#dog nails

[doggozila]

In this article, we will discuss how to provide first aid for a dog split nail, ensuring their comfort and promoting healing and preventing.

PREVENT DOG SPLIT NAILS

 https://doggozila.com/dog-split-nail/

[merrybarkstudio]

What To Do When Your Dog Breaks Their Nail

Broken toenails are a common injury that our canine friends experience. With their paws meeting everything from grass to rugged terrain, it only makes sense that their toenails take the hit at times. So what do you do when your dog breaks their nail?

Why Do Dogs' Nails Break?

Most dogs will have 5 toes on their front paws, and 4 on their back paws. The front toe referred to as the dew claw will be removed on some puppies early in life, but not all furry friends will have this procedure performed.

Similar to you and I, a dog’s nails are constantly growing. If a dog is unable to keep their nails filed by walking on hard surfaces, their nails can grow to the point of being a bit of a nuisance. With their paws coming in contact with materials ranging from carpet to weeds, their nails can easily become snagged along the way.

Even if we keep our dog’s nails trimmed, they can still experience nail injuries from minor trauma to the area. Dogs can get their nails snagged on carpet, crack their nails when jumping, damage their nails while digging, and more. No matter the cause behind your dog’s nail trauma, it is a painful injury that should always be taken seriously.

Why are Dog’s Broken Nails a Problem?

A broken nail in our canine friends should always be taken seriously. Not only is this injury extremely painful for even the toughest of pups, but it can lead to a few complications if it is not addressed. While we may only see the tough keratin exterior of the dog nail, there is much more to it than that.

Within the nail is a collection of nerves and blood vessels referred to as the quick. This is the pointed structure you may see in clear dog nails, and the part that bleeds when a dog’s nail is cut too short. While the keratin part of the nail is not living tissue, the quick certainly is. Not only is the quick a sensitive structure that can cause extreme discomfort when exposed, it is also attached to bone. This means any infection of the quick can quickly lead to a potential bone infection as well.

Depending on the severity of the nail injury, your dog can experience different levels of pain. If the quick is exposed and they are forced to put pressure on the paw, you may notice them limping and hesitating to put weight on that paw. You may also notice your dog constantly licking the injured area, which can open them up to the potential of further irritation and infection.

As you can see, a broken nail is much more serious for your pup than you might have imagined. So what can you do when this happens to your dog? Let’s dive in.

What to do If Your Dog has Broken a Nail

Due to the potential for pain and infection from a nail injury, we always suggest contacting your vet for further care. However, if you have just noticed the injury at home, there are a few things you can do first.

First, you should restrain your dog in a way that allows you to examine the injured area, while protecting yourself from any biting. These injuries can be painful, so expect your pup to be a bit hesitant. If your dog is too painful and will not allow you to look at the nail, you should visit your vet before going forward.

If your dog’s nail is bleeding and they will allow you to touch the area, you can begin to address the bleeding. You can do this by applying light pressure to the area, or even dipping the nail in a bit of corn starch. This can help to “plug” the area and stop the bleeding. If you are unable to stop the bleeding after 10-15 minutes, it’s time to visit the vet. You should also never apply a bandage yourself at home, as this can be extremely damaging to the paw, as well as brew infection if the area is moist for a long period.

If there is a small section of the nail hanging from the area, you can attempt to remove it yourself. This should only be done if your dog is tolerating the pain. If your dog is too painful and will not allow you to do this, you should visit your vet.

It’s important to note that you should always visit your vet if your dog’s nail has become cracked or seriously injured. Due to the high possibility of infection, it is always best to be safe and seek professional guidance. The tips above can help your pup in that moment, but will not provide adequate care going forward if the quick is exposed.

[darkwood-sleddog]

Sigurd let me clip 3 slivers off of a dew claw and another two regular nails after our scratchboard session! Super proud of his progress

[dogfirstsmallsecond]

View this post on Instagram

"Ooooh the #hokeykokey" aka Cadvan is learning a new #cooperativecare technique. His nails are still terribly long despite using 60 grit sandpaper. I don't want to use anything coarser with him, so I've nabbed an idea from @taterflop where he sometimes soaks horse hooves before a trim to soften them up a bit. Except Cadvan hadn't ever had an indoor foot soak before, so first I gotta teach him to stand in a container of water for an extended amount of time, and historically, even going into a stream or a puddle is a Big Deal for him.

