dewclaw dilemma

warden11 · 01-08-2009, 05:10 PM

Hi folks, I am looking for some advice on the following matter,
My 4 month old Golden Retriever (Macie) still has her two front dewclaws and I am not sure if I should have them removed. The vet will be putting her under in two months (spay her and microchip her), so I was thinking this might be an ideal time to get the dewclaws removed.
I plan on doing alot of hiking, camping and hanging out at our cottage in Northern Ontario, Canada. Basically I am hoping that she will be an active outdoor dog, which I undeerstand may make it more probable for her to tear one out.
Has anyone had them removed this late (6 months) - how was the recovery?
Has anyone decided to leave them in and regretted it?

Thanks in advance for the great advice.

Erick Aguilar · 01-08-2009, 05:44 PM

No, i have never removed dewclaws from any of the dogs i've had (around 10) and i never regretted it.
Read upon:
http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0019.htm

Willowy · 01-08-2009, 07:08 PM

Most of the dogs I know still have their dewclaws, and none of them have ever had any issues. I've heard that the recovery time for older dogs (older than neonate) is a problem, as some will keep chewing/licking at the surgery site until it's infected, and it seems to be painful for them. I wouldn't recommend removing dews from any dog older then 3 days unless there's an observed problem. The chances of something happening are pretty small.

Wynpyp · 01-09-2009, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by warden11

Hi folks, I am looking for some advice on the following matter,
My 4 month old Golden Retriever (Macie) still has her two front dewclaws and I am not sure if I should have them removed. The vet will be putting her under in two months (spay her and microchip her), so I was thinking this might be an ideal time to get the dewclaws removed.
I plan on doing alot of hiking, camping and hanging out at our cottage in Northern Ontario, Canada. Basically I am hoping that she will be an active outdoor dog, which I undeerstand may make it more probable for her to tear one out.
Has anyone had them removed this late (6 months) - how was the recovery?
Has anyone decided to leave them in and regretted it?

Thanks in advance for the great advice.

If it were me,I would not bother removing her front dewclaws.

I did have my dogs rear dewclaws removed when he was neutered. They were basically just pieces of extremely flappy skin with a nail on them. I was afraid that with how flappy they were, that he would rip them off... my vet agreed. He was just over a year old when we had it done. It took about 3 weeks for them to heal. One week solid with bandages on and then about 2 more weeks for them to completely close up. He did try to chew the bandages a few times but nothing too bad. He still has his front dewclaws and I won't get those removed, his have bone in them.

Unless your pup's front dew claws are really flappy and just hang there, I would not get them removed. It's when they are flappy and just hang there that you should worry about them getting torn or ripped off.

agility collie mom · 01-09-2009, 08:52 PM

Rio and Savannah have both front and rear dewclaws. Rio's are the floppy, loose kind. He does agility and I have never had a problem with them. In fact at the clinic that I work at we usually see a broken toe nail more than a dewclaw. Just my opinion though.

3dogmom26 · 01-10-2009, 11:22 AM

No you should not get them removed this late. At this point, it would be like amputating a toe for no good reason. My boxers both had theirs removed when their tails were docked at only a few days old. My pitbull still has his dewclaws and he's VERY active and we've never had a problem. The only reason I would ever remove them later on is if he tore one (which isn't as common as you'd think) or the vet said they needed to come off for a medical reason. I wouldn't worry about them at this point.

Inga · 01-10-2009, 11:27 AM

I have had dewclaws removed on a few dogs and it was no big deal. The dog was up the next day running around like a Loon. If you were going to do it, have it done during the spay/neuter so you don't have to have them put out more then once.
If the Dewclaws are tight against the paw there really is no need. My boy Oliver has his front claws and has not had any real bad issues. He caught one on brush in the woods once but I wrapped it and it was not a big deal.

AgilityAddict · 01-10-2009, 12:39 PM

IMO I wouldn't get them removed. My border collie has front dewclaws, and she is VERY active. Always running! I also do agility and flyball with her and we've never had any problems with her catching them. *knocks on wood* But remember just like all nails, you will have to clip the nail on the front dewclaws. If not they will grow, and they may catch on something if they're left too long.

txcollies · 01-10-2009, 02:15 PM

I remove dewclaws on all of my pups after birth.

But at this age, I would just leave them alone. It's a lot of trouble to get them taken off of older dogs. Just remember to trim them.

melgrj7 · 01-10-2009, 02:39 PM

I would ask your vet what they think. If they are very loose the vet may say its best to remove them. My dogs have theirs (they are mutts) and have no problems because of them. I keep them trimmed short and they are pretty tight (not loose and flappy).

Cardi2008 · 01-12-2009, 09:47 PM

My pup had his dew claws removed at a few days old. Well, the right one grew back, and it started to curl into itself. He just recently got neutered and I had them remove it. He is 8 months old. They put staples in. Today we are post-op day #4 and he is doing GREAT! He isn't having a problem with it at all. I do have a cone on him until the staples come out, only because he IS a dog. I had a dog years ago that did not have her dewclaws removed. She eneded up ripping off one of them and it bled forever. I thought she was going to bleed to death. In addition she was in so much pain when she did it. I would remove them, he is still young.

aero4ever · 01-13-2009, 12:35 PM

I had one of my dogs dew claws removed because there were two on each back leg, they were really fleshy and stuck out and I was afraid she'd catch them on something. Otherwise I didn't see a need for it.