Dew Claws

[Fitzmaurice Wellbeloved Jnr.]

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One of my whippets has had a problem with a torn dew claw. We took her to the vet where she was given first aid and all appeared well. Unfortunately it is not healing as quickly as we would have hoped. Currently we are now in the third week following the visit to the vet. We were told by the vet to bathe in salted water twice a day for a week by which time it would be back to normal. The problem is that we have to keep it covered otherwise she licks the claw incessantly thereby making it sore. Its a vicious circle really, you cover it up and it doesn't heal but if you leave it uncovered she licks it sore. Any ideas from you good folk will be much valued. Best wishes

Fitz

 

[Kirawan]

There is a lot to be said for removing dew claws from running dogs within their first fews days of being born.

Unfortunately - they do take a long time to heal, and will most probably get torn again and again.

The only long term solution is to have them surgically removed at the vets.

This will involve an anesthetic of course, and a such is much more problematic in an older dog - but there is most often no other choice.

It is very bad luck - but one of the prices of having "tearabouts"

Good luck.

 

[dessie]

Get them taken off! My Vets, along with most others will not dock but are very much into taking dew claws off. They see far more injuries of this nature, across all breeds & crossbreeds than anything else. Hardly ever see tail injuries, cats get them more.

 

[June Jonigk]

Have to agree with Dessie, best thing is to get them removed. I wouldn't worry too much about the licking though, generally the dog will lick it for what seems ages to you, but eventually they will leave it alone. When you first remove the dressing they naturally want to clean it. In the wild a dog would lick its wounds, so unless they're really doing damage, let 'em at it!

 

[BeeJay]

I've had this happen with one of my lurchers. Firstly it'll heal it just takes time. I'd leave the dew claw uncovered to let the air get to it and let her lick it. Obviously keep an eye on it in case it gets infected again. If the fleshy bit inside of the nail is exposed it can be quite painful for the dog which is why they lick it.

Removal of dew claws as an adult isn't really an option in my opinion 'cause they take a long time to heal.

Many dogs bred for coursing keep their dew claws. People are convinced that it helps them to corner well. They definately do use them to hold things like chews and bones.

Whippets in general have theirs removed, lurchers generally don't and deerhounds don't.

 

[CCS]

Fitz. You need to let the air get to it . Just an idea but have you sent the vet bills to the breeder of the pup??

Regards Clive.

 

[Millie]

The saliva of a dog has actually got healing powers.........but I also agree with Dessie and June about getting them removed. One of my whippets has dew claws and the first thing I will do if she ever catches them, is have them removed.

 

[dessie]

Removal of dew claws as an adult isn't really an option in my opinion 'cause they take a long time to heal. 

Can't agree with that Beejay, I know someone who got a dog from Battersea and she had her dew claws. Her new owners had them removed surgically and it did not take any longer than a normal op to heal. Also Ronan had a 'bud' that kept regrowing, when he had a GA for another procedure I got Kate to remove the offending stump of dewclaw as well, it was healed within a week.

 

[BeeJay]

One of Lyd's greyhounds took weeks to heal. She never had the other one done because of this and he never had any problems

My dogs hunt mainly in very rough woodland (and then there is my garden <sigh>). Fern (whippet x) got her 1st dew claw injury the first time she went lure coursing. She's had a dew claw snap once since then she'll be 5 this year. Tally my deerhound has his dewclaws and he's never had a significant injury ie a claw snap off. Athough they do get ragged from hitting things.

My experience with my dogs is that it isn't that much of a problem ie I wouldn't put a dog through having an anaesthetic to remove them, simply 'cause they were there. In fact Poppy has a strange little curly effort that grows from time to time and she's never had any problems with it and so I've not asked for it to be removed when she's had a GA. It falls out periodically and then regrows.

I would prefer that the breeder has them removed at a few days old but if I have a dog with dew claws unless they injured them often I wouldn't have them taken off. Why put a dog through unnecessary surgery. Not worth risking a dogs life or health to remove something that may never cause it any significant problems at all.

 

[whip it]

I agree that dew claws should be removed when they are pups, saves a lot of trouble either way when they are older (ie getting badly damaged dew claws and/or having to have a GA in order to remove them).

I dunno about adults tho, I think that if they are having recurring problems with them then fair enough, but going to all that trouble if they don't have any problems is a bit daft.

