# Split toenail?



## Darin Brewer (Jan 25, 2012)

My BLM has a split nail on his front foot from side to side about center of the nail. I got the bleeding stopped rather quickly and he is not showing any signs of pain or limping. I got most of the pieces of the nail that were split and shattered cleaned up and still wasn't showing any signs of pain. There is no swelling and he hasn't been licking at it that much. My question is since its not split all the way up, should I clean it well let it dry and then super glue the nail or should I take him to the vet? I am not asking this question because I don't want to go to the vet, I will do what is needed to help him heal correctly, but to my understanding the vet will not do anything unless the nail is split all the way. Thanks in advance for the replies.


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## freezeland (Nov 1, 2012)

I would take it to the vet and let them cut the nail off at the split or do it yourself. It will stop bleeding eventually on its own, but would be quicker to stop the bleeding if the vet did it.

I say this because I have a bullie that drags her feet. She split one across the nail at the base of it to the point where it was just kinda hanging there. So I finished it off for her. Bit of a mess, but it stopped bleeding eventually. Grew back too..........


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## Darin Brewer (Jan 25, 2012)

There is no bleeding it has stopped. I am also not sure that the nail is even split enough for the vet to cut it.


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## freezeland (Nov 1, 2012)

Ok, good. If it bled its at least split to down the quick... Glad it stopped bleeding for you.


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## Darin Brewer (Jan 25, 2012)

Any other input on using super glue would be appreciated. Thanks.


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## Granddaddy (Mar 5, 2005)

Darin Brewer said:


> My BLM has a split nail on his front foot from side to side about center of the nail. I got the bleeding stopped rather quickly and he is not showing any signs of pain or limping. I got most of the pieces of the nail that were split and shattered cleaned up and still wasn't showing any signs of pain. There is no swelling and he hasn't been licking at it that much. My question is since its not split all the way up, should I clean it well let it dry and then super glue the nail or should I take him to the vet? I am not asking this question because I don't want to go to the vet, I will do what is needed to help him heal correctly, but to my understanding the vet will not do anything unless the nail is split all the way. Thanks in advance for the replies.


I have had several experiences with split toenails with my dogs. I had one removed by the vet in the field at a FT, dog seemed in agony. The other several time I did not have the split nails removed but just super glued them. Then one more, very important step because super glue alone won't allow you to continue to work the dog & stay glued very long. And if you continue to work the dog with a nail split to the quick it can trap dirt & cause infection. So the very important other step is to go on the web to *www.softpaws.net/*‎. Once there buy a pack of clear nail covers (you cut to size) that super-glue right over the injured nail. 

A cover lasts me about 1-2 wks even in heavy work, including water. When the cover comes off, inspect the nail, again trim any split growth and re-cover & glue. You will have to do this 1-3 times until the growth is solid and long enough to trim off all remaining split. If you let the dog run with some split left, even if it's grown out it will split again. But this process is easy and allows your dog to continue to work with no discomfort - and no need to spend your money at the vet. I keep some on my dog truck and have used them at a FT when a dog split a nail and was limping. Trim, glue, and cover and the dog is like new. Oh and don't use too much glue inside the cover before you put it on. It will ooze out and get around the nail root at the toe when you slide it on and be uncomfortable. Just use what is needed inside the cover and immediately wipe off any excess. Works every time for me.


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## freezeland (Nov 1, 2012)

Darin Brewer said:


> Any other input on using super glue would be appreciated. Thanks.


Beside your dogs tongue sticking to its nail after licking it? Just kidding.

I dont think it will do much good to be honest. I think it would be like trying to glue your finger nail together if it ever split.


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## Granddaddy (Mar 5, 2005)

freezeland said:


> Beside your dogs tongue sticking to its nail after licking it? Just kidding.
> 
> I dont think it will do much good to be honest. I think it would be like trying to glue your finger nail together if it ever split.


Read post #6. I've had consistent success with this process - probably a dozen times or more over the last several years.


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## Darin Brewer (Jan 25, 2012)

Granddaddy, 

Thanks for post, I really do appreciate it, I am ordering some now as we speak. Thanks again for the reply.


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## Hunt'EmUp (Sep 30, 2010)

Good post #6, I'll have to file it in my record for the next time I have to deal with a split.


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## Darin Brewer (Jan 25, 2012)

Hunt'EmUp,

It was a great post, I actually ended up having to take him in to the vets office today and have a piece I couldn't get removed. I also had a chat with my vet about the softpaws and she highly recommended them, she told me right now after antibiotics and the usual time it takes to grow back the nail we would be down for about 2-3 weeks from training but with the soft paws she said we would be able to get back to it as soon as the softpaw is set. Will be nice to keep these on the truck for any further issues (hope there isn't any).


