# My Dog's Nails (Picture included) Help?!



## kota (Sep 21, 2012)

*My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

Hey. I just joined and I had an urgent question.
I think this was from digging under the porch and banging up his nails on the bottom of the porch or something(it's some kind of stiff wood). His front paws have a few minor scratches in between the toes, and I put hydrogen peroxide on them a few times and wiped them down. Are they just bruised? *I know I can't get any 'for sure' answers, that's okay. I just need advice.* Does he need to take a trip the vets? I am low on cash at the moment and I'd like to avoid the vets(just spent a lot of money on my senior cat that had fatty liver disease). But if it seems urgent to people on here, then I will take him asap. They have been like this for three days. This is on all of his front paws, but they don't seem to hurt him at all(he's kind of a little trooper though and never really shows signs that he's hurt). Also, the skin around them doesn't seem to be red at all. Although there are a couple that have little scabs right above where the nail begins. Also, a couple of them are slightly oozing a light clear liquid. Last night I scraped off some hard dark crusty stuff where the black parts are. I assume it was a combination of blood and dirt. I am keeping him out of our fenced in backyard, since that's mainly all dirt and have been walking him in the front yard (it's all grass) instead. Help???


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## kota (Sep 21, 2012)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

I didn't make this obvious enough and I think I mislead by saying 'I think it happened from digging.' I'm almost 100% positive it's from digging because when I let him in, I caught him digging in a small hole at the bottom of the porch and I immediately gave him a bath and noticed his nails.  Please someone reply.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

I don't see anything unusual in the picture, but it is kinda fuzzy. Is it the nails themselves that are scratched? Or are the scratches on his "knuckles"? Where's the fluid coming from?


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## kota (Sep 21, 2012)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

Usually his nails don't have that black base. And it's not the nails that are scratched, but in between the toes and a couple right on the skin above the nails. The fluid is coming from far back where the nail begins, under the skin. It's very, very light and it's hardly there. When I put hydrogen peroxide on it, I get no reaction. The only time the peroxide fizzes up is on his little scratches.

Is it possible that he just bruised them? I mean, even with the parts that have tiny little scabs above the nail, the skin isn't discolored at all.


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## Losech (Apr 5, 2011)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

Those nails look really long... I'd trim them up quick. Long nails are very uncomfortable and can cause all sorts of problems, even if your dog isn't showing signs of any. He could have bruised the nail bed when he dug, like, jammed them or something. (Happens to me when my fingernails are long on occasion.) If you do trim them, don't just hack a bunch off or you'll cut the quick and blood will go everywhere. Might take a while to "train" the quick back, but if you take small bits off once a week that will work.

Also, no more hydrogen peroxide. It's not really a good thing to put on a wound. Just wash with hot water and mild soap if you think it needs to be cleaned.


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## Deaf Dogs (May 28, 2012)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

Are you talking about the brown stuff around his nails at the base?

This is very normal, could be dirt (from digging, like you say), could be yeast (from an allergy), or stains from licking. All my dogs have this, for various reasons. You wont ever see it on a black nailed dog (doesn't mean it's not there), but on dogs with light coloured nails you will see it often.


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## kota (Sep 21, 2012)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

Actually, I trim my dogs nails regularly. His nails are due to be cut again, but they're actually not too bad right now. Just a hair too long. His claws were extended in the picture as he was kind of 'grasping' my hand, which makes them look longer. The 'black' part is actually the very base of the nail. When he's just sitting/walking normally, the black actually doesn't show at all. I wish I had a better camera to show more clearly what is going on. 

And it was definitely from the day I caught him digging under the porch. I am almost certain he was banging them/scraping them across the wood at the bottom of the porch. There was only a small gap where he was digging, barely large enough for his paws to fit through, but he was digging pretty vigorously despite that(I'm assuming there was rock not too far down, because he didn't seem to be getting anywhere). Plus all of the little scratches and cuts that were fresh right after I gave him a bath (which was right after I caught him digging) leads me to strongly believe it was from this. And they were _never_ black at the bases until after this happened. I have had to scrape 'crud' (it looks like a combination of dirt and blood, but I'm not entirely sure if that's what it is) off of the face of the nails where the 'black' is, several times already. You can't see this at all, but his nails aren't actually smooth at the base. They're crusted up with the stuff(it's the same exact color, a dark red/black), and since I've been keeping him off of the dirt and limiting his outside time... I'm getting a little concerned that this is reoccurring.

