Do All Dogs Have Five Toes?
Most dogs have five toes on each front foot and 4 toes on each rear foot. The front feet include four regular toes and one dewclaw, while the back feet each have four regular toes. This makes for 18 toes in total! However, there are some breeds of dogs that will have even more toes (or dewclaws) with either single or double dewclaws on their back legs or front legs. In some cases, vets or breeders will choose to remove a dog’s dewclaws altogether. Some people consider this to be unnecessary and cruel to the dogs, while others consider it to be helpful for the dog in the long run.
A dewclaw is a small, thumb-like toe with a nail that resides on the inside of a dog’s legs. This toe is higher up than all the others and doesn’t make contact with the ground like the other toes do. Some dogs will have front dewclaws while others with have rear ones and some dogs will have no dewclaws at all.
But if dogs descended from wolves and purebred wolves don’t have dewclaws, how did modern dogs obtain theirs? This is a good question and the answer likely lies in how humans interacted with their working dogs. It is very likely that humans helped encourage the growth and development of dewclaws as a way to help the earliest dogs perform their duties better.
The dogs needed to do things like climbing, digging, and making quick turns when running. Having the dewclaw likely gave these dogs an advantage which made them more likely to survive and go on to breed. Now, nearly all dogs are born with this trait.
Today, dogs use their dewclaws for various reasons. They may use it to grip and handle items such as bones or toys, dig into ice or other surfaces, use them to help pull themselves up out of the water, or even gently scratch an itchy eye. So if these extra toes are so helpful to dogs, why do some people choose to have them removed? Since dewclaws are located up higher on the dog’s leg, they run the potential risk of getting caught on things and ripped.
This could be incredibly painful for a dog, so some people have the dewclaw removed to prevent the chances of this happening. Sometimes shortly after a dog has been born, a breeder will have the dewclaws removed if they are going for a smoother look or if the dewclaws are not a part of the breed standard. In this case, the removal is simply for cosmetic purposes and some people are against it and see it as cruel.
Why does my dog have 5 toes?
Dogs normally considered to be “flock guardians” present an extra hind toe or dewclaw most frequently. … The Norwegian Lundehund may present five toes on both his front and hind feet.
What is the extra toe on dogs?
In dogs, a dewclaw is an extra digit found in the ‘thumb’ position of their front paws. A dewclaw includes toe bones, muscles, claw, and a tiny paw pad. Occasionally, dewclaws can be found on a dog’s back feet. Other dogs are polydactyl—that is, they have multiple extra toes.
Why Do Dogs Have Dew Claws? | Answered by a Vet Tech
Polydactyly is simply a term that has been used over the years to depict animals who are blessed with extra toes.
You may have heard the first time about polydactyly from the writings of Ernest Hemingway. This author loved cats, and his son was once gifted a kitten that was blessed with six toes.
This kitten bred with the local cats, creating a whole line of cats carrying the polydactyl gene.
Among dogs, the number of toes on a dogs paws varies from breed to breed. Certain breeds have more toes than others. Lets discover some of them!