I have just found out that groenendael pups should have their hind dewclaws removed at 72 hours.  My pups are 5/6 days old now and I was wanting to keep one and have a go at some shows.  Is there anything I can do or is it too late.  Sounds pretty painful to me...I guess that is why it should be done at 72 hours.  Could a vet still do it or is it too painful now?  Urgent replies welcomed.

They are too old for them to have it done now. You will probably have to wait until they are a lot older (a friend had to wait till her pup was 5 months) when they will need a GA and the usual post-surgical care.

It is a big operation because the claw is attached to a small joint and that has to be separated. However if it is torn off that is even worse so may be worth speaking to your vet, but think it will need a GA and that the vets may now wish for the bones to finish hardening.

It depends on how well developed they are although they are probably too big - ask your vet

hind dewclaws are much simpler to remove than front ones as they do not contain the same bone, you should really remove them within the first couple of days but you should not require a vet to do this, it is a very simple operation you can perform yourself :-)

vets will dock and dew claw up till puppies eyes open(usually 10 days) so if the eyes are still shut then try your vet he may still do it. worth getting them done if they have back ones as cause alot of problems as they get older.

All the veterinary books I have state that docking and dewclawing should not be done after day 5 maximum, with day 3 being optimum.
:)

I think 10 days (eyes open) is the time they can be done without an anaesthetic in theory but in practice by this time they are generally much to big and well deveoped to do.  If they are not well developed at this age there is obviously something wrong with the pup and therefore it should not be done anyway.

I would be reluctant to do removals after 72 hours

I don't know any vets who will do dew claws or tails much beyond 3 days, certainly none who would leave it as late as 10 days old. 

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

It's not painful when done at 2 - 3 days but I've never had it done after 3 days. Your best bet would be to ask your vet.

Hi just browsing threw the boards and found this topic(very interesting). Can someone tell me does this also apply to front dewclaws, on any breed of dog, or is that a different procedure? Thank you. :-)

Don't think front dew claws cause the sort of problems the back ones do unless they are malformed and stick out too much, and I don't think any breed standard calls for them to be removed, but would not mind betting I am wrong.

Yes the same removal rules apply to front dewclaws as well. It seems to be quite unusual for dogs to have hind dewclaws, and they certainly can cause the dog a lot of trouble. Front ones don't usually cause the same trouble, but when they do it is excruciatingly painful for the dog. Having had one dog suffer terribly with hers I now have all pups' dewclaws removed by the vet at 3 days old. None of them have had hind dewclaws, or they would have been off too.

On some breeds hind dewclaws are required, and I imagine they would also require front ones too, but I don't know of any breed where any of the claws must be removed.