Warm and malleable and surprisingly rough on the pads, I love the feel of a dog's large dry paw- notwithstanding the fact that most dogs don't like you handling them. There's one obvious reason for a dogs lack of inclination which I suppose is hardwired: their wild cousins would quickly die if anything happened to one of their legs. Evolution has made it a gut reaction to withdraw a paw when it is enclosed, a reaction, only overcome if the particular dog respects or admires the grasper.
But there is another reason too. Dogs paws are a curious combination of rough and sensitive. The rough pads, which are thick enough to withstand the rigours of a rambling life are divided by soft hairs which can gauge with sensitivity the ground that is traversed. These hairs are something analogous to the poison filaments on a stinging nettle in that their sensitivity varies in inverse proportion to strength of grasp. Dogs are remarkably ticklish and squeamish concerning these hairs if you touch them gently. Like the nettle you must assay a direct, firm approach if you want to maintain grip.
Still, it doesn't stop me from wanting to shake paws with most friendly dogs I come across, I have a desire to promote inter-species communication, I've all but given up on talking to my own kind.
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