Started from the very beginning today, over four separate ~3min sessions (with naps in between for processing):

1) #freeshaping putting both front feet in a bread tin on carpet

2) same again but this time on the louder laminate of the bathroom

3) adding duration with a #lickimat (this clip is from that)

4) folded over some kitchen towel and made it slightly damp with warm water. I didn't just do a bit of water for this to make it clear I wasn't offering him a drink.

Hopefully we'll continue to make good progress!

#dognailcare #stressfreenailcare #dognailtrim #positivehusbandry #positivedoghusbandry #fearfree #lowstresshandling #healthydog #clickertraining #snackfeedernotpackleader #dogtraining #dogfirstsmallsecond https://www.instagram.com/p/B61JLLzlq7T/?igshid=17nxxzianob2k

[casstaway-friend]

Dogblr I need advice and help!

So, saoirse is a super super anxious dog. If she has one bad experience with something, she hates it forever. For example she is from a horse rescue, and used to love them, but after one bad experience she hates them. If she smells them, she runs and hides.

Well, she had 2 separate dew claw injuries last year. One while in the woods, and one due to a dog bite. Now she won't let me clip her nails.

I've been trying with positive re enforcement. How I do this is feed her treats, while I touch her paws and often I'll bring out the nail clippers while doing this.

My issue is that as soon as she sees the nail clippers, she runs and hides, tail between the legs and everything.

I've read that when doing positive re enforcement training, you're supposed to stop the session when the dog begins to get stressed out, to avoid more stress. When she sees them though, she stops taking treats because she is so freaked out.

I managed for a while doing this as often as she and I can handle, but now... her nails are too long. It needs to happen. I need her to let me so I can help her quicks recede.

I don't want to traumatize her though. When I do decide to try actually clipping, she thrashes and even on occasion nips at me, and she screams bloody murder. This is before I even clip, it's just if she sees the clippers and I am touching her paws all at once.

I don't know what to do. I can't afford a trainer right now because I'm moving out of state and I am very short on cash. I've tried many treats, and even a few different pairs/colors of nail clippers.

Is there anything out there that would help with this? My vet offered to do it but it's 25 dollars a session and they just pin her down, which I feel makes it worse and more scary going forward. I don't like having to wrangle my freaked out dog, and I don't like having my vet do that either.

What works for you guys? How can you get dogs to take treats even when they're stressed out? Do any of you know what I can do for now that'll maybe help in this effort, until one day I'll hopefully be able to get a trainer in to help?

I'm completely out of my depth. I've been able to socialize her, even after her bite. I've been able to leash train her, even train her to cuddle. She's so much less fearful now than before, but the nail thing just keeps getting worse and I can't keep letting them grow like this. Hellpppp please!!

[trainingfaith]

Lex’s Guide to Pain-free Nail Clipping

Foot injuries are painful, often difficult to treat, hard to keep clean, and are just an all-around pain for both the dog and owner to deal with.  Having dealt with multiple foot injuries with my working and sport dogs, I want to share a little bit of helpful info on how to prevent these types of injuries. It all starts with basic nail and foot maintenance.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep your puppy's nails trimmed.  I handle all my puppies’ paws and toes from an early age to prepare them for regular trims. With the dogs I breed, nail trimming starts as early as 2 weeks.  From there, I trim every few days to every week depending on how fast my dogs’ nails grow.  Every dog is different.  The general rule of thumb is to keep nails short enough that you can’t hear them walking on hard surfaces. If you hear a “click click” whenever your dog walks across your hardwood floors... his nails are too long!

When nails are too long, dogs have a harder time gripping on slippery surfaces, their toes splay outward (which greatly damages joints), their nails are prone to splitting open, and it can cause painful arthritis and even skeletal damage!

So what happens if you have a dog whose nails are already too long and he doesn’t want them trimmed?  There are two ways you can handle this… strap him to a grooming table, have a friend wrestle him down, hold his paws tightly, and cut; OR slowly desensitize him to the clippers, trimming maybe one or two toes at a time for a few weeks.  I’ve done it both ways, and both the dog and I much prefer the later.

The trick to getting your dog to let you trim his nails is making it a pleasant experience.  Seems simple, but if your pup hates having his feet touched then we will have to go a few steps back...

Remember… SLOW IS FAST!!!

