Dog chewing nails

[ET_s_Home]

Noticed pup chewing on her nails lately. She is not chewing on the foot or toes themselves, just the nails, much like a person biting their nails. I try to keep them trimmed down weekly with a dremmel, she is excellent with that tool. 9 month old Dobie, so they get like raptor claws if I don’t. Had noticed that some seemed much shorter and not needing a trim. They are not overly short, bloody or sore.

Should I be worried? She is a big chewer which I am hoping she out grows. I have a few rugs and wooden arms of a chair that will need to be replaced. She can not have rope or fabric/stuffed toys, they last maybe 5 minutes. Thank god for Kong toys and deer antlers.

[four2farm]

My little guy does this, he meticulously cleans and chews his nails as well as cleaning the fur between his toes. He is long haired and keeps his paws perfectly cleaned. His nails do need to be clipped but when we do they are always really clean. I have never had another dog spend some much time caring for his paws, but he does. We just joke he is half feline. Lol

[Sue_B]

I’ve had a number of dogs over the years who trim their own nails. I love it, one less thing for me to do!

[secuono]

My dober always chewed his nails. He kept them short on his own. Which was nice, because black nails are impossible…

Unless he is chewing them bloody or chewing flesh, it’s not a worry.

[ET_s_Home]

Good to hear it’s not that uncommon or worrisome. Not if this photo will post, but you can see the first and third nails are much shorter from her chewing, will use dremel on the others. 20210111_172133|375x500

[S1969]

I wouldn’t be concerned, but those can all be ground shorter, which could be part of the issue. One way to measure is to take a photo of the dog standing correctly. It is possible if they are touching the ground at all it may bother him.

[ET_s_Home]

Here is same foot on ground, with her standing. It is how I bench mark how short to make them, so hard with black nails to see the quick! 2nd toe definitely needs to shorten.

[GraceLikeRain]

Fascinating! I’d only ever seen dog with overly long nails chew and had associated it with discomfort but those nails are very clearly off the ground. Based on the other comments it sounds far more common than I realized! I wonder if one of those super tough Kongs with frozen wet food or something similar may give a bit of an outlet for her chewing? This age is so hard because they look mostly grown but in some ways still have super young brains. My guy was incredible non-destructive but around that age even he got into chewing mischief.