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## JJaxon (Nov 1, 2009)

Granddaddy said:


> I have had several experiences with split toenails with my dogs. I had one removed by the vet in the field at a FT, dog seemed in agony. The other several time I did not have the split nails removed but just super glued them. Then one more, very important step because super glue alone won't allow you to continue to work the dog & stay glued very long. And if you continue to work the dog with a nail split to the quick it can trap dirt & cause infection. So the very important other step is to go on the web to www.softpaws.net/‎ . Once there buy a pack of clear nail covers (you cut to size) that super-glue right over the injured nail. A cover lasts me about 1-2 wks even in heavy work, including water. When the cover comes off, inspect the nail, again trim any split growth and re-cover & glue. You will have to do this 1-3 times until the growth is solid and long enough to trim off all remaining split. If you let the dog run with some split left, even if it's grown out it will split again. But this process is easy and allows your dog to continue to work with no discomfort - and no need to spend your money at the vet. I keep some on my dog truck and have used them at a FT when a dog split a nail and was limping. Trim, glue, and cover and the dog is like new. Oh and don't use too much glue inside the cover before you put it on. It will ooze out and get around the nail root at the toe when you slide it on and be uncomfortable. Just use what is needed inside the cover and immediately wipe off any excess. Works every time for me.


Thank you for this post, it will be essential to have before season starts. Just ordered mine in orange, so I can see it on a black dog.


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## mwk56 (May 12, 2009)

One of my girls had a toe nail pointing to the sky... I sprayed the exposed pulp with Vetricin once a day for several days. The nail fell off and she is running around without any pain. Still using the Vetricin just to decrease the chance of an infection.

Meredith


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## Longgun (Sep 19, 2009)

If your vet can cauterize then have him trim back to split and cauterize. I had one done after waiting to see if it would heal and I wished I had done it sooner. Once done there is no pain and no chance for infection. You can continue training almost immediately. 
deb


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## J. Walker (Feb 21, 2009)

I ran into a split toenail issue recently. I cleaned it thoroughly and used Super Glue but it made things much worse and more costly. A massive infection had already set in and the glue ran and cured at the base of his nail. The latter caused a burr under the saddle effect. He didn't even want to move he was in so much pain. He had to be anesthetized just to get the glue off due to the pain and to have the open nail cleaned with some special veterinary soak. During the second round of major antibiotics, the resulting abscess in his paw literally blew through the bottom of his paw. Long story short, open paw injuries of any kind are nothing to play around with.


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## pcarpenter (Sep 4, 2013)

freezeland said:


> I would take it to the vet and let them cut the nail off at the split or do it yourself. It will stop bleeding eventually on its own, but would be quicker to stop the bleeding if the vet did it.
> 
> I say this because I have a bullie that drags her feet. She split one across the nail at the base of it to the point where it was just kinda hanging there. So I finished it off for her. Bit of a mess, but it stopped bleeding eventually. Grew back too..........



THis happened to my GSP. The vet removed the nail. It took forever to heal.


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## Granddaddy (Mar 5, 2005)

Longgun said:


> If your vet can cauterize then have him trim back to split and cauterize. I had one done after waiting to see if it would heal and I wished I had done it sooner. Once done there is no pain and no chance for infection. You can continue training almost immediately.
> deb


The length of time in healing is the very reason you would use the soft paws nail cover. By covering the nail the adhesive stabilizes the nail & allows it to grow from the base without further splitting. You just trim the nail back as far as you can, glue on the soft paws nail cover & your dog is as good as new. In heavy training the soft paws cover will loosen up over several days to a week, especially with water training. 

You can then use that opportunity to trim the split growth further (or possibly even eliminate it because the nail is growing intact). But as long as there is still a split in the nail you will need to keep it covered with a glued on soft paws nail cover if you can't trim the split out entirely. It usually takes two applications with my dogs to allow the nail to grow to sufficient length to cut off all of the split portion. But the advantage of the soft paws approach is to allow you to continue to train your dog while the nail grows and heals. My Stella split a nail badly during pre-national training in 2012 and she was limping around with the pain every time she put her foot down. So in the field, I cleaned it, trimmed what I could, sterilized it, glued on a soft paws nail cover (which I cut to size) & we were back training within 30 mins. Stella went through 2-3 more days of pre-nat'l training & 10 series of the nat'l with the soft paws nail cover on. I didn't want her thinking about anything but the marks & blinds in front of her and the soft paw nail covers seemed to eliminate the nail issues.

I saw the post about the glue around the nail root. You have to make sure you don't use too much glue & that you remove any excess around the nail. You want no excess remaining & all glue inside the soft paws nail cover around the nail.


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## dorkweed (Apr 14, 2009)

My 9.5yo BLM had a left hind medial toe nail that always grew in a "shredded" type way from when he was a pup. IOW's, it never grew as one toe nail... it grew almost like hair.

After a number of times where he tore the nail back (because it wasn't a solid nail) and losing more than several weeks of training and hunting over his early years; I had the vet remove the entire toe. He still has the pad, but the last joint which includes the nail is gone. Should've done it sooner. He was back in training after only 3 weeks. He doesn't swim in circles either!!


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