Lilly has Staffy in her so she chews a lot - thankfully only the things we give her to chew. Because of this she can easily go through about 3 or 4 very large rawhide bones a week. She holds them between her paws and I have noticed that the 'thumb' nail on her right paw is very ragged on the side. It is possibly where her teeth have been catching when she's chewing or from the friction of the rawhide bone rubbing on it. The outer layer of the nail is dull, cracked and very rough and she isn't bothered by it.

Should this be a problem to worry about? I was thinking about infections and things getting under the cracks to the nail.

The dewclaw like the other claws all have a vien running through them so it is very unlikely (unless there was blood present) that it is severly damaged and could get infected.

If it is rough and it catches on you, you can always file away the rough edges.

If the nail is rotting, then it could be another problem, yeast infections can affect the nails but you would notice a problem with the others. If the nail is just ragged then it is nothing to worry about, just make sure they are trimmed regularly as a dog does not wear them down naturally.

Hope this helps

I second everything Gemima says, but would like to add:
Dogs with dewclaws often shed them as they do not wear

Could it be that she's in the process of shedding these claws?

Possibly Strix as it does have a kind of shedding affect to it. I will keep an eye on it but I don't think there is anything wrong as her other nails are ok. She has quite long pointy sharp nails but according to the vet this weekend, she does not need them trimming as she actually only has about 1mm of white nail. Apparently they are long as she was rarely walked before we got her so the blood vessels grew long.

I wonder how she'll take to me filing the claw down. It'll be like a doggy manicure, I think I'll stop at the nail polish though :hihi:

Pft, I file Brude's - after I cut them. I don't want any clothes getting snagged ;)

Anybody have an idea how much vets charge to do it my dogs are black and I cant see where I should cut

The vets is usually the most expensive option CV. If you can have a groomer do it it's usually cheaper

If you want to do it yourself, just take a little off at a time, but you need proper dog clippers to be able to do it that accurately ;)