It looks like the dog has broken one of his dew claws

[saltire]

You know the ones that are a bit further up the elg than teh others.
It is the paw he broke a feww wweks ago and he had a metal frame on it, and the claw was sticking out slightly ever since, because of the way the frame was attached.
The claw is sticking out at a 90 degree angle, only the claw part, not the skin it is attached to. there was no yelping, no blood etcwe think he has caught it on something. Does he need to be seen by a vet (and if so can it wait till Monday) or will it fall off?

He may need surgery. My dog did, and we had the other one removed at the same time for good measure. If you have any rolls of elastoplast, I'd tape it until Mon and get him to the vets.

i would take him to vet on monday- don't put any dressing on it yourself - is likely to extremely sore when touched.

He isn't wincing or pulling away when we touch it.
Is it likely to be major surgery? he is 8 months old, and has already had a big op on his paw when he broke it

It sounds like the nail just needs to come off. If you can move it a bit then you should be able to pull it off yourself - be warned it will be a bit sore to do it, but once that is over it will concern him a lot less than it will if he keeps catching it and flapping it. Best to do with a firm grip on the flapping bit and a short sharp firm tug. If however you can not really move it, then it will be hard to pull off and hurt him to do without it coming off most likely. At the vets we just cut these ones cleanly with nail clippers - they bleed...sometimes a lot...then we cauterise and sometimes dress them in that circumstance. Surgery would only be likely to be needed if there is damage higher up the digit, or sometimes a sedation required for dogs that are likely to be very stressed by the removal procedure - each case taken individually.

Hope that helps.

Can't believe this is you again, Saltire - how much rotten luck can one person have?!

All the very best & hope he's okay

Well we ahve watched it over the weekend. There is definately no damage to the digit, and close to where the claw joins the skin it where the break is. A couple of times he ahs carried the paw, but only when he has caught the nail on something,but otherwise he is walking fine, and running round like an idiot
I'm just worried that they will say he needs an anasthetic(sp?) as it's only 3 months since he had that last big op

Well, saltire, it may be a toss up between you and me as to who has the most accident prone dog

Madness isn't it?