Torn Dewclaw

Hey folks! My dog (3 y/o neutered male, APBT/Rottweiler mix) tore his dewclaw on a front paw last week while out in the yard. How, I still don't know. At the time, I gave him doggy asprin, waited for it to start taking effect, and removed what I was able of the hanging dewclaw. There is still a little left, closer to the exposed quick that is obviously painful for him. Will this dry and fall off, like a damaged human fingernail would? I cleaned the area well with an anti-bacterial soap, let it air dry before wrapping, applied BluKote because it's what I had on hand, and then wrapped the whole paw and a bit up the leg to keep him from licking/ irritating it. I've been reapplying the BluKote, antibacterial ointment and allowing the wound to have air when I'm able to supervise the dog and only in the house, not in the yard. It's always wrapped to take him outside. I noticed some very slight swelling today, and but no obvious sign of infection like pus or discharge, or heat, and he's not running a fever or even favoring that leg.   His regular vet is a clinic, that primarily handles vaccines, spay & neuter, and general wellness checks. I'm not sure that they'd do something like this so I'm going to call and ask in the morning.   If the clinic doesn't handle this all our local vets are booked out or not even accepting new clients at the moment. Worst case scenario is I can't have him seen in the near future. Is there anything I should be or could be doing differently?

Hello!  Very often, the treatment you are describing would be sufficient, proving that the site and dressings are clean and nicely done, and the dog doesnt lick and damage the skin edges and that the nail bed doesn't get infected.  Swellings can be caused by infection or just inflammation (as well as some less savoury things like fractures, tumours etc).  Given that your dog has a swelling, antibiotics or antinflammatories or even a biopsy may be appropriate, so we would reccommend letting your vet assess this one.