The mechanics
of paw traction.

On the underside of the paw, hair grows out of the skin between the digital pads and the central pad. Nothing wears it down indoors, so it keeps going — over the pad edges and eventually across the pad faces.

The pad is the only part of the foot with grip. A layer of fur underneath it acts as a spacer: the pad no longer touches the floor, and the contact patch that used to hold the dog is now smooth hair on a smooth surface.

Carpet and grass hide the problem — the fibres still catch. Sealed hard floors do not. This is why the same dog moves normally in the garden and slides across the kitchen.

A dog that cannot trust the floor stops pushing off it. The legs splay out, the stride goes short and careful, and the dog hesitates at the top of the stairs or before getting up off the floor.

A foot that slides sideways is stopped by the leg above it, out of position and under load. Younger dogs absorb it. In older dogs, repeated slipping turns into real injuries — and the trigger was fur that took two minutes to remove.