I have a 26 month old American Mastiff and right now she has three nails that have broken right down to the quick, one of which split right up the middle. I keep her nails trimmed and edges filed smooth and I'm wondering if there is anything I can give her or anything I can put on the nails to make them stronger. (Or is there something I'm doing wrong that is causing this?)

Right now when a nails breaks, I soak the food in Epsoms salt and warm water, dry it off, use hydrogen peroxide to keep it from getting infected and then put a layer of Superglue on it to protect it. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

 Quote: debbie martin

I have a 26 month old American Mastiff and right now she has three nails that have broken right down to the quick, one of which split right up the middle. I keep her nails trimmed and edges filed smooth and I'm wondering if there is anything I can give her or anything I can put on the nails to make them stronger. (Or is there something I'm doing wrong that is causing this?)

Right now when a nails breaks, I soak the food in Epsoms salt and warm water, dry it off, use hydrogen peroxide to keep it from getting infected and then put a layer of Superglue on it to protect it. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

QUOTE: "The best bet is probably to supplement with omega 3 fatty acids. This is usually done using fish oil (3V Capsules tm) and giving 180mg/10lbs of body weight per day, which is a pretty high dosage. For just dry nails a lower dosage might be helpful but for the condition discussed next you would need the higher dosage. ... If the nails are actually cracking back to the nail bed, if they are falling off or if they are deformed, it is likely that there is a medical cause for the problem. The most likely cause would be lupoid onchodystrophy, followed by food allergies or other allergies, ringworm, bacterial infections and immune mediated diseases. Except for the ringworm and bacterial infections all of these conditions might respond to the high end dosages of 3V Capsules. It is likely that your vet can give you some idea of the possibility of an infectious cause following an examination." END from Mike Richards, DVM, at http://www.vetinfo.com/dfoot.html (Scroll down to "Brittle Nails."

Lupoid onchodystrophy is an autoimmune problem that presents with claw problems; the dog's system forms antibodies against the claws and rejects them.

The brand of fish oil in the quoted answer isn't important --- IMO.

I think it is also valid to also ask what the situation is that your dog is breaking the nails as well. Hard play? Long walks? Does the dog tear down the street on walks? Is your dog just overweight? Could there be any dysplasia that is just recently surfacing causing your dog to walk differently? Also, which foot or feet have the broken nails?

No need to answer all the questions but I personally just feel that these questions should be considered as well as diet and lacking of ingredients in diet. I'm sure that you get the idea of what I'm going for and just try to give infrmation you feel might be relevant to the situaton.

- Lamarr

Great question's, Lamarr!

I had a nail problem with my dog not too long ago and finally realized that I had him a couple lbs. overweight. A lot for a 15 lb. dog.

Does length of nail play a part? Do longer nails have more of a tendancy to break than do shorter nails, or is this irrelevant? (I've been fortunate to not deal with this on my dogs so am ignorant on this!)

Some dogs just like to grab turf with their nails. You can help them out a little with nail caps until enough nail is built out. Debbie can you post a photo of their feet? Usually I want enough nail that the dog has some grip if they need it but not enough that you hear that click click noise over normal hard surfaces.

I'd get a thorough vet check. The dog I know that had breaking nail like that turned out to have an autoimmune issue (like Connie mentioned in her post)

I've had a dog with this autoimmune problem. It started with breaking nails, then the nails started falling off. The quicks didn't always fall off with the nails so it became quite uncomfortable for the dog. This can get pretty serious so I would DEFINITELY see a vet to rule this out.

Thanks for all the great info guys. Ok, here goes......

Right now Sierra is getting an Omega 3-6-9 capsule twice a day. She is perfect weight according to the people who count; her vet, her trainer and her breeder. Other people say she's "skinny".

The three nails are on the front right foot and now that I think about it, that is the only foot that has had nail troubles. The first time it happened, she was playing on a concrete patio so I could understand how that one happened. The nail split into 3 pieces and two of the pieces came off. The third piece, I yanked off. That is the only time that nail has completely come off. Right now, two of them that had broken are completely healed and growing again; the other one just broke yesterday playing in the backyard on soft ground.

The other nails all look fine and healthy to me. They are short enough so she doesn't make noise when walking on our tile floor.

I'll see about getting some fish oil while I'm down there as things are so much cheaper in the States. What dosage should I start with?

I've taken a couple of pictures but have to wait to download them at work. I should be able to post them on Monday.

By chance is it really wet where you are?

 Quote: Debbie Martin

Right now, two of them that had broken are completely healed and growing again; the other one just broke yesterday playing in the backyard on soft ground.