Hi All,

Nando occasionally bites his nails but it's never been a regular thing and he has never seemed obsessed by it, he'd just do it now and again.

Today, however he is biting the nails on his back right paw and I am scared he is going to get the quick! He is close now I think as it is.

I've given it a good rinse out with an iodine solution just to keep any infection at bay and I'm going to make him a vets appointment tomorrow.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? He doesn't seem obsessed with doing it and it doesn't seem to be because of an irritant but I do wonder WHY he is doing it and if it is going to cause him any harm! We haven't washed his bedding recently in anything other than on a boil wash. He has however had a grooming spray which is fairly new to him- I can't imagine why this would itch his paw though or his nail??

Josh

Check right inside the pads as this time of year grass seeds can get lodged and cause problems.

Have a good look with a bright torch.  Check every nail and between each toe, look closely at the pads and part the hairs across his toes to see if anything is apparent.  Some possible options are:

Grass seeds - these can be sharp and get embedded in the soft skin between toes and pads
Cracked pads - often sore on their own but can also be exacerbated by road walking or acidic mud (or cow manure)
Harvest Mites - not only around in September or October, but more common on chalky soils.  Look for tiny orange dots
Split nails - check for cracks or exposed quick.  One of mine pulled his whole nail loose whilst getting out of a ditch a few weeks ago.  Very painful...
Bruised knuckle - easy to whack on door sills and not uncommon if they're tired and not picking their feet up, or if dashing about like a loon!
Beginnings of an allergic reaction - sadly not easy to see but this is often where you might see it first.  Are his eyes sore?

If you can't find anything very obvious I'd plunge his paw into a dilute solution of Hibiscrub and warm water.  Dry it carefully (and throughly) as wet paws can be the reason for a licking episode to start then watch and wait.  If necessary keep him on a lead by your side or give him something else to chew/distract him.

If you suspect the grooming spray give him all over wash to remove it.  Don't forget that paws are sometimes the only bit they can reach easily so they become the focus of attention even when the dog itches all over.  Hopefully it's nothing a quick bath won't sort out for him.

He has split his nail! :( Poor lad.. is there anything the vet can do.. or should I just keep it clean and keep an eye on it?

There's always the danger of infection so they often offer antibiotics, they may suggest Metacam for pain if there is a lot of quick exposed, and the vet may well take as much of the nail off as possible to prevent the nail from splitting any higher.  It all depends how badly he's split or torn it.

See how he is in the morning maybe...

He is fast asleep now. He really doesn't seem too bothered by it. I can't see the quick, I think rather than 'split' it is chipped and he was just getting the part off that had chipped. Will see how he is in the morning, thank you for all your advice!

There really is always something to worry us isn't there!!  Bloomin' dogs :)  Give him a kiss from me xx

I will do.. as you can see from this picture, he is definitely so stressed out about the ordeal... NOT!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a332/josh7456/photo-2.jpg

Just a quick update... Nando hasn't so much as looked at his paw all morning!

That is one very stressed out dog lol.. he is beautiful, hope the nail gets better x

We are having the same with our BT boy, he has had 2 sets of antibiotics but as soon as he stops them within a couple of days he is chewing his back feet again. He has bitten to the quick on his claws. We know he has a wheat intolerance but am now going to get bloods done to see if he is allergic to something else. He gets gunky eyes as well. is now on 3 antihistamine tablets a day and we are giving him 15ml of aloe vera juice to try and rid the system of toxins.
the strange thing is he has always had the red staining around his chest and paws but they are now completely white.
we also wash his paws in hibiscrub when he has been out for a walk because you just cannot avoid grass in the country and we think this may well be a contributing factor.

hope your boy has stopped chewing his?
:)

He has stopped now and is happily just having a little rest after his breakfast before we go out for our walkies with his best friend! I have a tray of betadine and water mix to rinse his feet with when we get back as we are going to a grassy area. I am keeping a close eye on him but I think he was just removing a 'chipped' part because the nail definitely is chipped, but not split. He was chasing around flies like a lunatic this morning so it's not causing him any pain.

I have a dog who regularly bites her nails.  Saves me cutting them!  Has never caused any problems.

Sometimes dogs have allergies, when they have itchy feet.  Also nettles can sting, so often obsessive foot licking happens after stinging nettles... 

He does from time to time give them a trim himself but this was a little different. He still hasn't so much as even looked at then so he must be OK.

My goodness, he does look terribly stressed doesn't he! :-D I remember when Ellie did something similar to her nail except she was dripping blood all over the floor all of a sudden! Vet checked it and trimmed the sticky out bit and she was fine.

My old gal nibbles her toenails and the vet once told me that dogs often nibble thier feet out of pain in the legs. I find she does it more if she tries to do too much on her daily wander.
Aileen

It is happening again! I was in the next room and I could hear him biting his nails, he isn't doing it manically so I'm reluctant to think something is irritating him but it is definitely happening at the same time of day which is after his evening pavement walk. He gets a mid-day one too (Just a quick walk to drop my niece off at nursery) on the pavements and he doesn't do it after this.

I am going to give him a wash down with the hose and see if that helps at all. I'm going to walk him a different route tomorrow to see what happens.

I did once have a cat that always trimmed his own hind-claws, and did a very neat job of it too!

I don't know what to suggest, except that it may have simply become habit and might have no underlying cause at all. As long as he isn't making them bleed then I don't know I'd be too worried, really. Have you asked his breeder if this is something s/he has noticed in his family?

I suppose you could train him out of it if you don't find any reason - could it be linked to stress and/or anxiety? Fur-chewing and self-mutilation in other animals is usually stress related and often runs in families.

I trimmed my dog's dew claw a tiny bit too short once (he wriggled) and made it bleed - initially I was just going to bathe it and leave it but he licked it constantly which kept it bleeding, so I wrapped a clean tissue around it and bandaged with Vetwrap. In the morning I took off the dressing and could see it had stopped bleeding almost instantly after the dressing was applied and there was no harm done. If he has made them sore, or you are worried he's obsessing about them, then perhaps you could do something similar?

His breeder has never noticed any of her other dogs doing it, not even her unrelated GSDs. He doesn't seem obsessed with it as he's done it very occasionally (I'm talking one or two bites and then finishing) in the past, but the past two days he's done it for maybe 30 minutes at a time.

It's certainly confusing me, anyway! They haven't bled at all.

> He doesn't seem obsessed with it as he's done it very occasionally (I'm talking one or two bites and then finishing) in the past, but the past two days he's done it for maybe 30 minutes at a time.

It is frequent though... and maybe not something you'd want him to focus on too much - 30 mins seems a bit intent! If you can hear him doing it then maybe you can offer a distraction. Does he have other things similar to chew - cow hooves, antlers? suggesting those as they are also made of keratin.

It can suggest boredom or anxiety - perhaps buy some Nylabones or try a Sporn Marrowbone (like a Nylabone but even tastier, with a strip of jerky down the middle) - something else for him to nibble obsessively besides his toes?

My first thought was boredom but he does it at times were he is settled and a bit sleepy to be honest. He gets hooves all the time as well as having a nylabone and other chew toys. He also gets raw meaty bones.

Thankfully he hasn't done it again today, I have given him a good wash with the hose so perhaps there was something on his fur after all? Thank you for all your advice.

you could try this........get some thornit powder and put in a sandwich bag and put the effected foot in the bag to shake the powder on the foot, do this a couple of times a day, we had an old staffie that has problems with biteing feet through a grass alergy, we did this and he never had another problem again, thornit it a great remidy for all kinds of problems

I have friend with a GSD who chews her nails and pads, she has an autoimmune disorder.