Do you feed your pup/dog vitamins?

If they're like humans, gelatin would be more likely to work. Emma takes a good bit of MSM, and her nails are gorgeous. They grow ridiculously fast, too. 

do you use a particular brand?

     I always use vitamins and supplements, no matter what food I'm using. At the moment, I'm giving them Pet Authority liquid vitamins, and they are EXCELLENT! I've spend a fair bit of $ on vitamins, and so far these seem to be the best. They've all got great coats and very strong nails. BTW, I would have to second the MSM suggestion - I give this to my oldest Beag, and I also notice how rapidly his nails seem to grow ... and the groomer always has a difficult time clipping them, they're so hard. Could very well be from the supplementation ...

ETA: This is the brand of vitamins I use: http://www.dynamichealth.com/pa/sof.asp      I'd recommend them without hesitation! This has taken the place of about 3-4 different supplements for us. Also noticed on their website that the company makes a special Bone & Teeth Formula ... which may be helpful for a brittle nail problem as well.

I use N'Zymes Antioxidant Treats.  It's a daily vitamin.  I think they've really helped boost Rory's immune system.  I got them as a trial when I ordered the N'Zymes product for Giardia (from the greatdanelady website).  I don't know if they have enough of certain vitamins, I'm not sure how much dogs should have, but I like them and am going to order more.

 http://www.nzymes.com/index.htm

 http://www.nzymes.com/product-pets.htm

I give Kenya raw eggs sometimes and will give dogs a probiotic (yogurt) if there's a need.  Other than that, I prefer to focus on giving them a balanced food diet so I don't have to supplement.  Both dogs will probably get something like glucosamine/chondroitin eventually.

Luke gets Solid Gold Seameal at least once a day with his food.  It's an all around vitimin/mineral supplement.

nope. There's just as much harm to be done by over-supplementing as by under-supplementing. Most commercial dog foods are over-supplemented already- except for things like omega-3's which are unstable. Try some fish body oil.

No, I don't use any particular brand of MSM. I just buy the powder at the health food store, and mix it with her water. I started using it because a friend of mine uses it this way, and Emma walked around her house, one day, and drained all of the water bowls. She loves it! I just use about a teaspoon per gallon of water.

Emma doesn't eat a commercial food, so I don't know what kind of balance or unbalance that sort of thing would add to your dog's diet (now that mudpuppy mentions it....). I do know that plain gelatin won't hurt them, though. You can make meatballs with gelatin powder in them, and use them for treats. Em LOVES that!

Fed Bailey and egg last night - no shell - and she LOVED it... it was gone in like 2 seconds!

I was going through some old copies of DogWorld a couple nights ago, and there was an article about various conditions that could cause nail problems. Apparently it's hard to diagnose, but at least two of the possible causes could be helped by adding gelatin to the diet. So I would definitely try it. A cheap place to get it is Walmart, a 100 capsule bottle is $3. I'd give three per day.

As far as supplements, I think every dog should be getting additional omega-3s like fish oil. They are not stable and probably don't do any good if they have been added to the kibble. Have you noticed how fish oil capsules always come in a dark bottle to protect from light? And if you get it by the bottle instead of capsules you are supposed to refrigerate?

What exactly is gelatin?  Sorry if thats a dumb question.

BTmomma

What exactly is gelatin? 

Here is the Wikipedia link on gelatin.  Jell-O is gelatin, plus water, flavoring, and coloring.

http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question557.htm

The gelatin in Jell-O is what lets you transform it into all sorts of different shapes. What exactly is gelatin? Gelatin is just a processed version of a structural protein called collagen that is found in many animals, including humans. Collagen actually makes up almost a third of all the protein in the human body. It is a big, fibrous molecule that makes skin, bones, and tendons both strong and somewhat elastic. As you get older, your body makes less collagen, and individual collagen fibers become crosslinked with each other. You might experience this as stiff joints (from less flexible tendons) or wrinkles (from loss of skin elasticity).

The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin. The gelatin is easily extracted because it forms a layer on the surface of the boiling mixture.­­

Sometimes i feed my pups vitamins.