This is kind of strange (I think). My dog, Philbert, bites his nails all the time. I wish I had a picture of him doing it, it looks really odd. I have never seen a dog do this before. The vet doesn't seem concerned, but it is really bugging me. I can't trim his claws because they are too short, but they are jagged and he scratches himself and us all the time. Is he nervous? Bored? Should I be worried about this? Has anyone ever seen a dog biting his nails before?
Lots of dogs will chew their nails as a way of making them shorter -- some just like the taste. At work when we clip the dog nails, it's like a smorg for all of the shop dogs -- they run over and start gobbling up all of the cut off nail pieces that fall to the floor. I recommed taking him to a groomer and getting his nails dremelled to get rid of the sharp edges.
That's normal...one of my dogs bites at his nails constantly...makes them all jagged. Having them dremelled is a good idea.
He doesn't like me to mess with his paws. I can't usually afford grooming, I wash him myself. I tried filing his nails, but he didn't like that too much. The last time the vet clipped his nails, as soon as we got home he started biting them again.
nail/paw biting is often a sign of allergies in dogs, especially when they don't want you to touch their paws. it might also be some sort of nail fungus. get him checked out by a vet. if you can't afford one, you could just go talk to one and see what they advise. if it turns out that his biting isn't an allergy or infection, you could try dipping his paws in vinegar or beer, something that he won't like the taste of. but if there's a chance that he has cuts on his paws or there are some skin abrasions, don't do that, it might be painful on open skin. your vet might have a good over-the-counter suggestion for that, too.
Philbert has been biting his nails for as long as we have had him (about 2 years) and the vet has never been concerned about it. I have asked before, but she just shrugged it off. As for putting beer on his paws, I think he would like that too much. I dropped an open beer on the floor a while back and before I could mop it up, he lapped it all up. I didn't know if that was good or bad, but he seemed ok.
i'm glad philbert is in good health! it's funny about him lapping up a spilled beer... my roommates dog LOVES to lick up spilt beer, but i've always heard that animals have a natural aversion to alcohol, since they can tell it's poisonous. but yeah, i guess beer-soaked paws wouldn't be the best solution then, haha.
My brother's dog bites his nails too. Isn't a problem. Licking, on the other hand, is a sign of allergies.
