You gaze lovingly at your dog and see his beautiful eyes, wagging tail, and gorgeous fur. Have you looked at his feet? I know, I know, you look at his feet all the time, but have you really looked at them?
I recently was visiting a friend who was lamenting the fact that her dog was failing rapidly. He could barely walk and because he had been diagnosed with arthritis, she assumed that it was progressing. She told me that it was painful to watch him totter about and if he was lying down in the kitchen, she had to help him up. She felt so bad for him.
Not soon after that I was able to watch him and it became obvious to me that the problem may not be the 
arthritis. I checked his feet and found 
that his nails were so long that they were forcing him to walk back on his heals. I also noticed that the fur between the pads was so long, it was covering his pads. I told my friend that the fur was preventing her dog from gaining traction on slippery surfaces.
I didn’t have any of my grooming tools with me so she called her local groomer, explained what she wanted and they gave her an appointment that afternoon.
The next day I got an email from her saying that her 11 year old arthritic dog was bouncing like a puppy. She thanked me for finding the cause of his discomfort and promised to stay on top of his foot health.
I guess the lesson here is even if your dog looks wonderful and doesn’t need a groomer, his feet may need a little attention. Most grooming shops will take you for a nail trim and a pad-fur trim without a long wait. You’ll be amazed at the difference.