Get those dew claws removed
- Thread starter Fury
- Start date
hi
i have had none of my dogs dew claws removed, i am totaly against the procedure, most breaders do it before the pups can walk, a friend had her great dane pups dew claws removed and she got her hubby to walk the dog, hubby and mum were about a mile and a half away (the vet usually does not use any kind of numming agent) the vet started to rip the dew claws out and as the first claw on the first pup came out the pup screamed and the mum heard it and got very distressed, she heard every one after that ( dog and owner were still walking further and further away form the house). it is cruel!!!!
i have had none of my dogs dew claws removed, i am totaly against the procedure, most breaders do it before the pups can walk, a friend had her great dane pups dew claws removed and she got her hubby to walk the dog, hubby and mum were about a mile and a half away (the vet usually does not use any kind of numming agent) the vet started to rip the dew claws out and as the first claw on the first pup came out the pup screamed and the mum heard it and got very distressed, she heard every one after that ( dog and owner were still walking further and further away form the house). it is cruel!!!!
Not all vets are like that, and I think that was a very inhumane act from this so called vet, someone should maybe check out his other 'procedures'. Grrr 
It is completely understandable on you views on this issue. I'm usually against cropping, docking, any surgery altering the dogs look other than a medical purpose. Most breeders do have them removed and here's why (well, besides Fury's point). They get easily caught on things, my Mother's Chihuahua (I say we have split custody ) got her toe caught on the carpet somehow - she was in a very awkward position -- and ripped it out in panic, herself. How painful! Because of this and another incident with her back leg dew claw scratching her eye (we had to apply special cream to the eye, this is actually quite common I'm told) the vet said we should have them removed. It would have been so much easier for a vet to numb a pups foot and remove them before they will notice and have walking changes. Its going to be a much bigger deal removing them now - Minnie is over a year old.
Some dogs don't have problems, but others do.
If its a good vet and is done early on I'm absolutely for it.
It is completely understandable on you views on this issue. I'm usually against cropping, docking, any surgery altering the dogs look other than a medical purpose. Most breeders do have them removed and here's why (well, besides Fury's point). They get easily caught on things, my Mother's Chihuahua (I say we have split custody
) got her toe caught on the carpet somehow - she was in a very awkward position -- and ripped it out in panic, herself. How painful! Because of this and another incident with her back leg dew claw scratching her eye (we had to apply special cream to the eye, this is actually quite common I'm told) the vet said we should have them removed. It would have been so much easier for a vet to numb a pups foot and remove them before they will notice and have walking changes. Its going to be a much bigger deal removing them now - Minnie is over a year old.Some dogs don't have problems, but others do.
If its a good vet and is done early on I'm absolutely for it.
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uhhu...and its not cruel to leave them on so the dog can rip them off at a later date? Seems that would hurt more than doing it at an early age. The same argument applies to circumcision in humans...men who have it done don't remember when they grow up.
Its better to have then removed when the dog is newly born...I've seen dogs get them ripped out by having it caught on something, its much more painful and terrible to the dog if it happens at a later date. I support having them removed, 100%
Its better to have then removed when the dog is newly born...I've seen dogs get them ripped out by having it caught on something, its much more painful and terrible to the dog if it happens at a later date. I support having them removed, 100%
Brady had to have them removed because he had one that was slightly deformed, it had a lot of flesh around it and it protruded badly. It was so soft, almost like an extra toe without any bone (sorry not trying to be gross), and I was so scared he was going to rip it off since he is a very active dog. We had them removed when he was neutered, and though he ripped of the bandage after the first day, he never messed with them too bad. Our vet was really great though and I liked him a lot. I am glad i don't have to worry about him, well in that area anyway. Mothers always worry.
My Pit mix had them and tore one of them off about every six months, sometimes he wouldn't even react when he did it, other times he would yell and scream about it like he was getting killed. One time, he was going ballistic in the car, and slipped and CRUNCH, he screamed and it was bleeding all over. I took him over to the vets right away and they stopped the bleeding. By the end of his life, the left one was all deformed from getting torn repeatedly. I always planned to have them removed if he ever had surgery, but other than some "mystery lumps" done while he was wide awake, he never had any gas until just before the end.
