To Dewclaw Or Not To Dewclaw?

[Alex Delarge]

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Do you think it's necessary to have the dewclaws removed surgically? Have any of you left the dewclaws on and sadly have a dog suffer due to it catching or ingrowing?

 

[*Lesley*]

Welcome to k9 :cheers:

One of my whippets had one grow back but it grew back curling inwards so I couldn't clip it and it would have caused damage to her leg so I had it removed by the vet, she was ok but I would have preferred not have put her through an op, I wouldn't remove one for the sake of it, I would just keep it short and strap it up for running or racing.

Hope this helps :thumbsup:

 

[Seraphina]

Are you talking about newborn pups or adult dog? If you have pups and they are 5 days or less, definitely get your vet to take them off. You cannot take them off pups over 5 days without anasthetic, so not untill theyare about 4 (?)months minimum. In which case I would just see how the dog goes, I know people who have dogs who injure them constantly, I have never had an injury with mine ones that had theirs left on. How much they damage themself may depend on size of the dewclaw and the terrain the dog runs over. But one Whippet I met recently has quite small ones, lives in the city and runs in a park, yet injures herself regularly.

You just have to decide what is best for your dog, but remeber that removing dewclaws in an adult dog is NOT a simple op. :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[Alex Delarge]

Are you talking about newborn pups or adult dog?  If you have pups and they are 5 days or less, definitely get your vet to take them off.  You cannot take them off pups over 5 days without anasthetic, so not untill theyare about 4 (?)months minimum.  In which case I would just see how the dog goes, I know people who have dogs who injure them constantly, I have never had an injury with mine ones that had theirs left on.  How much they damage themself may depend on size of the dewclaw and the terrain the dog runs over.  But one Whippet I met recently has quite small ones, lives in the city and runs in a park, yet injures herself regularly.  You just have to decide what is best for your dog,  but remeber that removing dewclaws in an adult dog is NOT a simple op. :luck:   :luck:   :luck:

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I've still to purchase a whippet (as a family pet). I was looking through some adverts for pups and some have mentioned that the dewclaws had been removed. I was just wondering if it would benefit the dog in the long run.

 

[midlanderkeith]

Do you think it's necessary to have the dewclaws removed surgically? Have any of you left the dewclaws on and sadly have a dog suffer due to it catching or ingrowing?

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As ive stated somewhere else before, first thing i looked for when i picked up my whippy bitch, was dew claws, theyd been removed, if not i would have had em removed

keith

 

[Rae]

6 dogs here = 3 with dewclaws (lurchers) and 3 without (whippies).

My dogs all run free and we have never had a problem with injuries (well we have but never with dewclaws...)

 

[sharron]

Zebs still got his dewclaws. I know he doesnt race or caurse. They dont seem to have problems. I spook to sameone last year that said that zeb was not from a reperble breeder has he still got his. They dont seem to cause any problems so they are staying in.

 

[kim & Tilly]

Tilly has hers, but when she is speyed i will have them off at the same time...

I do strap them but have noticed a few times the dew claw has come though the strapping

 

[Macha]

I have a lurcher who is very active and often gets cut pads and little nicks on his feet, but his dewclaws have never given any problem.

I saw a whippet litter today and both the sire and the pups had dewclaws intact. I was surprised as the breeder is interested in showing, but apparently their other breed isn't routinely de-clawed as whippets are. The dew claws on the adult dog were very neat and tight, and again haven't given him any bother.

I still don't know what I'll do if I breed a litter (not soon, I don't even own any bitches at present).

Would having dewclaws hurt a whippet's chances in the show ring?

I think it shouldn't, but maybe some judges would be insecure (not able to pick a dog purely on its own merits) and think it isn't a dog from a good line?

 

[Janimal]

All the whippet puppies Ive had have had their dew claws removed at birth except for my first bitch Lady.

She always had a lot of trouble with them as I used to race her, and ended up having to have them removed at around 14 months old because they always ended up snagging and bleeding.

I prefer them removed and most breeders do it very early (in the first few days I believe)

 

[Whippets Rule]

i had a jack russel years ago and he caught and ripped his dew claw,it tore a very long bit of flesh up his leg and made such a mess he had to have fairly big surgery to remove it.

i would have them removed after that,although bryn our whip cross still has his but he was an adult when we got him and i didn't want to have unnecessary surgery on him as he's never been as wild as Charlie my jack was.

 

[silverhob]

i had a jack russel years ago and he caught and ripped his dew claw,it tore a very long bit of flesh up his leg and made such a mess he had to have fairly big surgery to remove it.
i would have them removed after that,although bryn our whip cross still has his but he was an adult when we got him and i didn't want to have unnecessary surgery on him as he's never been as wild as Charlie my jack was.

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[silverhob]

sorry for that i pressed wrong key , ive an old lurcher bitch who often damaged her dew claws however the do stick out like thumbs . ive two other with dew claws a whippet and a lurcher no problem s yet but my other three have had them removed a whippet pup and two lurchers , i must admit after seeing some of the damage old jazz got i prefer them off now imo .

 

[Macha]

As far as I remember, our family's first whippet had his dewclaws. Again, they were very neat and tight and never caused a bit of bother. We had him for 14 years.

As for this litter I've seen recently, would the fact that a whippet pup had not had his/her dewclaws removed put you off from taking him/her home?

 

[dixie]

I worked in the largest breeding kennels in England for many years where dew claws were removed at 3 days old on all stock. Some would grow back and produced no real problems for the dogs concerned as long as they were kept well trimmed. The main problem with them in adult dogs was that their new owners would complain of being scratched by them when the dogs jumped up etc. However I did see one dog who had been working in the fields and had ripped its dew claw in doing so. The whole nail and all the skin right up the dogs fore leg had been ripped off and the injury was very unpleasant and took a long time to heal following surgery to stitch the site. Having seen this incident it confirmed in my mind that all my pups will have their claws removed. Following this incident our kennel policy was changed to have all adult regrowths removed to prevent the same thing happening again. That said the surgery to remove adult dew claws is not nice as they are deep rooted and some may prefer to take preventative measures such as wraps etc whilst their dogs are out and about.

 

[Alex Delarge]

After hearing some of the horror stories, I think I would prefer to have a pup with it's dewclaws removed, my mother said that it was unkind & unnecessary. But if it will stop so many problems that *might* happen in the future, I can only see it being kinder to the dog in the long run. Thanks everyone :cheers:

 

[Janimal]

I could be wrong but I think Seraphina put a thread on here (with pictures) showing her puppies before and after dew claw removal.

It was very interesting.

Yep found it, heres the link to it....

http://www.k9community.co.uk/forums/index....topic=27419&hl=

 

[Alex Delarge]

I could be wrong but I think Seraphina put a thread on here (with pictures) showing her puppies before and after dew claw removal.
It was very interesting.

Yep found it, heres the link to it....

http://www.k9community.co.uk/forums/index....topic=27419&hl=

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Thanks a lot, never seen that before. Funny even when you have never seen the procedure before & don't know a lot about it you visualize loads of blood and horrendous pain. Looks a lot less painful than I imagined. :cheers:

 

[posh totty]

would be interesting for someone to post a pic of an adult dog dew injury and set it against the puppy pic and see what the majority would prefer?

dad and i have our pups dews removed at no older then 3 days, seen too many dew injuries to risk it now :thumbsup: