Those of you out there who have breeds that should have their hind dewclaws removed as young puppies, but is not a definite requirement can i have pros and cons list please.... just trying to do some research about it all. some vets refuse to do it. i just wondered if the short term pain is outweighed by the safety of the dogs in the future.... so, to remove or not to remove????

I think ti really depends on whether the dewclaws are just skin tags with a nail or proper digits.

I looked after an Elkhound Husky cross and she had rear dews (Elkhounds don't have them) which were just skin with a nail, and would have been far better and easily removed at birth.

we are supposed to have them removed. it used to be in our breed standard but apparently its been changed so now they dont have to be removed.  just interested in what people think. a friend of mine is having her first litter, same breed as mine, and just collecting ideas whether or not other folk would remove them. i believe they are just skin tags with nails

personally ive not heard of the dew claws not being allowed to be removed anymore but on another note there are loads of vets in my area and only a select few will do it!
on  wether or not to do or not to do if it were me id do it and have done it.(at the vets obviously not myself)Ive got a large breed dog with rear due claws and its like been said just a flap of skin with a nail attached.do some calling around with different vets.i thik you may have to register your pups with that vet so thats something you would have to decide on.....

i would sooner have it done as a tiny pup than have one ripped out as a teenager or an adult,all sorts of probles can occir....so ive heard!
good luck with what ou decide.xxx

I always have the rear dew claws removed, never the fronts, alot of people in my breed remove both front and back but i think the front is more cosmetic, the backs are usually large and floppy and are far more likely to get caught and tear which if that happened as an adult that would require a full GA and stitches with a 14 day recovery.
Removing them is over in seconds and healed in days, i always feel mean as they do cry but as soon as they are back in the box they have completely forgotten about it and just want their mum.

I really do feel the short term pain is worth it to prevent a nasty injury later on and that is the only reason i remove them.

> .(at the vets obviously not myself)

Just for information any person can remove dewclaws, it doesn't have to be a vet, silly isn't it when in some cases the dewclaws are more difficult than docking of tails.

Agree with MandyC.  Much, much better to be done before they're 3 days old, and just one little squeak.  Heals extremely quickly.  And, having a Bearded Collie that is ALWAYS ripping hers, I would never hesitate to have them removed.  The pain she has been through convinced me a long time ago.

I have kept and removed rear dewclaws and must confess I will always remove rear dewclaws from now on as they do cause the dogs problems getting caught on things due to their floppy nature.  I've had some who's rear dewclaws were larger than front resulting in them requiring surgery to remove them later in life under a GA not good for them.

In our breed Tanya they are not all just skin and in some litters they even have doubles.  So definitely wouldnt reccomend your friend or anyone else other than a vet does it.  One of my friends in our breed uses an old vet who will do it but has refused to do a couple from some
of her litters because of this.  There is quite a few dogs in our breed being shown with dew claws and given what our breed comes down from its not a surprise.

"Just for information any person can remove dewclaws, it doesn't have to be a vet, silly isn't it when in some cases the dewclaws are more difficult than docking of tails."

Utterly shocking !

I think the anti dockers when they got docking by lay persons illegal forgot about dew claws.

I don't see it as shocking just contrary as up until fairly recently a breeder docked and dew clawed their own pups.

We have two Pom's with them, didn't realise as it was something that we'd never had before.  They are awful, stick out and get caught on things, I HATE them!

I know few with hind dewclaws and they have had no problems so I believe in this breed hind dewclaws are pretty "strongly rooted", just like in some molosser breeds where they are a must.
Saying that, most breeders I know get the hind dewclaws removed when puppies are small.
I think I would rather get them removed when young than risk ripping and injury later.
To me they look weird and gangly and like they should not be there.
Personally if I had a pup that had them I would worry, even though the ones I know of have had no problems!

Forgot to say, I have also seen ones with very little dewclaws, like nail sticking out of the leg so there are different ones within the breed.
I have also known of a pup that was born with dewclaw in one leg! It would be weird to have one leg with and one without, especially if it was a larger one or if small would it be esy to miss...

I knew a Farm bred Border Collie that had a large (as in digit not skin tag with nail) dewclaw just on one hind leg, and not on other.

ive heard of people doing the dew claws themselves but i couldnt do it,id sooner know its been done by a vet and properly.
its not nice seeing them cry but like (sorry i forget now)someone above said its all over very quickly and they seem to settle down as soon as put back in their warm box.

is it commen then that people do it themselves ive heard of it but not actually met anyone whos done it??
shouldnt it be done by a vet???

i know several people that do it, but personally, i couldnt. just squeamish when it comes to animals, now people... thats a different story lol

> just squeamish when it comes to animals, now people... thats a different story lol

heeeey!!!! me too....animal lover not a people lover lol

>is it commen then that people do it themselves

Certainly common in a large working breed of my acquaintance that remove front ones.

I have had rear dew claws turn up in Norwich Terriers now and again over the years,but we remove dew claws
at 3 days, there are Breeds that the standard ask for rear dew claws, I know Briards/ and Pyrenean's  ask for them, there may be other breeds

in my breed they are sometimes present sometimes not. do you think whether having rear dew claws is a dominant of recessive gene? what do you think is the likely hood of puppies having rear dews if dam doesnt but sire did have?

Hi  I think it stems from a recessive gene,  that pops up in our breed,  but since the first time we had a pup with
rear dew claws, its the first thing we look for when the pups are born, they are easy to miss
as Norwich are so small when born,  have never had them  it appear again in any of the Matings from them pups, but they could well turn up a few more generations along,

ps  
yes I would remove the dew claws, they are a nightmare sometimes,  I have a little Bitch I bought in off a friend
a few years ago with her dew claws still left in  and when grooming or trimming I often forget and catch coomb in them,,,  The LOOK SHE GIVES ME COULD KILLL smileeeeeeee I say sorrrrry babe I forgot,,,,

Optional in my breed to have the hind dewclaws, all three of mine have theirs youngest boy has a double on one leg, all three are undocked, If  I was docking for working then I think I would also have them removed at the same time. Just for your info they are proper digit ones, not skin tag types.

When we kept boxers they were removed at the time of docking.