How Much Hair Between Toe Pads

[Thinblueline]

Being a little worried about grass awns working into my dog’s feet, as well as burrs and seeds which get embedded, I’d like to keep my dog’s paws trimmed short. Does a dog need some amount of hair between its pads and toes to reduce some amount of friction wounds or abrasions, or to provide any other protection against foreign bodies, or can you trim almost all hair out of the toes and pads?

 

[joeg]

Hunted with a setter for 11 years. I always kept the hair trimmed short between the toes and feet. Snow and mud will accumulate if hair is too long.
Mushers Secret helps a lot.

 

[Thinblueline]

One time I had my dog groomed in the off season when she wasn’t getting much exercise so there was no ill effect from it, but she came back from the groomer with all of her hair completely buzzed out between her toes. Sure was cleaner that way, but wasn’t sure if there would have been problems from having absolutely no hair as protection between her toes while running a lot.