Fern's a working cocker and I have never liked to trim her but she did have foot problems when she was younger. When Fern was at her 'wooly(and wriggly) stage' she had terrible matts between her toes and had very ticklish feet too. It was exacerbated by the fine clay we have round here which dried like, well, really hard lumps of clay
and she actually began to limp a bit. I started by waiting until she was tired and relaxed and on her back just chillin' out, (as only a cocker can do). I got her used to me holding her paws/touching her pads without actually doing anything to them. Gradually, over a period of days I began to put my fingers between them, then, teasing teeny little bits of fur apart, nothing too drastic. When she started to protest I left it alone until the next day. I then got her used to me dipping her feet, one at a time in to tepid water, and holding her pads under the water for a while, in order to soften the clay and matts. Now I just dip her feet in a pudding basin of tepid water and she lets me massage the clay out from between her pads. When they dry off I then comb them through. I did have to cut a few of the very bad matts out to begin with, but it was easier after they had been soaked and the clay removed.
