarely needed |
| Medium (Border Collie, Spaniel, Golden Retriever) | Every 4 weeks | Every 6 weeks |
| Long or curly (oodles, Shih Tzu, Maltese) | Every 3 weeks | Every 4 weeks |
If the timing lines up with the groom, let the groomer do it. The tidy-ups at home are for the weeks in between. If you want to go further than a hygiene trim, the Learn to Groom courses teach foot and pattern work on a real dog, with someone standing next to you.
Notes for professional groomers
The pad and sanitary trims are the ones owners ask about most between visits, and a two-minute demonstration at pick-up saves a nicked dog and a phone call. Show the flat pass across the pads and the with-the-growth direction under the tail, and name the blade. In the salon a #10 is the standard for groin, underarm, sanitary and pads and the safest option behind the ears, a #15 for a dog that packs the webbing, and the Style Midi at 0.5 to 2.5mm covers small feet where an A5 head is too wide. Lift the leg in the plane the joint moves, especially on seniors, and blade temperature on thin skin is the clipper burn you will be blamed for, so oil often and cool between dogs.
Common questions
Can I use scissors instead of a trimmer on my dog's paw pads?
Only for the outline of the foot, never between the pads. Scissor points in the webbing are how most home pad injuries happen, because the skin is thin and the dog moves. Use a trimmer or a #10 blade flat across the pads for the hair between them, and keep curved scissors flat to the floor and pointing away from the dog for the round.
What if I nick the skin?
Stop, press a clean pad on it for a minute, and keep the dog from licking it. A small clipper nick on the webbing or sanitary area usually seals on its own. If it keeps bleeding after a few minutes of pressure, is longer than a centimetre, or is on the anus, sheath or vulva rather than beside it, ring the vet. Then look at why: hot blade, loose skin, or a point where there should have been a blade.
Do I need to shave my dog's whole bum for hygiene?
No, a hand's width under the tail and a small clear area around the genitals is all a hygiene trim takes. Shaving the whole rear on a double-coated or long-coated dog does nothing for cleanliness and can leave the coat growing back patchy. If the dog is soiling more coat than that, the problem is usually the coat length overall or the diet, not the trim.
My dog's pads are dry and cracked. Should I still trim?
Trim the hair, but keep the blade off the pad surface and do not take the hair right down to the skin between the toes. Cracked pads are sore, and a blade skating across them is uncomfortable, so hold the trimmer a fraction above rather than on them. Deep cracks, bleeding or limping are a vet visit before a grooming one.
Can I trim the pads and sanitary area on a puppy?
Yes, and starting early is the point: the sessions are short, the hair is thin and the puppy learns that having feet handled is normal. Use a small trimmer rather than a full clipper, hold each foot for a few seconds at a time, and stop while the puppy is still cooperating. If the puppy is booked for a groom, ask the groomer to do the first proper trim and show you.
What to do this week
Turn a back foot over tonight and look. If the hair stands above the pads, comb it, run a trimmer flat across, and stop. Lift the tail and check whether anything is catching under it. If both are fine, put it in the calendar for three weeks. If either is matted or sore rather than just long, that is the groomer's job and the vet's, in that order.