I saw a litter of Labs have them removed as very young pups, and it hardly seemed to phase them at all. A couple didn't even appear to wake up! I would think it would be better to remove them at a young age than let them tear them off.
I saw a litter of Labs have them removed as very young pups, and it hardly seemed to phase them at all. A couple didn't even appear to wake up! I would think it would be better to remove them at a young age than let them tear them off.
I've talked to my vet about getting them removed on my beagle.. and the vet said it wasn't necessary unless they had them on the back legs (and she didn't). The vet said that she recommended they not be removed if they're on the front legs-- the back legs are a different story--according to her. Anyway, i took her advice and my beagle does a whole lot of running around all over the place, on all kinds of different terrains, and she's fine.
My dog had them front and back, and never had a single problem with the back ones, just the fronts. My two dogs I have now don't have any at all. At first, it seemed very odd, since every dog I ever had before them had them on the fronts at least. If they had ever had them at all, they were long gone by the 10th week, when I got them.
Removing Dew Claws
Hello
I just happened across this message board when doing a search on "dew claws" on Google. We adopted a 14 week old Rat Terrier puppy from a rescue almost a month ago. I am guessing that she was a puppy from a "back-yard" breeder, since her tail was docked to absolutely nothing, you can't even call what is left a "nub" :-( All of her siblings were sold to a pet store, but they wouldn't take our Holly. She was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around one of her hind legs, and still favored this leg when the puppies were sold, so the pet store wouldn't take her... and she was given to the rescue. The rescue organization that had her was wonderful, and she now has 98% use of this leg. The sad thing is, neither the breeder (if you can call them that!) nor the rescue organization (even though poor Holly was spayed at 12 weeks, as a rescue policy) bothered to have her dew claws (only front legs had them) removed.
Our Holly is the most wonderful puppy, and has been through SO much already in her very short 4 month life! On her first visit to our vet after we adopted her, I asked if having dew claws would be a problem for her, and was told no. Well, tonight while at the off-leash dog park, Holly was playing with her best friend, a Doxie and got one of the dew claws on her front leg caught in Spanky's collar and almost RIPPED it totally off! Rat Terriers have both Italian Greyhound, and Whippet blood in their line. Our Holly acts very much like an Italian Greyhound... throwing her front legs out with a proud little prance! It is so obvious to me that Holly is ALWAYS going to be very "busy" with her 2 front legs... and having dew claws is NOT going to work for her!
Just wanted to put in my 2 cents on this subject! Both the breeder... that didn't think a thing about whacking off Holly's TAIL to nothing... and a rescue that put out the money out to have her spayed at 12 weeks, and for only a few dollars more could have had her dew claws removed... but didn't!
It breaks my heart to have to put Holly through having her dew claws removed at 4 months... but I can see this is going to be a big problem for her if we don't.. and want to take care of this before she is any older! We have a 2 1/2 year old JRT, and we bought her from a reputable breeder, with her dew claw removed. I have NO doubt at all that our JRT would be having the same problem if she still had dew claws!
So... for those that think all the "natural" is best. I would agree... if I had to make a choice... I would love to have a "full tail" when so many breeds are docked! I would love to see the happiness & joy my dog is feeling... instead of nothing!! Having the dew claws that are SO not needed... and can end up become a painful problem over a dog's whole life, that could have been taken care of as a small puppy... I have a BIG problem with that!
