You do not have to do anything to create a natural foot style on such dogs as the smooth coated and short coated types like the Dalmatian or Doberman. With breeds that have longer coat, we need to trim the foot to make it look short, clean and natural. This is a common practice with standard bath and brush pets such as Golden Retrievers, Shetland Sheepdogs and other moderate to longer coated dogs.

There are two ways to trim the feet on most dogs: by hand or with clippers.

Trimming the Foot by Hand

• Once the pads are clean, with blades ranging from a #40 to a #15, move to the top of the foot. Hold the foot in your hand and back brush with a slicker brush, starting at the nail bed of the toes. Repeat the back brushing stroke three or four times to pull the long fur up from between the toes. Use the full pad of a firm slicker brush.
• Once the coat is standing away from the foot, begin trimming with either thinning shears or small scissors. Hold the shears at right angles to the foot and cut straight up. Trimming in this manner will ensure a well-arched toe.
• Once the long fur is removed, lift your elbow so the shear runs parallel to the dog’s leg. Lifting your elbow minimizes the risk of taking too much coat off the top of the knuckles and flattening the foot. Trim the long fur on the foot to the same length as the natural shorter coat found further up the leg, in the saddled area. When you finish, the foot should look very neat, as if it naturally grew that way. Thinning shears are a great help in achieving a natural finish on any coat type.
• Do some light detailing around the nail bed of the foot with small detailing shears and/or thinning shears to get a really finished look.
• Double check the trimming work one last time by back brushing each foot. Trim any long strays found on the final brush-up.

Trimming the Foot with a Clipper

• With some dogs that are light or medium coated, the tops of the feet can be trimmed with a clipper using a longer blade, such as a #4F. When using this procedure, work against the lay of the coat. A #4F blade, used in reverse will provide roughly the length of a #7F, or two blade lengths shorter than working with the grain. When using a blade on the top of the foot, the fur does not need to be back brushed at the beginning of the procedure.
• Lift the dog’s foot and begin clipping at the nail beds, working first over the two middle digits. Lift the heel of the blade slightly to help the coat feed into the blade. Use a soft touch with a small, bouncing motion.
• Once the two center digits are clear, move to an outside digit and repeat the process, starting at the nail bed and working up into the foot. Repeat on the opposite side.
• Next, spread the center digits slightly and with only the edge of the blade, lightly ride the side of each toe, much like doing a poodle foot but not as extreme. Use care not to go too deeply between the toes.
• Back brush your work to check it. Remove any stray hairs with thinning shears or small detailing shears. Trim around the nail bed if necessary.

Tips for Trimming the Natural Foot

• Work with thinning shears or smaller shears around the foot to minimize the risk of cutting the foot or pad.
• A # 40 blade used on the pads reduces the risk of cutting a pad and can be used for both trimming and edging the foot.
• Trimming the feet on a dog that is clean will maximize the sharp edge of blades or shears.
• When trimming by hand, make sure to get all the long hairs up from between the toes. There’s nothing worse than discovering later on that stray long sprigs are popping out.