1)  Try teaching your dog a “paw” command and rewarding for how long he will keep his paw in your hand. You want him to understand that him having his paw in your hand is the best thing ever!

2)  Start fiddling gently with the paw and rewarding. Pinch his toes (gently) and in between his paw pads. This is also a good opportunity for you to inspect your dog’s paw pads and nails to check for any injuries and damages. Do this weekly if you have pets, and every few days if you have active dogs, working dogs, or sport dogs.

3)  Once your dog is comfortable with you messing with his feet and toes, bring out the nail clipper.  At first, simply reward him for letting you touch the clipper to his toes.  Don’t actually trim yet. Do this as many times as possible, and remember to keep things POSITIVE!

4)  If you and your dog are ready to move forward, make a very small cut just on the edge of his nail.  Immediately reward and try again on a different paw.  If your dog is feeling stressed, end things on a high note and try again the next day, this time doing more than one nail, and gradually going deeper towards the quick. Make a goal for trimming one paw per day.  If this is too much, break it down by toes. At breakfast, call him over and trim one of his toes. Reward! If you are sitting watching TV on the couch, call him over and trim another. Reward! At dinner, do another. Reward! At bedtime… you get the idea :)

5)  After he is comfortable with this schedule, move to trimming only the front/back, and eventually to all four paws in one session. If ever your dog starts getting stressed, start the process over and take things slower. Even dogs who are terrified of having their nails done can learn that nail time is a great experience.

NOTE: If your dog has a preexisting fear of the nail clippers (as many dogs do), start bringing them out and treating whenever they come out. Pull the nail clippers out, drop a treat. Eventually, encourage your dog to interact with you while you have them in your hand. Plenty of treats and praise. Once he learns that nail clippers are not a scary thing, start over with the steps above.

It’s so important to frequently mess around with your dog's paws, and reward for doing so!  You can also bring out the trimmers while you mess with his paws so he doesn’t associate the trimmers with solely nail time.  Frequently touch the trimmer to his nail without cutting to remind him that it's okay.

How to cut their nails...

Okay, but my dog has super long quicks. What can I do about it?

ALL quicks can recede. It will take time. It will take patience. However, they WILL recede eventually. As your dog gets more comfortable with you trimming his nails regularly, start carefully shaving the nail away from the quick like the image below shows. Do not actually cut the quick! The goal here is to cut part of the nail away, exposing the tissue of the quick. This will cause it to dry up and die.

Over time, you’ll notice your dogs' nails are getting shorter and shorter without you ever needing to cut into their quick. If your dog is comfortable with a Dremel or file, those are two other easy mechanisms for exposing the quick. I like Dremels because they work faster than shaving away the nail with a nail clipper, and they also provide more accurate results. To desensitize your dog to the Dremel, follow the same steps as you would for desensitizing to the nail clippers.

HARD WORK PAYS OFF!! Examples of beautifully maintained nails...

[help-on-four-paws]

I couldn’t find the original post of this on tumblr (my link wasn’t working so if anyone does have a working link, I’d love to reblog the original), but I’ve seen so many dogs with harmfully long nails in real life that I felt that I needed to share this as a reminder that nail length literally affects the health of your dog (including long term health, e.g. arthritis due long nails changing the natural alignment of the bones).  Long nails are bad for your dog, and there honestly isn’t really any "nicer” way to put it, because not keeping your dog’s nails short is not a nice thing to do to your dog.*

*Disclaimer: some dogs, of course, just have naturally long quicks, like rescues whose previous life facilitated unchecked quick growth, so if that’s the case with your dog, just do your best to slowly reduce their quicks over time.

[Image description: A screenshot of a facebook (?) post shows a before and after picture of a dog’s front feet.  The top photo shows the dog with really long nails, so the dog’s pasterns are sloped dramatically.  The bottom photo shows the dog with trimmed nails, and the dog is standing with its weight distributed more vertically.  Text above the photos reads: “Why trimming nails is so important... Before and after pictures of the same feet, notice the angle of the pastern (wrist area) and the position of the toes.  Compare how far back the dog carried her weight with long nails to the more upright carriage after trimming the nails.”]

[service-doodle-dog]

Operation Pedi Week: Who Really Knows

We got Doodle standing for these pictures so they're darker cuz I dont know how to light pictures but yall can see how his paws are sorta splayed and how long they are in relation to the floor

As always his front feet (right) are a lot longer than his back (left) 🙄