How can I Treat my Dog’s Injured Nail?
My dog got her back paw caught in the door and her
whole nail came off. Now just the quick is
showing. I got the bleeding to stop but now it is
slimy and has a bad odor. Have you seen this before
and what should we do????
Melanie
Sarnia, ON, Canada
Nail injuries are very common in dogs. They occur when nails snag on carpet or vegetation, or when a nail catches on any stationary object.
In some instances (such as the one described by the questioner), trauma to the nail causes the nail to come completely off. In other cases, the nail is torn partially off.
In either case, a trip to the vet is in order. Nails that have been partially torn off may need to be removed. Both types of injury can lead to infection. Melanie, I suspect that an infection is the source of the bad odor that is emanating from your dog’s nail. Antibiotics may be necessary to help her heal.
Also, both types of injury can be painful. Your vet can recommend pain killers to make your dog feel better.
Most nails grow back normally after nail injuries. However, in rare cases the nail grows back in an irregular fashion. This rarely harms the affected dog. However, you may have to pay special attention to the nail in question. It may require frequent trimming.
For more information on injured nails in pets, click here.
Photo hat tip: Nicci.
You have questions. 
I just had this happen to me! A neighbor’s dog was on a play date at our house, and ripped her nail clean off somehow!
We cleaned it, and bandaged it here (oh what a sight that was — Squirming Shih Tzu bleeding all over the house and wanted to keep playing with our dog), and took her home! I offered to take her to the vet, but her fur-mom said it wasn’t necessary.
Oh well, she escaped infection, luckily.
This was helpful!
This happened to my basset hound too! Lost the whole nail! After a course of antibiotics and some bitter spray, for the constant licking he was good to go and in about 3 months his toe nail grwy back completely! We can’t even tell now which one it was :)
Our mini doxie caught her toenail in the sliding glass door track about three years ago, and the nail came partially off. The vet removed the rest of the nail and she was bandaged for a week and took antibiotics. Luckily, no infection. The nail hasn’t grown back, but there’s been no problem with the “nail-less” toe.
@shopemills Poor fella! This site says yes to vet visit: http://tinyurl.com/chndcb