Bird Dog Benelli
New member
Hi I am new the site. I have a 10 month old yellow lab that I have had since she was 8 weeks. She still has her dew claws, can somebody please explain to me why everybody has them removed? Thanks!
Dew claws
- Thread starter Bird Dog Benelli
- Start date
They are removed soon after birth while they are still cartilaginous (not developed bone). I won't lie to you - it CLEARLY causes them a lot of pain - but they get over it quickly. I don't know what is involved with getting them removed later in life, but I imagine that it is much more difficult and expensive.
Why? - I don't know about looks - but they certainly do get caught on things in gun dogs. In Canada (and anywhere else with open season during snowy winters) they FREQUENTLY get injured when the snow is crusty but not enough to hold the dog's weight. My buddies with dogs who still have dew claws have to tape them down with hockey tape or they get all cut up. Other than that, I have only ever witnessed, with my own eyes, one serious dew claw injury, in a retriever who ripped it on a water retrieve. It was cost the hunting trip, a lot of pain and over 500$ by the time the dust settled to resolve it. Personally, I am a fan of early dew claw removal for gun dogs, and would ask any breeder who I was considering getting a pup from to have it done early on.
-Croc
Why? - I don't know about looks - but they certainly do get caught on things in gun dogs. In Canada (and anywhere else with open season during snowy winters) they FREQUENTLY get injured when the snow is crusty but not enough to hold the dog's weight. My buddies with dogs who still have dew claws have to tape them down with hockey tape or they get all cut up. Other than that, I have only ever witnessed, with my own eyes, one serious dew claw injury, in a retriever who ripped it on a water retrieve. It was cost the hunting trip, a lot of pain and over 500$ by the time the dust settled to resolve it. Personally, I am a fan of early dew claw removal for gun dogs, and would ask any breeder who I was considering getting a pup from to have it done early on.
-Croc
Snoozie
New member
Vet Rap
Use a product called Vet Rap you can get it in a variety of colors and wonderful for a general firstaid kit, on dog and people. It is a plastic sticks to itself material made by 3M, cheapist at Fleet Farm.
I have used it as a bandaid on my finger holds up well for hand washing. I have also used on a dog that got tore up in the field on her ribs, just used as a body rap to hold the skin togther, would work wonders on a dew claw holding I would think.
As a breeder I think they need to be removed at birth. I am sure it is very expensive to remove as adult and I wouldn't knock him out just for that but if you were to neuter then do it at that time.
Use a product called Vet Rap you can get it in a variety of colors and wonderful for a general firstaid kit, on dog and people. It is a plastic sticks to itself material made by 3M, cheapist at Fleet Farm.
I have used it as a bandaid on my finger holds up well for hand washing. I have also used on a dog that got tore up in the field on her ribs, just used as a body rap to hold the skin togther, would work wonders on a dew claw holding I would think.
As a breeder I think they need to be removed at birth. I am sure it is very expensive to remove as adult and I wouldn't knock him out just for that but if you were to neuter then do it at that time.
T
tOlzon
Guest
My dog has ripped off his dew claws 3 times, and was in serious pain each time. I bought that Pet-icure thing from the infomercial (it's basically a nail grinder) and keep them as short as possible and haven't had any issues since.
Snoozie
New member
I have always used the Dremmel on my dogs claws. I purchased the battery one thinking I could use it at any location but having 3 dogs to do the battery doesn't always get the job done. If I were to buy another one I would get the electric cord. With a pup I used the low speed but now I use the high speed and I shape my dogs nails on tops and sides to assist in shortening to the quick.
FCSpringer
Moderator
I agree with the guy's on getting them removed early day two for my litter. Its the best thing for hunting dogs and 99.99999 % of the breeders out there will be doing it. I bought a pup this spring and she cost me about 1,100 $. The dew claws were done but not right. So they started growing back and were getting infected. I had to have her put under at 10 weeks old and have them removed again. The breeder paid the bill and it was about 300$ for both back dew claws.I chose to have them done early because I did not want it to interfear with training when she was older. You can still puppy train around the house too. You have to spend some time with them till the stitches are out so they don't chew but it can be worse at a later time with an injury. The dew claws will grow in a circle and start going back into the apendage causeing problems later if you don't keep up on it.The cuts are smaler and so forth, when they are young, about an inch long I would say. And that vet wrap worked great on the stitches, changeing it and stuff. Ounce it is on I put a piece of that white tape on too. They even have sower apple stuff to help in keeping them from chewing it off but that did not stop River from that. If you just google dew claw removal you will find a welth of info on the subject.
Prairie Drifter
Well-known member
One thing not mentioned is if you have children, the dew claws are the ones that will injure your kids when the pup jumps up on them. If you don't have kids, that isn't much of a problem.
FCSpringer
Moderator
You can still have them done, it just will be a little more $ and care involved. Basicly because the dog will have to be put under to remove them, and some stitches to keep an eye on for a few weeks.
T
tOlzon
Guest
I looked into it last year, and the vet said that for my 5 year-old dog it would be $60 per claw, plus anesthesia (price varies depending on the size of the dog).