question (my pup still has all 4 dewclaws?)
 

I hope this is the correct place to post this. My GSD Stig is 20 months old and I rescued him so I have NO idea about lineage or anything of the sort. After looking at many of the amazing GSD on this site I noticed something Stig has that others dont. Dew claws. He has all 4 still. I rescued him at 6-7 months and he went to the vet and got caught up on shots and all of that stuff. The vet never said anything about him other than he is ENORMOUS. Any info helps. Here are a couple pics so you can see what he looks like.

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/...C2DF3D8AE4.jpg

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/...2/93d7c5ac.jpg

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/...2/7b65b479.jpg

A lot of dogs have their dew claws and it normally isn't a problem as long as you keep them cut. I don't know if you were asking about removing them or not,but I wouldn't as long as they aren't causing a problem for the dog.

Back dew claws should have been removed by the breeder at a few days old. They can snag on something and bleed like the dickens, or so I understand. So far I haven't experienced these. Front dews are kind of used like thumbs. I leave them alone, save when trimming toenails.

my great pyraneese had their dew claws which is part of the standard for this breed. as stated need to keep them clipped. this being said, this breed is not as active or as agile as a gsd.

Ok thanks for the responses. Since we rescued him I'm not sure what was going on before we got him.

If they are attached by just skin, the rears can be taken off when neutering.
But if there's bone, too, then it's best to leave them. It'd be an amputation and cause a lot of pain at that point.

My Scotch collie ;) had dew claws on her back legs but they had just skin, no bones, so they removed them at spay time.
One of my Dachshunds (purebred) has rear dew claws attached with bone, they are stable, and a part of her foot, so we leave them.

BTW he is GORGEOUS!!!! :wub:

Thank you for the compliment.

He was neutered when we got him checked out. They didn't say anything about them coming out so I guess they will stay. I have to make sure I pay attention to them.

Just like Selzer mentioned, the fronts usually stay on, but the breeder will typically remove the rear ones if born with them.

Our Sam whom we rescued has his back dew claws. They don't seem to bother him and we have a pretty active lifestyle and they have never gotten in the way or bothered him. :)