| Extremely important | 33.33% |
| Important | 53.33% |
| Somewhat important | 13.33% |
| Not important | 0.00% |
| I don't know | 0.00% |
| Other | 0.00% |
Yes, keeping your dog's nails short is important
Severely neglected nails can easily split, break, get infected, even grow into flesh. While nails can wear down by running on various hard surfaces, how many dogs exercise enough on such surfaces for that to keep their nails at the right length?
Your dog's nails should be short enough, so they don't touch the ground when the dog is walking.
Longer nails exert force back into the nail bed, creating pain and pressure on the toe joint. Long nails affect weight distribution. Long nails send faulty information to the brain, resulting in chronically bad posture and altered gait. You can check out Dr. Buzby's article on the subject.
Do you think that bad posture and altered gain don't come with consequences?
Compromised weight distribution and alignment makes your dog more susceptible to injuries.
And what do you think happens to the spine with chronically bad posture? And how all body systems respond to compromised communication due to the misaligned spine? Chiropractor, anyone? And that's not even considering the Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM) view and how something as simple as nails that are too long can affect energy flow for the whole body.
But it's just nails?
Let's take another look. If all long nails did was to make your dog uncomfortable when walking, they'll be more reluctant to do so. You might be looking at less exercise, more obesity, and more related issues. If all long nails did was to cause improper posture and altered gait, you might be looking at a higher incidence of musculoskeletal injuries. If improper posture messed with spinal alignment, you might be looking at compromised nerve conduction which in term can affect anything else in the body. And looking at it from the TCVM perspective, same applies.
Does all that really happen that way?
Maybe. If nothing else, the nails seem to be one piece of the puzzle of health. I don't know about you, but I'll make sure my dog(s)' nails are well trimmed. If nothing else, they will be happier for it.
Related articles:
Dog Longevity Survey Part I
Dog Longevity Survey Part II
Dog Longevity Survey Part I Results
How Important Is Weight Management for Longevity?
How Important Is Diet for Longevity?
How Important are Regular Baths to Longevity?
How Important is Time Outdoors to Longevity?
How Important is Time Outdoors to Longevity?
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