Hi there,
Can someone clear this up for me, I am under prressure by the dreaded in-laws to have my labradors dewclaws removed, I can't see any reason to do so but they say it would be for the pups own good. I've just been reading another post and it says that removal of dewclaws is actually prohibited, is this true? And why wold it be for the dog's own good to have them removed, Kobi seems quite happy with them!

Sarah

No, removal of dewclaws isn't prohibited. :) It's something I would always do, unless the breed standard expressly forbade it. Our old lab had hers still on, and she suffered terribly once they started getting caught in undergrowth - and she wasn't even a working dog, just a pet.

However, they need to be removed at three days old - if the pups are older than this you have to wait till they're older and have them removed when the dog's in for other surgery. If Kobi's never caught them and ripped the nail off the quick (they don't half scream and bleed a lot when that happens :( ) you may be all right. Watch them though.
:)

I used to have the dew claws removed from my pups, but it seems more and more vets are refusing to do it now, so my last two litters have kept theirs.  My vet who used to do them, says she is no longer allowed, so maybe they know something we don't?  Even my new vet that I've been with for 2 months also said they aren't allowed to do it either.

How odd! My vet showed me how to do it myself, because it's perfectly legal ...

A lot of vets are now saying it is against their code of ethics so I was told personally I think the best thing to do is to have them removed.  I met a GSD today who had hers ripped off at 18 months.

I agree JG I had my last litter in to have theirs removed at 3 days and my vet showed me how to do it and told me it was a very simple procedure that I could do myself.

My last litter ( a c-section ) was born the day before Christmas Eve, Because it would be hard to get back to the Clinic on Boxing day I had the vet remove them, with a half hour of them being born, it was great ,no blood, no crying, no stich or tape, from now on this will be my choice way of having it done.

Dew claw removal in a dog is a very painful procedure as most of us know,more so if the dog is older then a couple of days,as my Labs are not working dogs,we would not have this done and we have never had any problems,dont mend ,whats not broken.

Sheila.

Don't give in to pressure over whether or not to have the dogs foreclaws removed. They are your labradors. Most replies here say do it, I'm not going to say that or to leave well alone, that is a decision only you should make.

What I will say though is in my experience I have never had any problems with leaving on fore claws which are like a thumb to them. My dogs are all worked regularly. My daughters dogs are african dogs, they have their fore claws left on, nobody there would remove these claws, but I don't ever recall seeing or filming any of these dogs with problems from having foreclaws.

Many people even vets mistakenly call the foreclaws "dew claws". A real "dew claw" is found on the hind legs and is not attached the same way the fore claw on the front leg is.

If you do not want them removed then leave them on.

There are plenty of breeds whose standard requires them who have no trouble with them and plenty of models that customarily have them removed that have them and again have no problems.

If you watch dogs with dewclaws they actually use them for holding bones etc.

AS I always say, if it aint broke don't fix it.

As for the arguement that they can cause trouble, hmmmmm so can ears, perhaps we should remove those as well :rolleyes:

Thankyou everyone, good advice. I don't think I am going to have them removed, you're right he does use them to hold onto things. My in-laws said I should have it done when he goes for the chop but I've just started another argument by saying that won't be for a while yet, they are advocates of getting it done at 6 months at the latest and I would prefer to leave it later, ho-hum looks like me and the in-laws will never agree on anything!

Sarah

I would never consider routinely removing them from an adult even if they were having an anaesthetic for something else.  Although it is a minor procedure if your dog is unlucky enough to infect the site (and lower legs are very difficult to keep clean and dry) treatment can be very problematic as antibiotics do not work very effectively on bone infection due to the difficulties of delivering them via the blood supply.

Got to agree with you there if he is adult then leave them  on poor thing will have another pain with missing bits never mind dew claws.  I have had them done as a adult due to my old JR have horrendous ones which were permently catching but cant say I would have had them done as a adult otherwise although I cant say the operation itself did cause her any problems she didnt take a blind bit of notice !

I think they wanted to ban dewclaw removal back in 2000,but it never went through :(

FTR my vet refuses to do it,he says it is painful and inhumane,especially with no anasthetic