Is it possible he bruised them all? And maybe the cruddy-stuff is from an additional injury of scraping the base of his nails on the bottom of the porch? Oh, and what's wrong with Hydrogen Peroxide? I've been told by multiple vets it's fine for minor cuts... And so far, the cuts themselves are minor. It's just that discoloration that has me worried, given the situation. And like I said, he is terrible at letting me know he's in pain. He has proven that to me in the past..


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

Hard to tell from the picture.

I have to agree they look very long. Here is a proper length


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## kota (Sep 21, 2012)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

Okay, the length if his nails are not in question... I can easily see his quick (again, bad quality photo, but he has clear nails and his quick is very easy to see. Let alone the fact that I live with five other dogs, and I am responsible for clipping all of their nails, and he's the only one with clear nails. I'm not incompetent...) and I trim them about every two weeks. And that photo is a little too short for him, his quick would be cut at that length. And this isn't because I lack in 'training' his quick to go back. His quick is just longer than that naturally, and even when I use to trim them more frequently than every two weeks, they never 'went back.' They have always been the same length.

I guess let me simplify my questions: Can dogs nails bruise? And if they do, what color would they turn?
And also, if a dog were to lose their nail, what would be the symptoms that he might lose them?


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## Losech (Apr 5, 2011)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*



kota said:


> Okay, the length if his nails are not in question... I can easily see his quick (again, bad quality photo, but he has clear nails and his quick is very easy to see. Let alone the fact that I live with five other dogs, and I am responsible for clipping all of their nails, and he's the only one with clear nails. I'm not incompetent...) and I trim them about every two weeks. And that photo is a little too short for him, his quick would be cut at that length. And this isn't because I lack in 'training' his quick to go back. His quick is just longer than that naturally, and even when I use to trim them more frequently than every two weeks, they never 'went back.' They have always been the same length.
> 
> I guess let me simplify my questions: Can dogs nails bruise? And if they do, what color would they turn?
> And also, if a dog were to lose their nail, what would be the symptoms that he might lose them?


Yes, they can. And they are more predisposed to bruising/injury of they are long. I do not exactly know what color they'd turn, probably dark reddish/black. I think if one were to fall off the entire nail would turn black (maybe?) or get brittle and crack or fall off. I do not think your dog's nails are going to do that. That looks like either just a normal black ring around the base, which is not always easily visible, or slight bruising.

About the nail trimming...
I wasn't doubting your ability to care for your dogs or calling you incompetent (If I was, I would have flat-out said so), I was just giving advice, which people do not always like, but that's life.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*



Losech said:


> About the nail trimming...
> I was doubting your ability to care for your dogs or calling you incompetent (If I was, I would have flat-out said so), I was just giving advice, which people do not always like, but that's life.


 x2. Certainly didn't mean to make you feel attacked. Longer nails are more prone to complications and injury which is why it was suggested that they may be too long. We can't know how experienced you are, and many people don't seem to know how to get the quicks to recede. If the quicks don't, they don't! I know a standard poodle that also has longer nails and even with trimming 1-2x per week to the quick they never receded.


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## kafkabeetle (Dec 4, 2009)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*



Sibe said:


> Hard to tell from the picture.
> 
> I have to agree they look very long. Here is a proper length


In the OP's defense, those appear to be the dog's back feet. Which can make a pretty big difference in how the nails look. Sydney's back nails may end up that short after a trim but never ever have her front nails been that short! And I really keep at her nails because they grow fast. I say keep 'em off the ground and I'm happy. The way the OP's dog's nails are extended in the picture it's hard to say if they're too long or not...though I can see the quicks so technically they *could* physically be trimmed, but like I said, they may not look as long when the dog is just standing normally.


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## bubblemom (Apr 18, 2013)

*Re: My dog's nails are black (Picture included) Help?!*

I know this thread is old, but I wanted to say THANK YOU - it answered my question (especially Deaf Dog's response) quickly. My adopted pitty (3 years old) has light nails and has these brown/black marks at the base. I thought it was dirt, but it didn't come off... and now I know it's bruising! The nails are trimmed as far as they can without hitting the quick (they stay short naturally, except for dew claw). I'll keep an eye on it, but thanks for the help, all...


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