Rambo_007

I was wanting to see what everyone's opinion was about Rambo's toe. It has been broken for quiet a while, when we adopted him they said it was broken when he was picked up. I believe it because he has made himself a new 'pad' to walk on. It doesn't seem to cause any discomfort or problem.
My concern is if we decide to get into agility this spring, what is the chance it will get hooked and injured again? I guess my choices are to leave it be, remove the nail, or remove the toe.
I attached pictures so you could get an idea of what it looks like. We have been trying to dremeling his nails every 3 weeks or so to try and shorten them as much as possible. The broken toe had a really long nail when we first adopted him, since it doesn't touch the ground.
Attachment 19669
Attachment 19670
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Sorry for the poor quality photos, he is very self conscious about his feet. I had to sneak pictures while he was napping.


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VZ-Doberman

Just a suggestion but I would try to dremel weekly. Take just a bit off each time and gradually work it back to a short nail.

The one thing about agility is that there is quite a bit of stress put on the dog's body. I do know of one dobe that has only 3 toes on a front foot. The outer toe had to be amputated because I believe a torn tendon. It has no impact on her performance. I don't know how your guy would do, though. If he limps he won't be allowed to compete.

Hope it works out.

Rambo_007

I will try the weekly dremel and see if I can get it shorter. My fear is it getting snagged on something so if we can get it short that may work. I also don't want to put him through a surgery that may just cause him complications after. Especially if it doesn't now.

Thank you for your reply. I will hopefully have good success with weekly dremeling.


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MeadowCat

I'd recommend getting the opinion of a vet who works with a lot of sport dogs. Have you had his toe x-rayed recently to see if it's fully healed?

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Rambo_007

I think that is our next step. During his dental cleaning we were going to take x-rays and see exactly what it looks like in there.
My vets don't do a lot with active sport dogs, but they said they can send them out to a specialist to have it further evaluated.


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Burns

My inkling would be to leave it alone and just really work to keep that nail short (dremel weekly as suggested above). If he has adapted and it doesn't bother him, I see no reason to take him to surgery for it.

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Gorrmae's Fantasy Red XIII CD RE CGC TDI
DOB 2/17/07, red/rust, male neutered Doberman

smudgeid

What's the worst case scenario if you don't do anything now?

It sounds as if it will be difficult to make a decision until you know more - so maybe you are still in the 'no decision, take some pictures & get expert advice' stage?

Once you have advice, you can evaluate and choose based on the best knowledge you have at the time - which is all anyone can do.

No negative hindsight allowed if you've done your best to educate yourself before deciding.
Kate