No Slippers in my house, except on my feet

Somewhere along the way feathering on feet has gone overboard into the massive "slippers" which some Cavaliers sport. Too me this excessive hair on feet looks ridiculous and indicates a dog that is not getting enough exercise other than out in a garden to do its "business". A Cavalier with the correct pretty soft head, beautiful large eyes, long ears and tail, proper body type and size is what is needed to make it distinguishable from other breeds, not the massive "slippers". A Cavalier with large "slippers" is only a messy looking Cavalier.

There is no shame in trimming a pet Cavalier's feet, despite what your breeder might have told you, the trick is to doing it right so that there is still some feathering on the feet. In other words, when you take your Cavalier to the groomer tell them you do not want a clean foot like a Springer Spaniel but some of the featherings left.

I groom a lot of Cavaliers as a professional groomer and a breeder and this is how I groom a pet Cavalier's foot ...

All the hair is cleaned off the pads of the foot. I then take rounded scissors and from the pads of the foot upwards I shape the foot around fairly closely. Any hair that can be pulled down between the pads is cut off but the hair between the toes on top of the foot is left. I then take thinning shears to tidy the foot around to take away the "cut" look. I brush the top of the foot pulling the hairs up between the toes so that it is sticking out and if there are any excessively long straggles I take a small amount off with the thinning shears to neaten. You still have feathering on the feet but just a small amount.

Excessive hair on a Cavalier's foot is only good for collecting dirt and wet, so go ahead and get those scissors out and start trimming your pet Cavalier's feet. You, your house and your Cavalier will all feel better for it!