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03/23/05, 06:29 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 7,425
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Dog Dewclaws
Does your dog still have thier dewclaws, or did you have them removed?
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The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.
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03/23/05, 06:41 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: AR
Posts: 2,260
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had them removed we spend a lot of time in the woods and jumping over things such as logs if it were to catch on one it could ripp and be very painful but they should be removed when they a very young if you remove them at all
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03/23/05, 07:18 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NC
Posts: 699
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We have them here. All our dogs. I think they have a purpose. Even my vet said that greyhounds use the dewclaws. I think it helps them make fast turns, but not sure.
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03/23/05, 07:39 AM
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In Remembrance
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Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Greatest country in the world... CANADA
Posts: 304
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Percival has his.
KC~
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03/23/05, 07:47 AM
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Local Yokel
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Nawth Carolinuh
Posts: 548
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Pretty much all dogs have dew claws unless they are breeds in which the tail is docked at 3-5 days old, then the dew claws are removed at the same time.
Some people just elect to have them removed at a few days old as well, tails docked or not.
I think if you keep the nails trimmed or worn down, there's no need to remove them. BUT, if you have an inside dog that tends to have long nails, sometimes the dew claws will get caught in carpet and rugs and it will rip the nail out. Most of the time it's just cosmetic.
My Mother's house dog had her dew claws removed when she was spayed. They grew back. Sometimes happens with those that are 'removed' as babies as well. My experience has been that the older the dog, the more painful removing them surgically is. Same with docking the tail or cropping ears. Both procedures become more of an amputation than a simple 'removal'. More blood flow and more nerve activity=more pain.
Both of my girls have dew claws and have no problems.
I'm not a big fan of cosmetic surgeries or proceedures in dogs. Nor am I a fan of de-clawing cats.
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03/23/05, 08:07 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 7,425
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Dewclaw removal is standard with me and my vet for the terriers at birth. Never had any grow back.
I had a couple dogs with dew claws, especially the Kuvasz and they hung up and got infected. She was very sensitive with them. The other dog has dewclaws and I hate them. A pain to trim, and that toenail there grows faster than the others. It's an unused appendage for him and wish I had it removed, but he came to me not as a pup so older dogs I don't bother.
No tail docking, but some breed standard like schnauzers I go along with.
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The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.
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03/23/05, 08:19 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Iowa
Posts: 3,990
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Both my Goldens had their dewclaws removed when they were 1 or 2 days old. It's pretty much standard procedure for "working" retrievers (I think the conformation people leave them on). I'm glad they don't have them, dewclaws get sharp faster than the other claws since they don't ever touch the ground and my dogs do occassionally jump up on me (I don't let them jump on other people, but I don't mind the occassional hug). Sometimes they do grow back when they were removed as puppies if the procedure wasn't done quite right. Usually they are pretty deformed though when they grow back. I guess it would depend on how the procedure was done if they grew back when removed when the dog was an adult. When I remove dewclaws in an adult it is standard to go back to the second joint (there's a joint between the claw and the 1st phlange and a joint between the 1st phlange and the metacarpal bone). If you remove the dewclaw here, I don't see how there's any chance of the claw growing back.
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Sarah,
If there are no dogs Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
-Will Rogers
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03/23/05, 08:31 AM
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chickaholic goddess
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Vancouver,Washington
Posts: 2,740
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Our shepard has hers we have had no problems and the rotties had thiers removed when the tails were docked  IMO I kinda like the tail on the rotties. They always got after the shepards tail I think they think its a toy.
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Crashy 
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03/23/05, 08:54 AM
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 763
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I have a working Choc Lab and he has his dew claws. I trim his nails weekly and trim them too with no problem. I do not find it difficult to trim them.
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Chris
PA Master Gardener
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03/23/05, 09:38 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: North East
Posts: 1,025
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my puppy has his, my moms male cocker does not, my cocker had hers cut but one wasn't done right, it would just grow out straight and she hated having it trimmed.
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03/23/05, 09:54 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 3,232
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Bella has hers! She's a border collie and spends lots of time running and playing. Wouldn't imagine removing them, at any age!
