Vets usually always suggest that the owners need to walk their dogs more often in order for them to naturally use their nails.
However, the fifth toe does not reach the ground and sometimes it can happen that it can get long enough to grow inwards, causing your dog discomfort and in all cases pain.
Let’s talk about the quick
In this part of the article, we will try to explain what quickness is and why dogs are not very happy when you try to do anything that is related to their toes and nails. We all know that the nails are the hard part of the toe end, and that part grows because underneath there is live tissue rich in blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and of course nerve endings, which is called the quick. With this said, it is very obvious why some dogs are especially sensitive and fight to the death with you when you try to cut their nails.
Usually, those dogs have probably had a bad experience with nail clipping at least once in their life because this does hurt a lot and after that they get scared and they just don’t want to feel that pain again. Who would, right? That is why it is always usually suggested that you should start training your puppy to get used to some nail clipping or trimming just so that the dog is aware of what is happening. Of course, if you are doing the nail cutting at home before you do that, please consult your vet about how much of the nail needs to be taken down without causing your dog pain.
My dog has an ingrown toenail, what now?
In some cases, as mentioned above dogs can have their fifth toenail grow inside of the flesh because this is a toe that doesn’t touch the ground and that is why it can’t really keep its normal length. When this happens, dogs tend to be in a lot of pain, and owners usually notice them licking that part of the leg a lot. They are not really happy about you touching the area. In some cases, this can get infected and swollen, which makes it even worse.
The treatment is usually cutting out the overgrown toenail. But this is not something I personally would prefer to be done without some sedation at least. The reason behind that is that it hurts, and you probably will end up cutting into the quick which will hurt even more. While the dog is sedated, it will most certainly receive something to manage the pain and he won’t know that you did something that hurts even more.
Our best recommendation for this would be to regularly check your dog’s toenails and consult your vet about it. If you take your dog to the groomer, they usually are almost always on top of this and will tell you that they have cut the length of the toenail for a bit.
However if your dog needs to have the toenail cut by a vet, you may expect prices between $50 and maybe $200 especially if your dog may need to be lightly sedated for a short period of time.
