Short Nail

So I think this is going to sound really wierd, but Molly has one really short nail on each of her front paws. It is the middle nail and I'm sure it's because of the walks we take her on (We walk a couple miles a day on mostly on asphalt). It doesn't bleed, but she spends a lot of time licking it. The other nails are short as well, but not like these two.

Any ideas on how to stop it from becoming so short?

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on February 28, 2009 at 10:04pm

You can get little plastic caps that fit over the nail, that stays on with glue. The product is called "soft paws". I use them at work for mostly cats. Owners that disagree with declawing, this product helps with cats scratching up furniture. I know they also sell them for dogs (in really pretty colors too!!) this sounds like a perfect solution.

http://www.softpaws.net/

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Permalink Reply by Steve on March 1, 2009 at 12:32am

I have the same problem with Steve and received the following suggestions:
1) doggy shoes - I tried 2 different brands of shoes but they both fall off as he's walking.
2) newborn baby mittens - these fit perfectly but not sure how it'll hold up on long walks
3) superglue - haven't tried this yet but a doctor and breeder both told me this safe as long as there is no open wound/bleeding.
4) nail caps - haven't tried this but I heard it's good
5) chiropractic care - Steve seems to drag his front paws at times and the 2 nails in the middle are really short. Someone suggested he should go to a chiropractor and get adjusted (just like humans!).

I'm interested to see other ideas.....

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Permalink Reply by Butter on March 1, 2009 at 3:55pm

My Butter's 2 middle nails on both front paws are very short, so short that they never have to be clipped. I have to clip his other nails every 10 days. However, they aren't even; they are on a very sharp angle so that each nail almost forms a point. Once I tried to clip the point to even them up and this seemed to cause him to wince so I haven't tried it again.

According to the breeder/ previous owner, they get this way because of his gait (the way he moves his legs in front). He definitely doesn't pick his front feet up like he should. I had him checked by the vet who told me not to worry about it. So we just live with it.

However, he doesn't lick them. By the way, our dog has been mostly walked on snow (which isn't abrasive) over the past few months and they still grow at the same rate as when he was walked on pavement.