Tell me about Dewclaws

[Jordan Run Walkers]

Hey you guys, I've never removed any dewclaws before and never really noticed any problems out of my dogs. I just recently bought a hound and she has very long dewclaws. What kind of problems should I look for her to have, if any??

[Dan V]

If the nail portion of the dewclaw is long, just trim it with dog toenail trimmers.

Or you can take the dew claw off at the joint next to the leg...or have your vet remove them.

[Big Mike]

Never had a problem with them. Ive even had some with double dew claws, just adds charactor LOL. And besides if they get rip off some time then problem solved!!!

[Melanie Hampton]

I hate dewclaws... My dogs rip them off on a regular basis..

Trim them up.. If they are still getting torn, you can cut them off (the nail portion).. they will bleed good.. take some Quick Stop and coat the nail and wrap them tight with vet wrap.. It stops the bleeding pretty fast... It takes them a while to grow back.. My female lost hers late Nov-early Dec on some rocks during coon season and they still haven't grown back..

You can take them to the vet to be removed, but it does require the dogs being put under..

I try and remove dewclaws when I have a litter of pups.. Saves a lot of hassle...

[DeVuono311]

Dew claws are suppose o be removed at three days old. They take it from the joint, then put a paste that cotterizes so it wont bleed. Dew claws left on can get torn in the woods easily and some dogs will go lame on that foot for awhile.

[AzLionHunter]

All our dogs have dewclaws. They have never given us any trouble. I had a BMC with hind dewclaws with no bones in them. Everyone told me I should cut them off. I never did and he worked lots of cows and never had a problem. I say, if your gonna do it, do it when they are teeny tiny puppies, same time as you would dock their tails. After that I would only take them off if they are causing problems for your dog.

[Redwood Coonhounds]

All of mine, minus one, have them. I will remove rear dewclaws at birth, and have had an older dogs rear dewclaws removed. I just can't stand looking at rear dews, they are gross and serve no purpose.

I've never had an issue with dogs ripping dewclaws, or any toenails for that matter, but I trim my dogs nails often. They sometimes get a little red inbetween the toe and leg after being in the snow, or a long downhill race. But I've never had feet issues with my dogs.

I was going to start removing the fronts on all my pups, but changed my mind. All of my dogs are tree climbers. They typically don't use them to go up, but on that climb back down, they REALLY use them. I'd hate to think my dog fell out of a tree and broke its neck because I cut it's dewclaws off and it couldn't hang on. LOL.

My one dog I have here that had it's front dewclaws removed as a pup actually seems to be weaker in his front pasturns. Also he gets scabs where they used to be, like that part of the leg rubs when he runs. I think it's actually had a negative effect. It might work for those dogs in Utah, but it don't work out here in this country.