Hi my dogs duclaws dug into his foot and now its infected

Question
I have a Rotti Lab Cross. He is 4 years old and 127 pounds. His duclaws grew out of control and eventually circled around and dug back into his foot. Got the duclaws cut today and it turns out that where the duclaws had dug in there was puss. The person who cut his duclaws said that he has an infection there now. Took him straight to the vet and the vet said he would have to knock Hercules (my dog) out, shave, clean and maybe cut and stitch and a whole bunch of other stuff. At the end of the examination Hercules got an antibiotics shot and we were told to make an appointment with the vet.

My dog-saavy friend actually said that it shouldn't be necessary to do all that and told me to give him 1 mg per pound of benadryl. up to 3 times a day and soak his feet in betadine and warm water 3 times/day. I just want to confirm whether or not this is a possible solution, see if there is an even better solution or if I will in fact have take him to the vet and have him sedated. Thanks so much  

Answer
Hi, you can put triple antibiotic ointment on it after soaking the foot, but you have to make sure and give the dog something to keep him busy like a rawhide so he doesn't lick it off.  Otherwise, unless it is a really big gash, I would see no reason to get it stitched.  The benadryl is just to keep the itch sensation down for the dog.  Hope this helps,

Dawn