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03/23/05, 10:01 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Alaska
Posts: 4,528
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My first labs had dew claws removed. #3 didn't. She uses her dew claws a LOT to hold things. She's a wild thing in the field and never had an issue with getting one caught. She had two litters of pups. We had dew claws removed from the first litter at 3 days because it was the expected thing to do but I'd never do it again! Those thing squealed something terrible! I was so sick to my stomach. Second litter kept theirs partly because of my squeamishness and partly because I had realized how much she used the dew claws. Never heard a complaint from anyone that got the pups. FIL had a sister of our female and had the dew claws removed when they had her spayed (didn't like hte looks of them). That poor dog suffered terribly and he felt so bad that he had done it. If done at 3-5 days the pain is pretty quick (still not justifiable IMO) but if done older it is VERY painful and certainly not worth it.
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03/23/05, 10:03 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: east TEXAS
Posts: 234
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Both our border collies have theirs.
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03/23/05, 10:57 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New York
Posts: 22
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All our Golden have their dewclaws removed.. The pups when they are 2 days old
Two of our rescue Goldens still have them. We keep them cut short.. but still our
female just ripped hers off yesterday running in the woods.
Since we show our gang in Obedience,Field,Breed we do have them removed.
Our first Golden had them, ripped one off during a field trail.. poor guy
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03/23/05, 02:01 PM
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I'm a silly filly!!
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In the beautiful Hill Country of Texas!
Posts: 2,002
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Gone...
My Dobie and Min Pin both had their dewclaws removed, but then again both have their tails docked as well.
And by the way, did y'all know that Great Pyrenees have double dew claws on their back feet? It's part of the breed standard, and they have to have their dewclaws before they can be shown in conformation classes. The Pyrs front dewclaws grow like crazy though, and you have to be really careful to keep them trimmed, or they will grow back into themselves - very painful and makes a nasty wound...
Pam <------- used to show Pyrs - such beautiful animals, but suffer in this Texas heat!
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03/23/05, 02:15 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Dysfunction Junction, SW PA
Posts: 4,808
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our little toes have no real use but ya dont snip them off your kids when they are born.
my dogs use them to scratch their noses.
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03/23/05, 03:35 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New York
Posts: 22
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by comfortablynumb
our little toes have no real use but ya dont snip them off your kids when they are born.
my dogs use them to scratch their noses.
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Yes, but we can't scratch our noses with our toes?
I know I can't :haha:
Do kids run thru the woods,field, thru deep brush,
bare footed at high rate of speed...
It sure does hurt when you break a little toe..so it really must a dog to
break a dewclaw
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03/23/05, 06:18 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: centeral Okla. S of I-40, E of I-35
Posts: 594
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I like them off the back legs, I have had pups born with one on a back leg and the other leg didn't have it, some with both back legs having them and some none on the back legs, all in the same litter,
I use a CLEAN pair of toenail clippers and snip them off at a day or so old, a bandaid to prevent momma dog from licking the tiny wound so much it can't heal,
I like them on the front legs, my heelers use them to hold stuff, just like a thumb.
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Thumper/in Okla.
Growing a Homestead from the dirt up.
save the grass, eat a cow
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{chlorophill liberation front}
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03/23/05, 08:38 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 434
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My German Shepherd has all six of hers...yes, you heard me correct, she has six dewclaws (one on each front leg, and two on each back leg.) The ones on her hind legs are completely unattached, and I don't think she has any feeling in them (you can pull and tug and twist on them and it doesn't seem to bother her). We try to keep them clipped short so that they don't get caught on things. I would have them removed, but she has a slight heart murmur, so we don't want to risk general anesthesia (we haven't gotten her fixed yet because of it). She comes out in the woods with me, plays with other dogs and hasn't had any problems yet (she's a little over a year old).
Cameron in VT
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03/23/05, 08:41 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ohio Valley (Southern Ohio)
Posts: 3,868
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Both of our Pyrs have their dewclaws, but then, pyrs are supposed to keep all theirs anyway.
We used to breed afghan hounds and always had the pups dewclaws removed at just a couple of days old.
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