A couple of weeks ago ellie's dew claw got slightly split from the quick and bled a bit. It didn't bother her much so i left it alone. On Sunday out of the walk she managed to break it off from half way down and it bled quite a bit. It didn't seem to bother her and she bahaved like a loony as usual, so we jsut put some antespetic on it and bandaged it up so she wouldn't bother it. On monday we took the bandage off and it looked fine. But i keep thinking to myself perhaps i should take her to see the vet just in case, but i can't really think what they would do. The upper half is fine, it is just that the quick is exposed at the bottom. (Similar to when we rip a nail off i suppose.) The reason i haven't take her so far is that she is a little funny about strangers touching her, and although she just do anything she doesn't particularly like me touching that part of her paw, i suppose its a little sore. Basically don't want to stress her out if there is no need. Is there anything that needs doing to it, or is it just a case of leave it until it grows back? She rarely licks it and doesn't cry when you touch it.

Our old lab used to rip her dewclaws quite often, tearing the hard 'shell' away from the quick and leaving it hanging by a thread. This was terribly painful for her - we knew that because she screamed if it got knocked, and usually she never let you know about pain. The first time it happened we took her to the vet, who very quickly and efficiently (in a split second) pulled the dangling bit away. It bled a bit, but healed nicely with no further action required - until the next time. After a while we were able to steel ourselves to do the deed - not easy.

To cut a long post short, if it's not bothering her I'd leave well alone.

Thanks so much. This is what i thought, but i didn't want to be a bad owner, and would be so upset if i was causing her pain by not taking her to the vets. The first time she did it we only knew because she cried when i touched it, but she isn't doing that now that it has broken off, so it must be ok.
When i first started working at the vets i had to assist the vet with a staffie that had broken its dew claw. She had to do exactly what you describe, but the dog wasn't having any of it. It took 3 of us to hold the dog and it screamed blue murder, (although a lit of the time the vet hadn't actually touched it.) I found this quite traumatic and it certainly put me off putting ellie through that.

if shes catching them alot i would have them off, tara was always catching hers....so off they went.(ALL 4). nell had her back ones off when spayed but i left the front ones on as she never caught them. flynn never had any back ones (phew) & has never caught his front ones.so hes got his still.

It might be worth buying a stypic pen from vets or pet shop. They are invaluable for stopping bleeding like that really quickly. It seals it off instantaneously when they tear a claw or you accidentally cut too close the quick. My Great Dane cross kept catching his and eventually we had the vets take them off as they were HUGE!!! But I agree with the advice that if it isn't bothering her and doesn't happen too often then just keep an eye on it and leave it.