Anyone have a nail biting dog?

[Marty]

I have never seen one, but now am sure that Louie, the foster, trims his own nails! We have caught him crunching a couple times! And his nails are short! Wish he would teach the others....

[E's]

Funny story! And in Louie's case, it probably is just a grooming habit, if there is no irritation or damage in the tissue surrounding his nails. Thing is, though, I believe my Winnie does have the nail biting habit, but she doesn't actually bite her "nails"... All her life, when she is anxious or bored etc. she chews little, round holes in the fur of her front legs, just above the pastern joint... Vet thinks some minor allergies may be involved too - you might want to check Louie out in this regard.

Vet put Win on the antidepressant Elivil (sp?) when she was quite young, for this problem. Besides the fact that the stuff is expensive, there were other reasons why I discontinued that treatment after 2 or 3 months... Mainly, the behavior pattern wasn't showing improvement... also it got to the old Scots and Scots Irish thrift ethic: how much can one ethically spend on the emotional welfare of an otherwise healthy dog? Then the vet recommended liquid bandage... which did not work either. So what I do when I see Win start the nibbling is say firmly, "No eat da feets!" and she stops, with a guilty expression just like that of a kid... Also, I try to remedy the underlying situation whenever possible: take her out to play, or just scratch her ears and pet her for a few minutes.

Yet I have this amusing picture of Louie teaching manicure technique to his pack mates...

[urge to herd]

Shoshone bites her nails, but only her dewclaws! And, she's just started doing this within the last year or so. I used to have to trim her dewclaws when I did her other nails. and was just doing that last night. I remembered your post and realized that she must be chewing her nails!

Ruth