Have you ever wondered if all dogs have webbed feet? Since many people have this problem, I decided to do some research on it. Here is what I found.
Do all dogs have webbed feet? Yes, Almost every dog has webbed feet. But the size of the webbing can differ according to the breed. That means water breed dogs have more extended webbed feet while others have less. It helps dogs to walk, run, swim, dig, and maintain stability.
Since dogs have both advantages and disadvantages from webbed feet, you must be aware of them as a responsible owner.
Almost every dog have webbed feet
I have a Rottweiler dog and a Doberman. They both have slightly grown webbed feet.
So, If you check your dog’s paw carefully, you will see a thin membrane between their toes.
That’s what we call as webbed feet.
Many people tend to think the webbed feet as a unique feature only for certain types of breeds.
But that is a complete misunderstanding. Because almost every dog has some sort of webbing between their toes.
However, some dogs have fully grown webbed feet, and that dogs were originally bred for water-related activities.
In fact, bully type dog breeds have tiny sized webbed paws. So let’s compare the webbed feet sizes for popular dog breeds.
Popular dogs and the sizes of their webbed feet
Here I’m gonna walk you through the sizes comparison of typical dog breeds.
I’m gonna give a 5-star rating for dogs that have fully grown webbed feet.
So check whether how many stars your dog has.
| BREED | SIZE |
|---|---|
| Labrador Retriever | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| German Shepherd | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Golden Retriever | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Bulldog | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Beagle | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Dalmatian | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Pitbull | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Boxer | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Husky | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Great Dane | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Doberman | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Bernese Mountain Dog | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Cocker Spaniel | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Vizsla | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Newfoundland | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Border Collie | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Saint Bernard | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Goldendoodle | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Bloodhound | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Bullmastiff | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Poodle | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Great Pyrenees | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Rottweiler | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Portuguese Water Dog | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Dachshund | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
The top 10 breeds that have more extended webbed feet
Here is the list of top 10
- Standard Poodle
- Newfoundland
- Chesapeake Bay Retriever
- English Setter
- Irish Water Spaniel
- Irish Setter
- Portuguese Water Dog
- Labrador Retriever
- Golden Retriever
- Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
What are the advantages of webbed feet?
Well, dogs have several advantages from webbed toes. Most of them are absolutely essential advantages to make their lives easier.
So here are the outstanding advantages.
- It helps to walk/run and maintain the stability
- It is much helpful for swimming
- During the winter
- For digging
It helps to walk/run and maintain the stability
Today, people tend to keep dogs for various types of purposes. Most of them are initially bred for outdoor purposes.
In most cases, they have to walk/ run over some difficult surfaces, and those surfaces can be muddy or slippery or sandy.
So dogs can easily navigate through those surfaces without falling or sinking with the help of webbed paws.
How? Well, what happens here is their paw pads become wider, and the webbing between toes acts as a net. In fact, it acts as a firm grip between the dog and the ground.
So they can maintain stability very easily.
But we want to understand something. This ability may vary depending on the dog breed.
Why? Depending on the breed, the size of the webbed feet varies.
So look at the above table and find out how many stars your dog has.
It is much helpful for swimming
Have you ever wondered how some dogs able to swim like pro swimmers? In fact, every dog has some tendency to swim.
How? Well, Since dogs have webbed feet and proper body which is helpful for swimming, they can become swimmers with enough training.
But there is one special thing I wanna point out here, this swimming ability can be varied according to the breed.
I mean, dogs that have proper webbed feet are more likely excellent swimmers. These breeds are what we called “Water breeds.”
In the meantime, Some kinds of breeds are weak swimmers.
Why? Because they don’t have enough webbing between their toes. In fact, Their body shape is mostly a barrier to swimming.
Mostly, these types of dogs are bully type dogs.
So let’s understand how the swimming process can be done with webbed feet.
If you put your dog in the water, you will see the dog start to paddle by using their feet.
Here, their feet act as Oars of a boat. I mean, their paw pads get more extensive, and they push backward somewhat area of water.
So as they continuously paddling, they navigate forward straightforwardly. So that’s how their swimming process is done with their webbed paws.
Here I want to tell you something.
It, not a problem what type of breed you have, Every dog has to swim many times in their daily life.
Let’s imagine you are on a family vacation with your dog, and then you found a beautiful place suitable for swimming.
Would you like to keep the dog on the bank? How heartbreaking is that?
So if your dog doesn’t know how to swim, go and start today to train them. Because it is so worthwhile for your time and effort.
During the winter
Actually, webbed feet are much helpful for dogs during the winter.
How? When they walk through the snow, the webbed paws help them to avoid sinking. In fact, it helps them to maintain stability.
It actually acts as our snow boots. That means it helps us to walk through snow without sinking too much.
For digging
Actually, this is not a massive advantage for dogs. But this trait has been existing since the ancient time.
Dogs tend to dig holes in the ground and lay on it. Because it is so comfortable for them.
In my case, my Bella has created so many holes in our backyard. Mostly she tends to find some cold places on the ground and make a hole.
Then she can sleep on it for hours. Often this trait increases in the summer.
So what I want to mention here is unless dogs have webbed feet, they cannot dig.
What are the disadvantages of webbed feet?
When we think about the advantages, we can neglect the disadvantages. Anyhow being aware of these disadvantages is crucial.
We know that dogs love to play outdoors. So the parasites like ticks can stay inside dogs webbed feet. Most people don’t know it. They mostly stay on the membrane of webbed feet.
In fact, the abscesses can occur between their toes. So be mindful of that.
Then let’s say you go out with your dog during the winter. So there is some possibility of stuck snow inside dogs’ webbed feet.
So don’t forget to clean the inside the webbing once you return home.
How to avoid that? So you can avoid that with the help of Dog snow boots.
What if dogs don’t have webbed toes?
Here I can’t give you a proper answer. Sometimes you have worry and other cases, you no need to worry.
Because of that, let’s understand each case one by one.
So let’s dive right in.
As we discussed above, some dogs have fully grown webbed feet while others have far less. So first, You need to know if your dog is a water breed or not.
If he is a water breed, then that’s a huge problem. It can probably happen due to genetic mutations.
But if you own a bully type dog who doesn’t have identifiable webbed toes, don’t worry too much about that. Because most likely, they have tiny webbing between their toes.
Okay, now you have to identify the purpose of your dog. I mean, why you keep your dog with you?
If he stays only as a domestic pet, don’t worry. Because he doesn’t involve enough outdoor activities. So he doesn’t have many advantages with it.
But If you keep your dog for water-related activities, hunting purposes, herding, other outdoor activity, absolutely you have to concern about that.
Why? Because it’s so hard to get involved with outdoor activities without webbed paws. Because those dogs have to swim, run, walk above difficult surfaces.
In fact, it will so hard to maintain stability.
So, you have to decide whether or not to worry. Moreover, you can go and consult a veterinarian and check if everything okay.
Conclusion
People love to explore information about their canine pets. So there is a common problem. “Do all dogs have webbed feet?”. So this whole article is dedicated to this topic, and you can find an in-depth answer.
Thank you.
