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Nail Caps and homemade Knuckle Spats

A very, very simple site with my current solution for walking, in the city, with a Pembroke Welsh Corgi who drags his nails and knuckles.

This is Mishka. He gets me out of bed in the morning and out of the house every day, comes to work with me, and makes me laugh.

I wouldn't trade him for anything.

He was not made for walking on cement. Unfortunately, we live in the concrete jungle of Silicon Valley (and we aren't millionaires) so cement is all we've got.

So, I've done my best to come up with ways to make it possible to get him regular exercise on pavement, even though he drags the middle two nails on each front paw and a couple knuckles to bloody if left naked.

Full disclosure: He has been to the orthopedic veterinarian, who says he's perfectly healthy but his chest is too broad which makes his front legs track a little off (one of the reasons his breeder didn't keep him to show). I have not taken him to a chiropractor because he doesn't appear to be in any pain, and given that he's pretty happy the way he is, I worry than an adjustment could potentially make him less happy.

I did try several brands of dog boots and shoes a few years ago, but he either wore through them immediately (in which case, they didn't actually do anything to protect his feet) or they fell off because of his short and warped Corgi bone structure. Of the boots I tried, the Ruffwear boots were the best - after I moved the cinch strap they stayed on somewhat successfully. However, taking them on and off for every outing was annoying (and the other walker in my household back then couldn't be bothered) so I eventually ended up with this solution.

See links at left for videos on:

  • - trimming nail caps
  • - applying nail caps
  • - making knuckle spats
  • - putting knuckle spats on a corgi
  • - removing nail caps