German Sheperd Nail Problem?

I have a 3 year old male german shepherd who is having nail problems. It started about a year ago. He is having problems running at full speed, he sometimes wont let you look at his foot, and it hurts him a lot if he hits it. I started to give him omega 3 since I heard that could help. It worked but recently it seems that it is starting to bother him again even though he regularly takes an omega 3 solfgel tablet. Do any of you know what he has or what could help him.German Sheperd Nail Problem?
A dog's nails DON'T bend unless they have a massive overgrowth of the hollow half-tube that's ahead of the solid section that houses the quick.





As ';Nancy M'; points out, diagnosis without experience %26amp; professional training equates to hypochondria rather than useful diagnosis and proper remedial action. Asking dominated-by-know-it-all-kids YahooAnswers to diagnose on the basis of the tiny amount of actual REPORT you provide is two of the things I object to - it results in wrong diagnosis, it results in delaying the CORRECT diagnosis and the CORRECT treatment.





Symptom:


The dog is in pain.





Advice:


Take him to the vet.





Vets train for around 7 years, and understand the strange conglomerates of Greek %26amp; Latin used in medical reports. Even better, they can SEE what you thought you'd described, they can SEE and SMELL what you neglected to describe, and they can take scrapings to culture and/or inspect under a microscope. A good vet is worth every dollar you pay. Don't bother using the other kind of vet.


And if the problem IS that you let the ';filled'; part of his nails grow too long, the vet has the anaesthetic available so that he/she can cut right through the quick, and has the sealant available to stop the bleeding and to protect each tip until the quick recedes an eighth inch.


Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_F鈥?/a>


';In GSDs'; as of 1967German Sheperd Nail Problem?
Thanks for the points, voters.


It's a pity that ';saintsfa...'; wasn't interested enough to choose a Best Answer himself, eh!


Les P

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uh, are you keeping his nails properly groomed? If not, do so and the problem will remedy itself - some supplement isn't going to change that.





Nails shouldn't be 'bent' at all if they are properly groomed and kept back. It might be that the dog has some sort of fungal infection in his nails, which could indicate he is diabetic so supplements would be useless again. If it is a problem and he indeed does get his nails kept trimmed properly (where if they were they wouldn't touch the ground) then you likely need to take him to a vet and have him properly assessed medically. Omega 3 isn't going to do squat.





add: OH, so THAT is what the veterinarian diagnosed the dog with, right? Or is it just that you did some lame search and decided to be hypochondriacal for your dog? Keep searching and you can likely find a diagnosis that requires aloe supplementation to cure it as well! :) There is also a flat Earth society that proves that the world is and always has been flat - you can actually find web sites that will support any point of view :) Keep searching and find something even rarer to diagnose him with ... I get people in the ER all the time with the rarest of diagnoses of themselves that they have found on the internet -- might as well look for those Zebras instead of horses when you hear hoof beats, huh? people.... hahaha
It would be best if you can keep working on a 'foot' command so he will give it to you, but if it is already sore there may not be time to let that sink in. You may have to let the vet sedate him so you can get a good look at the problem and treat it.





Good luck!
have you ever trimmed his nails? dogs nails need to be trimmed just like ours, but if you haven't trimmed his nails regularly, it's probably too late to start now. dogs have a quick that is inside of their nails, and it goes about halfway through the nail. it is a soft tissue that will bleed when cut, but the part of the nail nearest the floor has no quick and isn't painful to trim. if you don't trim your dog's nails, then the quick grows and grows until there is quick in ALL of his nail. then you can't cut them, and the nails continue to grow until the dog's nails curl under and start to agitate the pads, even getting so bad as to eventually puncture the paw. I know omega three helps make his coat shinier, but i'm not sure if it will help his nails. i would take him to the vet if you notice his toenails are touching the ground before his pads do. this basically would be like bending your fingers backwards every time you tried to pick something up, and can be very painful. i hope your dog can still be helped!