Just noticed my dog has a broken nail, what should I do?

[TheCunnyFunt]

It's not hurting him and we'd know about it if it was. A couple of people have said to clip it right back and someone else said to leave it to grow out as it's not bothering him.

That is one hell of a long nail!

I would clip it off right above the crack.

Then immediately start clipping off small amounts off every nail every 3 days.

When the nails are as long as that it's very easy to break them like this but over time they will also cause arthritis and pain as the fog's weight is shifted wrongly.

I wouldn't just cut a big chunk off - there's a blood vessel in the nail and it's not nice for the dog if you cut into that.

I'd cut a bit now, then trim more regularly and keep an eye on it. I'd probably cut a tiny bit off once a week.

If you're not used to cutting your dog's nails, maybe a dog groomer can do it for you?

Butthole he's a greyhound, they're supposed to be long.

Carpaccio I did wonder about the person that suggested cutting it right back as I knew that would hurt and probably bleed a lot! Will ring the groomer tomorrow then.

Thanks!

No no no!
NO!

Long nails are not good for any dog!
They cause a multitude of issues.

I'm going to post again in a second with a link from a greyhound rescue about nails.

To avoid hurting the dog you need to nip off small amounts every three days.

neogreyhound.com/truth-about-nails/

There are lots of other similar articles by other sight hound rescues.

I'd take him to the vet ,that's how my dogs nail issues started and he was eventually diagnosed with SLO , which apparently when I researched it is quite common in greys (. My dog is a patterdale x ) .

Oh, v interesting thread and thanks for that link, Buttholelane

I've just made an appointment with the vet for our foster greyhound.
I have no idea how long his nails are meant to be, but they are long and he sounds very 'clicky' walking on wooden flooring.

I am not brave enough to clip them myself.

They should be short enough to not touch the floor when standing.
I personally have my dog's mega short, like the American show dogs, but as long as they don't touch the floor in a standing position and you can't hear them clicking they are fine.

If your scared of clippers, you could try an Oster grinder.
Very difficult to quick your dog using one, you would need to desensitise the dog to it though as its noisy and vibrates but it gets nails back quicker because you get much closer to the quick without injury.

Oh, I think I'll let the vet have a go (?or the vet. nurse) first of all - then I'll decide if I'll ever brave it.

Is this the Oster grinder you mean?

I do the guinea pigs' nails myself

Surely if you walk your dogs enough they don't need clipping?

Yes, remove the plastic guard as I find them a pain in the arse on grinders and off you go.
3 seconds on each nail.

And not necessarily Omletta, my dog spends loads of time racing round on concrete and still needs her nails doing very regularly, once a week minimum.

'Mine' (not really mine as fostered) gets walked mainly on woodland paths.

Interesting.

We are hoping to adopt a hound v soon so all this is valuable info. Thanks

Golly - I don't think I have ever trimmed a dogs nails.

My dogs don't touch the floor in a standing position.

I don't clip his claws, they appear to be made out of titanium alloy and you need to exert quite a bit of force to get through them in one go, even the vet nurse struggled last time he had them done, she did one and then had to fetch a better pair of clippers :o

I thought about getting one of those grinders but I read quite a lot of reviews on them off people saying that their dogs claws had got caught in them and caused damage. That put me off.

Perhaps it was the JML one I was thinking of.

,Can your ear them click on the floor?
Judging from the picture, they look way too long.

A long haired dog could get fur trapped if your not careful with a grinder, depending in the angle that could be very painful as a large chunk of hair could be ripped straight out.

However, you aren't going to have this issue with a fine coated breed like a greyhound.
As for the nail itself getting caught, I don't see how that's even possible personally.
All you do is tap the rotating stone to the nail 3 times, when all are done inspect the nail and if more can still come off you repeat until you see the teensiest, weeniest red dot which is the start of the quick.
The grinder cauterises so the dog won't be in any pain but it will if you continue past seeing the teeny weeny red dot.

I have sighthounds and keep their nails over short with a weekly grind. Running dogs can easily get tears to the nail bed if their nails are too long, these can become infected and can be really hard to treat, my friends grey had to have his toe amputated because of this.

Very not over.