Toenail rubbing toe

[pitbullmamaliz]

I took Inara for a nice long walk yesterday (3, 3 1/2 miles?) on her walking harness, so she pulled the whole way. She was beat - it was lovely! Anyway, when I got home I noticed her nibbling on her back foot. I looked at it figuring she had probably torn a paw pad from pulling on the cement. But it actually looked like the toenail on her outside toe had rubbed the inside of the toe next to it so it was all red and irritated. Very ouchy looking. It looks a bit better this morning but still looks ouchy. She's not limping, and she's not bothering it too much - just some licking/nibbling here and there.

This hasn't happened before. Do you think it's because she was pulling so hard on her walk? How can I keep it from happening again? Her toenails are actually nice and short, especially after last night's walk, so it's not that. I don't think a bootie would help because it's the side of her toe, not the bottom. Thoughts?

[TheRedQueen]

pics?

I'd guess...just guessing, that she'd have to just develop a callous there in the future. But...why would it suddenly be causing issues...that's what I'd be wondering.

[amalie79]

Robin had some sores between her toes that looked like they would be from the other toe rubbing...but we think it's actually from her licking her paws due to allergies. I can't say that I have EVER witnessed her licking her paws, but sure enough she has that salmon colored stained fur, so I know she does.

[Malli]

Oscar has that. His back toes on his feet can and do rub on the side of the front toes. He'll get small follicle infections or it will even rub so much it will bleed. If its bad and he's bleeding or getting bad and I want to take him for a walk, I bandage it so that there is a non-stick pad on the sore and between the affected toes(if you just bandage the whole foot, it will make it rub more), if he's outside, I put a poop baggy on it and then a bandage over that for the walk.
He has longer nails (also long, non-receeding quicks), but I've asked a vet about them before and got "well, he has long toes, too", so they are just kind of "normal for him", I think I didn't use to, but now I trim them almost every week... Anyway, off track.
When I trim his nails I cut the nail straight up and down, which makes a square end, and then on the back toes I trim the "corners" of the square and then I try to file down the the edges and any rough spots (you can get dog nail files). Sometimes he has the rub spot/sore anyway and then we try to rest it while its raw or bandage it carefully to avoid further damage.
My vet has heard of it, but just shrugged and said it wasn't really caused by anything, maybe a change in his gait.

phew! that was long

[HappyPuppy]

Could just be the particular length of that nail vs the degree of activity that day. Feel better, Inara!

[pitbullmamaliz]

Thanks all! I'm trying to get a pic but we just got back from dog school and she's laying on that side. I'll keep trying.

I'm thinking it just started because I just got the walking harness and began letting her pull like a madwoman on walks. I'll check out the nail doing the rubbing and see if it's rough on the inside. Malli, how do you bandage Oscar's foot so it stays on but doesn't wrap around all his toes?

[Malli]

oh, , its a full-foot bandage! Its a bit rediculous, but between the blood and the fact that it can have trouble healing...

[pitbullmamaliz]

So Inara doesn't seem to be growing callouses (calli?). Whenever we go for a walk with her harness, so she can pull, by the end of the walk she is bleeding on the sidewalk and blood has smeared onto the top of her feet a bit. I wouldn't go so far as to say bloody footprints, but smudges of blood from each back foot with each step. Her nails aren't jagged or sharp, I think her problem is that her middle toes are so much longer than the outer toes, and as she pushes against the ground her back feet turn out a bit.

I don't want to give up on letting her pull on some walks because it's good exercise for her to yank my fat ass around for a couple miles.

So - options? Would full-foot wraps (with cotton in between her inner and outer toes) stay on if she's using her feet to pull that hard? And if they will if done correctly, does anybody have a good link or video as to how to wrap them correctly? Would boots help maybe? I'm guessing boots wouldn't help as she probably needs something in between the toes. Thoughts?

[amalie79]

It's between her toes, right? Changing the kind of ground cover you walk on won't help...?

[pitbullmamaliz]

Yeah, between her toes. I don't know if changing the ground cover would work - all of our walks are on sidewalks or bike paths. Nowhere grassy to walk, really.

[TheRedQueen]

Vet wrap or booties with moleskin wraps around the toes or toenails?

[pitbullmamaliz]

We tried booties yesterday and she shredded the booties while pulling and still rubbed her toes. *sigh*

I think the moleskin/vet wrap would be perfect, but I don't have any idea on how to wrap her toes. I would think they need to have room to spread a bit, but the wrap would have to be snug to stay on. Are there any flyball tricks to wrapping back feet? I did think that maybe I'd just attach some moleskin to the actual toenails but I think it wouldn't stick very well without something holding it on.

[TheRedQueen]

Lemme see if anyone has any tips on wrapping...because I don't personally wrap my dogs' feet. Many people wrap back feet though...the one thing seems to be using some sticky tape at the top to keep the wrap from slipping down.

[Malli]

I'd agree on stretchy bandage tape to prevent slipping, which may pull out some hair...
I've found individual toes tricky, and been fairly unsuccessful in keeping the wrap I came up with in place...