Does Walking a Dog Trim Their Nails?
Walking your dog on rough or hard surfaces, such as gravel, stones or concrete, can help to naturally prevent excessive overgrowth of their nails by filing them down as they walk. However, this should not be the sole method for trimming your dog’s nails – follow up with nail trimming from a professional dog groomer to help your dog avoid discomfort or any potential health implications.
Can walking my dog naturally trim its nails?
While walking can help maintain or shorten your dog’s nail length, it does have its limitations as a nail-trimming method. The amount of wear and tear on the nails from walking will depend on several factors, such as the type of surface your dog is walking on, and how active they are in their day.
Different Surfaces
If your dog walks and runs on different surfaces, their nails more frequently come into contact with the ground, and the friction from the surface can help wear down the nails naturally. Specific types of surfaces can contribute to filing down their nails naturally.
Rough Surfaces
Rough surfaces like gravel, stones, or abrasive concrete can wear down your dog’s nails more effectively because these surfaces provide more friction and resistance than softer surfaces like grass or carpet. If you live near the outdoors, you’ll likely have rough surfaces throughout your dog walk.
As your dog walks on these rough surfaces, their nails come into contact with the abrasive surface, causing small amounts of friction that slowly wear down the nails over time.
Hard Surfaces
Hard, smooth surfaces like hardwood, asphalt or tile floors can help maintain your dog’s nails’ length, but only if your dog is active on these surfaces frequently. When dogs walk or run on smooth surfaces, their nails come into contact with the surface, causing a slight resistance that can help slow down the nail’s growth – although these surfaces aren’t as effective as rough surfaces. Smooth surfaces can help maintain a dog’s nail length by providing enough friction to slow down or limit the growth of the nails.
Soft Surfaces
Soft surfaces like grass, carpet, or sand do not provide enough resistance to wear down your dog’s nails. When a dog walks on soft surfaces, their nails don’t come into contact with rough or abrasive surfaces that can cause friction and wear them down.
If your dog spends most of their time walking on soft surfaces, their nails may become overgrown quickly.
Dog’s Activity level
Your dog’s activity level is another large factor that plays a role in keeping their nails short. Naturally, if your dog is active, playing, walking or running throughout the day. their nails more frequently come into contact with different surfaces, helping to wear down their nails naturally. This can help slow down the growth of the nails and make them less likely to overgrow.
On the other hand, if your dog is less active and doesn’t walk or run on rough surfaces frequently, their nails may not wear down as quickly, and overgrowth can occur.
Summary
Make sure to provide your dog with plenty of opportunities to be active and walk or run on different surfaces to help naturally wear down and shorten their nails. Walking a dog shouldn’t be a substitute for wearing down their nails, you should bring your dog to a professional dog groomer every so often who can ensure your dog’s nails stay at an appropriate length and help maintain healthy nail growth.
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