 

[JAX]

Having been involved with racing Greyhounds for over 35years ,20 of which all races were on grass,Ive only ever had a hand ful who have ripped their dew claws,when thats happened the only remedy is to have it removed.,I think show bred Whippets and Greyhound have it done purely for visual purposes >It makes the leg look cleaner, but Greyhounds certainly use them for cornering ,many a time one of my dogs would come back with turf inside of his dewclaw . If the injury was so common then all racing and coursing dogs would have them removed like we do in showing wouldn`t they?

 

[oxosmith]

We have racing whippets and when they are two days old we get them removed we have had a few dogs in the passed rip them so we used to wrap the leg just were the dueclaw is with vetwrap and then remove it when they have raced just a thought

 

[lokeren]

Hi, just thought I'd chip in with what works for us. Whenever any of our dogs have injuries which tear the skin, like most of the other contributors I let fresh air get to it at the right time. In addition, I also use Aloe Vera Gel on the wound. It's healing properties are great and leaves very little, if any scar tissue, which might get opened again. Even if the dog licks it, there is no harm caused.

 

[betan6]

What is the correct apperance of where the dew claw was removed. I have two dogs. one has the little nub still without the nail and the other one has nothing.

 

[Mark Roberts]

If the dew claws are removed proparly then there should be no sign of were they have been, not even and scar.

if the are not taken of cleanly then you sometimes get a small nobble (for want of a better word) and you can even end up with the dew claw re-growing.

 

[betan6]

thank you. I'm going to the vet tonight so I'll make sure that I bring it up.

 

[aslan]

How can a dog USE its dew claws for cornering? The dew claws are not movable/functional appendages. The dog cannot actually USE them for anything because they can't move them. I would suggest that if there is grass in the dew claw when a dog comes back from racing it is because the dew claw sticks out and the grass gets caught in there rather than the dog actively digging the dew claw into the ground to help it steer itself around a bend.

I can appreciate that a dog will wedge a bone up against its dew claws to stop the bone sliding further up its leg when chewing it but it can't actually grasp the bone with the dew claw to hold it in place and a dog without dew claws can demolish a bone just as well as a dog with.

I would also argue that showies take dew claws off just for aesthetic purposes - we take them off for safety reasons. Because they stick out and get in the way and because the dog cannot actively move them - they get torn and ripped easily in activity.

 

[Mark Roberts]

The bloke we bought our first whippet off said he had left dew claws on as it helps them corner?,

We always remove them as they cause more harm than any benifit I can see.

BUT I don't know any greyhound breeders who take dew claws off?

 

[Fleesh]

Connors Lass still has her dew claws on and the only time she has ever ripped one was once when she severed the lateral ligament on an inside front toe when racing. She went racing 5 weeks later and had a little problem with it due to it not being taped up - the main problem with her was that when we tried to tape her up for racing she would walk on three legs and throw her front legs in the air when running as she seemed to think it would hurt her to put it down (bearing in mind she had just been wearing vetwrap for 3 weeks due to having part of her toe removed).

I would do as oxosmith suggested, buy some vetwrap or equiwrap and wrap it round to stop the dewclaws catching in the ground. You can do it when you let your dog go free running just to let it get used to the idea then hopefully when it goes to course it won't be bothered.

I'm sure someone will help you tape up right (unless or course you aren't allowed to tape-up for coursing in which case I am just waffling)

Connors Lass did her dewclaw on 13th June and by about the beginning of September she was fine. I don't think you need to worry about having them removed.

 

[ILoveKettleChips]

As far as the initial post regarding licking, I'd say the simple solution (that everyone resists but which really, really works) is to stick a buster collar on and after a few days bathing with salt water just leave it well alone!

Dogs licking is natural, but because claw injuries are so painful the dog will often exacerbate the problem by over-licking the area and so causing more irritation. In these cases I'd advise you to prevent licking and also allow the air into the wound (it firms up the tissue quicker). Only deep soft tissue wounds healing by secondary intention really need to be dressed.

As far as the dew claw argument, we don't see vast numbers of running dogs but we see plenty of claw injuries in all breeds. Not enough that I'd say it's justified to remove them as a matter of routine in every dog. I would also add that tail injuries are really not that far behind claw injuries in terms of incidence, and are generally far more severe.