Is Dog Dewclaw Removal Necessary or Safe?
“Traditionally, some dog breeders have opted to have their puppies declaws removed a few days after birth. This was intended to prevent future injuries to the dewclaws and to uphold breed standards,” says Jenna Stregowski, RVT, Daily Paws Pet Health and Behavior Editor.
However, dewclaw injuries are not extremely common in pet dogs; they more often occur in working dogs who get their dewclaws caught while running through rough terrain, she explains. “There is typically no medical need for puppies to have their dewclaws removed. In fact, dewclaws serve a purpose: they help stabilize the carpal (wrist) joint when a dog puts pressure on the front paws and can provide extra traction on some surfaces.”
Dewclaw removal in puppies is relatively simple because the bones have not fully developed and the dewclaw can be easily snipped off by a veterinarian. “Although this is painful and unnecessary for the puppy, it is fast and heals quickly. Adult dewclaw removal requires surgical amputation under general anesthesia. This is because the vet must carefully detach bone, nerve, muscle, and blood vessels,” Stregowski says. “Recovery is longer too—dogs require exercise restriction and usually need to wear an e-collar.”
Adult-dog dewclaw removal is rare, Marks adds. “We do it when its the only option we have left—if theres a permanent injury, tumor, fracture, or infection that wont heal.”
Dogs are more likely to injure a dewclaw than another toe. Thats because dewclaws often become overgrown. And sometimes, back dewclaws arent firmly attached and dangle loosely. That makes dewclaws prone to getting caught on things and breaking as your pooch pulls away.
Broken dewclaws bleed if the quick—tissue in the center of the nail that includes a blood vessel—is exposed. This can also happen if you trim too far down the nail. To stop the bleeding, Marks recommends using cornstarch. Its a crude hemostatic agent, which means itll temporarily stop bleeding. Its a good idea to keep some on hand at home and in the car, if you take your dog out and about. If your dogs nail is fractured or the bleeding continues, see a veterinarian.
Like the other toes on your dogs paw, dewclaws may also develop ingrown nails and nail-bed infections. Besides injury, Marks says another cause of dewclaw infection is when dogs excessively lick their paws—like those with allergies or anxiety. Signs of infection include a change in color, swelling, and odor. Treatment for an infected dewclaw requires antibiotics, bandaging, and usually an e-collar to keep your pup from licking the site.
To prevent injuries, its important to treat dewclaws the same as your dogs other nails. In fact, says Marks, you should monitor and trim them more often. “The rest of the nails get worn down by going for walks on cement and playing at the park. But the dewclaw never touches the ground so it quickly becomes overgrown.” With proper maintenance though, dewclaws arent usually a problem.
Since dewclaws don’t touch the ground as often as your dog’s other nails, you need to pay special attention to them! A dog’s nails are worn down by contact with hard surfaces, but as dewclaws don’t get as much contact with the ground, you will need to trim them regularly. Be careful when you’re trimming your dog’s nails, and remember to ask your vet if you have any doubts!
A select few breeds such as Saint Bernards (famous for their daring rescues and barrels of brandy), Icelandic Sheepdogs and Spanish Mastiffs have dewclaws on their rear feet too. These rear dewclaws are a bit different: they are only attached by skin and are much more mobile, compared to front dewclaws that are attached to muscle, ligaments and bone.
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While dewclaw injuries are uncommon, they are not unheard of — especially for working dogs. Regardless of your dog’s lifestyle, any of his nails can get broken, pulled off or split, so when you think about all of the mucky places he loves exploring, it’s no surprise these nails can get infected.
Now some breeders remove the dewclaws because they don’t see any use for them, and because it can be a painful, bloody mess if your dog tears his dewclaw. Dewclaws that stick out, instead of being tight to the paw, can get caught in carpeting or brush or when dogs go after prey such as lizards in rock piles. Usually the dewclaws are removed when puppies are only a few days old. While painful, it’s not an especially traumatic event, as it would be later in life.
For dogs that do the dew, it’s important to trim the claws regularly to help prevent tearing and the possibility of the dewclaw growing into the footpad.
While some breeders remove them from puppies, for most dogs, dewclaws — those thumb-like “toes” on the sides of your dog’s front legs — actually do serve a purpose. This is what I told a reader who asked about them.
The dewclaws are often referred to as vestigial appendages, meaning they no longer serve a purpose, but many dog owners would beg to differ on that subject. Dogs haven’t taken to texting yet (give them time), but they use their dewclaws to grasp and manipulate items such as bones and toys, grip ice or other surfaces to pull themselves out of water, and gently scratch an itchy eye. Dogs doing agility may grasp the sides of the teeter with their dewclaws to steady themselves. And canine speedsters such as whippets and border collies use their dewclaws to corner like race cars.
A: Dewclaws are small thumb-like appendages that, if a dog has them, are found high on the inside of each paw (on the carpal, or wrist, of the front leg). Certain breeds are distinctive for having double dewclaws on each hind leg. They include the Beauceron, briard, great Pyrenees and Icelandic sheepdog.
Why Do Dogs Have Dew Claws? | Answered by a Vet Tech
Do dogs have thumbs? In the ongoing, slow-burning processes of evolution, parts of bodies adapt, change, or get left behind. Some of these bits and bobs get caught in limbo as vestigial structures — they’re still there, but they no longer serve a purpose.
Think of your coccyx, or tailbone, or perhaps your appendix. The former illustrates that in an older configuration, people used to have tails, and the latter once served a digestive function. As it turns out, dogs do have thumbs, but they, too, have been relegated to the bargain bin of utility. Dog dewclaws, historically spelled “dew claws” or “dew-claws,” are largely atavistic appendages, which dogs retain to this day.