This is a good time to accustom your Australian Cattle Dog to nail trimming and feet inspection. Always inspect your dog’s feet for cracked pads. Check between the toes for splinters and thorns, paying particular attention to any swollen or tender areas.

In many sections of the country there is a weed that has a barbed hook-like affair that carries its seed. This hook easily finds its way into a dog’s foot or between its toes and very quickly works its way deep into the dog’s flesh, causing soreness and infection. These barbs are best removed by your veterinarian before serious problems result.

We suggest attending to your dog’s nails every other week. The nails of an Australian Cattle Dog that spends most of its time indoors or on grass when outdoors can grow long very quickly. Do not allow the nails to become overgrown and then expect to cut them back easily.

Each nail has a blood vessel running through the center called the “quick.” The quick grows close to the end of the nail and contains very sensitive nerve endings. If the nail is allowed to grow too long it will be impossible to cut it back to a proper length without cutting into the quick.

This will cause severe pain to the dog and can also result in a great deal of bleeding that can be very difficult to stop.

If your Cattle Dog is getting plenty of exercise on cement or rough hard pavement, the nails may stay sufficiently worn down; otherwise, the nails can grow long very quickly.

They must then be trimmed with canine nail clippers, an electric nail grinder (also called a drummel), or coarse file made expressly for that purpose.

The Australian Cattle Dog’s dark nails make it practically impossible to see where the quick lends, so regardless of which nail trimming device is used, you must proceed with caution and remove only a small portion of the nail at a time.

Should the quick be nipped in the trimming process, there are any number of blood-clotting products available at pet shops that will almost immediately stem the flow of blood. It is wise to have one of these products on hand in case your dog breaks a nail in some way.