Dog Community

Dog bites his nails.

Posted : 3/12/2006 11:29:41 PM

Is this normal? I really wish he wouldnt because it makes them jagged and in my opinion too short. I clip his nails regularly but for some reason he has started biting his front nails. I've never had a dog that did this. Is it bad for him? Could he be missing some nutrient or something? I'm a nail biter from way back so I feel for him but I dont think painting his nails with that yucky tasting stuff will help and I doubt a french manicure will do much for him either.

ewin0210

Posted : 3/12/2006 11:32:24 PM

He could have something up with his feet. Sometimes when dogs have allergies they chew or lick their feet and nails.
Or, it could be a boredum and he's just passing time(coming from an ex-nail biter)!

If you rule out medical issues, I think there is spray you can put on them that tastes bad to help break him of the habit.

jeano

Posted : 3/12/2006 11:34:08 PM

Stevie used to bite his nails when he was bored. It wasn't a big deal. You can spray bitter apple on them to keep him from doing it, but I wouldn't worry about it.

leslie__chessies

Posted : 3/12/2006 11:35:10 PM

Jasmine bites her back nails a lot. Sometimes just shoves her whole foot in her mouth and bites her foot. I have no clue why she does this; thought maybe it was itchy? I usually just tell her to stop. Because she loves the taste of Bitter Apple, she'd probably be thrilled if I coated her nails with that that "No Bite" stuff!

Casey

Posted : 3/13/2006 1:03:20 AM

Cay does this sometimes after she has eaten something and touched it with her paw. At first I thought it was a habit, then I observed her eat a bone and proceed to lick and bite her nails. I guess they taste like bone or she got some of the bone taste on them (I have no idea)? I usually put the bone back in her bin after she is finished and give her a little piece of a treat to discourage her from doing this. So far, so good. She never chewed them down to the vessel though, only took a tiny bit off.

griffinej5

Posted : 3/13/2006 8:21:00 AM

Max started chewing on his foot one day after stealing some junky food off the floor at Petsmart, and a certain food sample I picked up and was using as a treat also seemed to give him an itchy foot. I think he also does it if he gets food on his foot like someone else mentioned.

Stef w

Posted : 3/13/2006 10:55:35 AM

Okay ... here we go with compulsive dobe behaviours ...

My friend has a female dobe that "clips" her own nails. She never does any damage - but keeps them nice and short.

In my opinion - this is the PERFECT nail solution! If I could just get Tux to switch from sucking his side to clipping his own nails, I'd be all set! [

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huskymom

Posted : 3/13/2006 12:23:04 PM

Ya as long as it doesn't do any damage, I guess I'm ok with it. He's never made himself bleed that I know of or anything. That means I only have to trim the outside back nails as the rest of his back nails stay short on thier own.

gradyupmybutt

Posted : 3/13/2006 9:43:37 PM

I'm no expert but I've also heard that biting nails & obsessive licking/grooming can be an anxiety related compulsion. I know in cats it is.

huskymom

Posted : 3/13/2006 9:48:33 PM

I've heard that too but I've also heard that a dog that sleeps spread eagle on his back is a carefree dog. Crusher does that all the time so I dont think he has much anxiety.