A polydactyl dogs dewclaw may be attached by bone or solely by skin. Dewclaws may be removed surgically to prevent them from getting caught on objects, which can cause injury to the dog. If not removed, the toenail should be trimmed regularly to prevent it from causing sores or other injury to the rest of the leg and foot.
Dogs normally considered to be “flock guardians” present an extra hind toe or dewclaw most frequently. These breeds would include the Anatolian shepherd, Australian shepherd, rottweiler, shih tzu, standard poodle, and many Asian breeds including the shiba inu, akita, jindo, sasparee and Korean tosa. The great Pyrenees is the most commonly known polydactyl canine, and may even present six hind toes. The Norwegian Lundehund may present five toes on both his front and hind feet. In a study supported by the Korean Research Foundation and the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation, scientists came to the conclusion that the presentation of a fifth toe, most accurately called polydactyly, is a reversion from the evolutionary loss of the toe.
Dogs with normal foot physiology have four toes on the hind feet. Some breeds possess a fifth toe on the hind foot, commonly referred to as a dewclaw, but more accurately called polydactyly. Normally located higher up the leg from the other toes, it may or may not come into contact with the ground when the dog runs and plays.
Which Dog Breeds Have the Most Toes?
The number of toes your dog has will typically depend on what breed your dog belongs to, as some will naturally have more toes than others. For example, the Norwegian Lundehund has developed six toes on each foot! This dog’s toes even have extra joints that work to help keep a firm grip on the rocks that they have to climb in order to hunt puffin birds. This is an example of evolution working to help these dogs do the things they need to do more efficiently.
Another dog breed that has extra dewclaw toes would be the Great Pyrenees. These dogs are known to be guard dogs that needed to be able to move very quickly if they had something they needed to chase. They’re strong mountain dogs and use their unique extra toes to help them gain traction—another case where the extra dewclaws served a distinct purpose.
A few other examples of dog breeds that have extra toes are as follows:
As you can see, there are many different types of dog breeds that have extra toes. And even within those dog breeds, it is not always guaranteed that the dog will have any extra. Some dogs may have no extra toes, single extra toes, or even double extra toes. Therefore it varies widely and there isn’t necessarily a right or wrong when it comes to how many toes your dog has.
Do all dogs have 5 toes?
Like cats, dogs normally have five toes on their front feet and four on the rear feet. … Some breeds, such as Great Pyrenees and several other flock guardian breeds, naturally have one or even two dewclaws on their rear feet as well.
In many breeds — but certainly not all — the dewclaw has traditionally been removed in the first few days of a dog’s life. In some breeds, the removal is thought to improve appearance for the show ring. In others, it’s done to prevent possible injuries, such as being damaged while a hunting dog works through brambles.
Why Do Dogs Have Dew Claws? | Answered by a Vet Tech
Ernest Hemingway had a thing for cats with extra toes. It started by accident: A ship’s captain gave him a white six-toed cat. Visit the Hemingway museum today and you’ll see dozens of cats each with a dozen toes on their front feet. Polydactyl cats, as they’re known, aren’t a particular breed, but the trait is genetically determined. Like cats, dogs normally have five toes on their front feet and four on the rear feet. So are there polydactyl dogs?
Yes! In fact, some breeds, such as the Great Pyrenees and the Norwegian Lundehund (Puffin Dog) require the dog have extra toes.
By the way, if you’re staring at your dog’s front feet and only counting four toes per foot, he’s probably had his fifth toe, commonly called the dewclaw, taken off at birth for a cleaner look or to avoid getting it caught on things. This toe is homologous to our thumb, but unlike our thumb, in many dogs it is loosely attached to the wrist area and doesn’t give the dog much gripping power. The floppy ones can get snagged on fences or hurt running and cause dogs a lot of pain, many breeders removed them by three days of age.
Some breeds, such as Great Pyrenees and several other flock guardian breeds, naturally have one or even two dewclaws on their rear feet as well. They don’t really serve any purpose but are considered part of breed type and are never removed. The trait is due to a non-sex-linked recessive gene, and is technically called hind-limb-specific preaxial polydactyly. Yeah, we’ll call them “rear dewclaws” or if there are two, “double dewclaws.”
But the polydactyl champ is the Norwegian Lundehund, which has at least six toes on each foot. These dogs climbed craggy rocks in search of puffin birds, using their extra toes to help keep a good grip. Unlike other breeds in which extra toes are almost exclusively limited to the rear feet, they occur on all four feet in the Lundehund, and appear to be caused by a totally different gene or genes. The Norwegian Lundehund should have at least six toes and eight pads on the front paws, and five toes should rest on the ground. The rear feet should have at least six toes, four of which should rest on the ground. The toes even have extra joints, said to aid in its climbing dexterity.
The Lundehund is a rare breed, so rare it has little genetic diversity. Not only does it have enough toes to run out of little piggies going to market, but it’s also the most limber dog in existence, able to spread its front legs to the side like a fisherman expounding on the one that got away, and to touch its head to its back like a teenage gymnast. Nobody knows if these traits could be genetically related. The Lundehund remains one of the most mysterious and threatened of breeds.
By: D. Caroline Coile, Ph.D. Caroline is an award-winning author of 26 books and hundreds of articles about dogs.