Is a trip to the vet in order?

Oh, poor Frankie!

I don't know Amy, but I hope this goes away soon. It sounds painful!

I don't know either, I just wanted to say I hope he feels better soon.

Good grief, Frankie, give Mom a break, will ya? Amy, you could try wrapping his paw with VetWrap, too. That will stop the nail from catching on stuff. The black Lab I had 25+ years ago split one of his nails and was OK. But, someon on another board has a BC mix who tore a nail last week. A couple of days later, the dog tore it open again and ended up again and ended up at the vets. Can you call your vet to see what they think, or will they automatically make you come in?

Amy,

Lexi cracked one of her toenails just a month or so ago.

Me being the paranoid Labby Mom, I took her to the vet. She has dark nails, so my concern was that it had broken at the quick & she'd bleed or end up with it infected.

Turns out I was right, she broke it right at the quick. Even though it did not bleed, my vet gave me 7 days of antibiotics for her.

Unfortunately, we're pros with the cracked/broken nail issues. After running to the vet the first time it happened we've pretty much learned to handle this ourselves. We smother the broken nail in neosporin and cover with gauze followed by vet wrap (wrap that sticks to itself available in pharmacies), we then cover this with a sock and watch the pooch so that the bandaging stays on for as long as possible. Once we're not looking they're chewing it off. After a few days of care and neosporin we can usually either remove the nail or it grows out enough to gently cut.

If you're dog is in pain or there is bleeding, I'd recommend visiting the vet. It's important to keep this clean and avoid infection.

I am having a similar issue with Jake. He has torn one of his dew claws and it looks red, not bleeding though. He has been licking it for a few days. I am worried about infection. :-[

I think I'll try that Randi, thanks.
It only took a few days?

I'm going to call my vet, too, because now I'm worried about infection. I didn't even think of that.

Lexis Mom, did they cut the nail and then give you antibiotics? Or did it just grow out on its own?