Karen Goodale
Hello
I just happened across this message board when doing a search on "dew claws" on Google. We adopted a 14 week old Rat Terrier puppy from a rescue almost a month ago. I am guessing that she was a puppy from a "back-yard" breeder, since her tail was docked to absolutely nothing, you can't even call what is left a "nub" :-( All of her siblings were sold to a pet store, but they wouldn't take our Holly. She was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around one of her hind legs, and still favored this leg when the puppies were sold, so the pet store wouldn't take her... and she was given to the rescue. The rescue organization that had her was wonderful, and she now has 98% use of this leg. The sad thing is, neither the breeder (if you can call them that!) nor the rescue organization (even though poor Holly was spayed at 12 weeks, as a rescue policy) bothered to have her dew claws (only front legs had them) removed.
Our Holly is the most wonderful puppy, and has been through SO much already in her very short 4 month life! On her first visit to our vet after we adopted her, I asked if having dew claws would be a problem for her, and was told no. Well, tonight while at the off-leash dog park, Holly was playing with her best friend, a Doxie and got one of the dew claws on her front leg caught in Spanky's collar and almost RIPPED it totally off! Rat Terriers have both Italian Greyhound, and Whippet blood in their line. Our Holly acts very much like an Italian Greyhound... throwing her front legs out with a proud little prance! It is so obvious to me that Holly is ALWAYS going to be very "busy" with her 2 front legs... and having dew claws is NOT going to work for her!
Just wanted to put in my 2 cents on this subject! Both the breeder... that didn't think a thing about whacking off Holly's TAIL to nothing... and a rescue that put out the money out to have her spayed at 12 weeks, and for only a few dollars more could have had her dew claws removed... but didn't!
It breaks my heart to have to put Holly through having her dew claws removed at 4 months... but I can see this is going to be a big problem for her if we don't.. and want to take care of this before she is any older! We have a 2 1/2 year old JRT, and we bought her from a reputable breeder, with her dew claw removed. I have NO doubt at all that our JRT would be having the same problem if she still had dew claws!
So... for those that think all the "natural" is best. I would agree... if I had to make a choice... I would love to have a "full tail" when so many breeds are docked! I would love to see the happiness & joy my dog is feeling... instead of nothing!! Having the dew claws that are SO not needed... and can end up become a painful problem over a dog's whole life, that could have been taken care of as a small puppy... I have a BIG problem with that!
Karen Goodale
Karen, if this makes you feel any better, it's possible that your little Holly was born with a nub tail. The Toy Terrier my parents got me when I was 4 was born with just the teensiest little nub - really just a bump with hair over it. I understand that's not terribly unusual in the smaller terriers. Mickey would wag that little stub so hard her whole butt gyrated.
Nub tails
Thanks for letting me know about your Toy Terrier born with just a nub! Maybe this is the case with Holly, I haven't asked her vet... since there isn't anything we can do about it, LOL! My husband who used to breed Cockers, said it had been docked, so just went with what he said. We love Holly to pieces... tail or no tail!
Karen, & her girls... Lucy & Holly
Thanks for letting me know about your Toy Terrier born with just a nub! Maybe this is the case with Holly, I haven't asked her vet... since there isn't anything we can do about it, LOL! My husband who used to breed Cockers, said it had been docked, so just went with what he said. We love Holly to pieces... tail or no tail!
Karen, & her girls... Lucy & Holly
Thanks for the welcome!
Thanks for the welcome... & your dew claw feedback!
I took Holly to the vet yesterday and got some antibiotics for her so that her injured dew claw (the nail did fall completely out) won't get infected. I was a little disappointed when the vet (but I have a lot of confidence in her opinion) told me she wants to leave Holly's dew claws on for now. I do still think they should have been removed by the breeder, but from what my vet said there are different "types" of dew claws. She said some are fairly easy to pull out and just snip off, but Holly's are somehow connected in another way. She would have to be put completely under to take them off, and since she was already spayed by the rescue at 12 weeks... it would be putting her under, just for the dew claws. The vet assured me that if she does continue to have continued problems, and we decide they need to be removed down the road, that it won't be any harder on her, than if she had it done now at 4 months.
Hey... maybe I can just make her something like "human wrist bands" to put around her little dew claws... maybe out of human hair bands?
Karen & the girls... Lucy & Holly
Thanks for the welcome... & your dew claw feedback!
