Dew Claws

[ramama]

What are they for? Do they cause problems? We have a new-to-us dog (a 3.5 yo dachshund) who "still" has her dew claws. Should the be removed? What is removal like? I've only owned cats before, and I was/am firmly against declawing. Is dew claw removal like declawing? Just wondering because dew claw removal is so common, I wonder if it's recommended...Thanks!

[Kristine233]

I don't know if they actually need them, but one of our labs has them adn one does not. Our lab that does have them uses them to scratch his ears. The other one (that doesn't have them) has issues with her ears and constant ear infections. DH is convinced there is a connection.

[midnightmommy]

Since she so old and I'm assuming she is a pet not a working dog don't worry about it. The reason they are removed is because when a dog is hunting or working they forget about everything else and tend to rip them off. It's very painful and can lead to infection. It's the same reason they still dock the tails of hunting dogs. They get torn up and infected. They do it when they are puppies though when the tissue is soft. Not that it makes it anymore pleasant in my opinion just saying it's rare in older dogs unless they are causing an issue.

[Ola_]

I wouldn't remove them unless you have persistent problems with them. Chaos has caught and torn a dewclaw on something a couple of times and Mayhem once. The first time we went to the vet's who told us to leave it alone and it would heal - we could do epsom salt soaks if that made us feel better. It just results in a couple of quiet days chilling on the couch, nothing major.

Mayhem is actually a retired racing greyhound and they don't remove dewclaws for them normally. They just wrap them with vet wrap before a race to prevent them from getting caught. I don't think dewclaw removal is that common, at least around here, unless you are talking about rear dewclaws (which only some breeds have from what I understand).