Canine Claw Climber

Some dogs have a thing about their feet. Perfectly well behaved dogs will become uncooperative when any attempt is made to trim or even touch their toenails. In some cases dogs who are not otherwise at all violent will bite to stop an attempt to trim their nails. For these dogs the only option is to anesthetize the dog to do the procedure. This is both expensive and dangerous.

Wild Canids have no problem keeping their toenails at a reasonable length: they can dig in and run on abrasive materials all the time. You could assert that a domesticated dog could keep their nails in trim by running more frequently bringing the nail in contact with the ground for traction but this generally does not prove practicable. The effect of traction abrasion alone is not adequate to keep most domesticated dogs trimmed.

This is my idea: Replace the traction surface on a canine treadmill with a wide format sanding belt of very fine grit. The pads of the canine foot will be soft enough to grip without abrasion but contact with the hard toenail will quickly abrade the material, smoothly, evenly and attractively with no risk of accidental over trimming. The effect can be maximized by placing the treadmill at an incline and setting the pace at a trot for the size of the dog. For severe cases the special surface should be used for multiple sessions, otherwise it should be part of a monthly routine. I see this idea best applied as a service supplied by dog walking services and veterinarians although I see no reason why if the dog had a dedicated machine it couldn't have such a surface on it all the time.