I took Holly to the vet yesterday and got some antibiotics for her so that her injured dew claw (the nail did fall completely out) won't get infected. I was a little disappointed when the vet (but I have a lot of confidence in her opinion) told me she wants to leave Holly's dew claws on for now. I do still think they should have been removed by the breeder, but from what my vet said there are different "types" of dew claws. She said some are fairly easy to pull out and just snip off, but Holly's are somehow connected in another way. She would have to be put completely under to take them off, and since she was already spayed by the rescue at 12 weeks... it would be putting her under, just for the dew claws. The vet assured me that if she does continue to have continued problems, and we decide they need to be removed down the road, that it won't be any harder on her, than if she had it done now at 4 months.
Hey... maybe I can just make her something like "human wrist bands" to put around her little dew claws... maybe out of human hair bands?
Karen & the girls... Lucy & Holly
Actually, Karen, what your vet told you makes a lot of sense and is very responsible, not wanting to put an animal under the stress of general anesthesia for dew claws - especially since it would mean a nice fee for some relatively easy work. If you keep the nails on those dew claws trimmed and filed off smooth it should keep problems to a minimum.
We've been fortunate that all of our dogs' dew claws have been the type that lay right in next to the concave part of the muscle above the foot and have never had any problems. Oddly enough, I've watched our Filas actually seem to use them holding onto things. I've never seen dogs do that before.
We've been fortunate that all of our dogs' dew claws have been the type that lay right in next to the concave part of the muscle above the foot and have never had any problems. Oddly enough, I've watched our Filas actually seem to use them holding onto things. I've never seen dogs do that before.
Ripley tore her right front dew claw back away from the quick on a friday night and before we could get to the vet on Mon. she had it completely removed on her own. It didn't appear to bother her too much. I'm sure it hurt initially though. Now she only has one left. When we play that one dew claw tears up my arm though if I'm not careful.
JRT_Rattie_Mom said:
Hello
I just happened across this message board when doing a search on "dew claws" on Google.
I just happened across this message board when doing a search on "dew claws" on Google.
I just joined. I have a 5 month old cockapoo who has her dew claws (and a docked tail) and I am unsure about what to do. The vet said we could remove them, the dog trainer said to leave them on & that it's cruel to remove them at this stage, the vet tech said she'd leave them on but that they could do it if I wanted (she's being spayed on Thursday), and the lady I just spoke to over the phone to schedule Sophie's grooming appointment tomorrow said to remove them and to talk more with the groomer tomorrow, he used to be a vet tech.
I feel like I'm playing spin the bottle...lol
What I want to know is what I *should* do. This is the first dog I've ever owned as an adult and I don't have a clue!
How can I tell what kind they are? I don't have anything to compare her to.
I'm also going to talk to the groomer tomorrow and see what he says.
The dog trainer was telling me that at this stage, it's the equivalent of removing her thumb and she feels it's cruel even though she's going to be under anyway for her spaying. She said that when they do it for newborn pups, it's no big deal and pretty much just cartilage is snipped off. But now, it's like removing her thumb. She made me feel like the worst person in the world for even considering it!
And then the groomer appointment lady was telling me today that it's not such a big deal in young dogs, but as they age they can hang down and become dangerous, and that it's a "genetic mistake."
Gosh it's so confusing!
She doesn't have them in the back, only the front.
I'm also going to talk to the groomer tomorrow and see what he says.
The dog trainer was telling me that at this stage, it's the equivalent of removing her thumb and she feels it's cruel even though she's going to be under anyway for her spaying. She said that when they do it for newborn pups, it's no big deal and pretty much just cartilage is snipped off. But now, it's like removing her thumb. She made me feel like the worst person in the world for even considering it!
And then the groomer appointment lady was telling me today that it's not such a big deal in young dogs, but as they age they can hang down and become dangerous, and that it's a "genetic mistake."
Gosh it's so confusing!
She doesn't have them in the back, only the front.