"Loose" dew claws

[wildo]

First off- I have no idea where to put this thread. Since this could turn into a health issue, I'm placing it here.

Secondly- I have no idea what to even call this.

I noticed baby Jinks's dew claws are kind of... loose. Not the nail itself, it's firmly attached to the claw socket or whatever, and it grows like wildfire. But the socket (under the skin) where the dew claw is doesn't really seem attached to anything. Kind of just floats around embedded in the skin. I don't remember Pimg's dew claws feeling so- flimsy. Maybe they were.

I can snap a picture to update the thread later tonight.

The question is- how does the dew claw attach to the leg? Is it just embedded in the skin? Does it attach rigidly like the other nails on the foot do? I'm kind of afraid he'll catch them on something and rip them out.

(Hmmm... come to think of it when I wrote that last sentence- I do remember Pimg's dew claws being tender at times as a pup. Perhaps they firm up with age?)

Also- can you trim the dew claw nail? Does it have a quick like other nails? Holy crap his dew claws grow quickly!

[msvette2u]

Some are attached with bone, some with just skin. I'm surprised they didn't remove when they neutered?
We usually get them off if only skin, when the alter takes place.

If attached with bone, we tend to leave them.

*edited
Wait, the front, or back??

[wildo]

Front. And he's not neutered yet. The rescue was very gracious in working with me in a flexible sterilization agreement.

I found these pictures already uploaded. You can see that they're pretty much just in the skin:




So it's common to remove them if only in skin? Will that affect his ability to move or turn quickly?

[wildo]

Originally Posted by wildo

So it's common to remove them if only in skin? Will that affect his ability to move or turn quickly?

Well wikipedia answered that question:

In addition, for those dogs whose dewclaws make contact with the ground when they run, it is possible that removing them could be a disadvantage for a dog's speed in running and changing of direction, particularly in performance dog sports such as dog agility.

It also states:

If a dewclaw is to be removed, this should be done when the dog is a puppy, around 2–5 days of age, though it can also be performed on older dogs if necessary (though the surgery may be more difficult then).

Others say the pain of removing a dewclaw is far greater than any other risk.

...Sounds like I should just leave it be, unless he does injure it in some way.

[Liesje]

Nikon has them. He's had a nail issue on a back foot but I've never had problems with his dewclaws, even doing flyball. I do trim them like the rest of the nails.

[msvette2u]

We have two dogs here w/them removed. When I touch the scar, they seem to feel pain. They use those like little thumbs.
If it was on the back, and floppy, I'd say get rid of them - the front, leave them.
It's really "cosmetic" anyway, they do that w/show dogs to give the front leg a neater appearance. The only advantage I've seen to them being gone is 2 less nails to clip

[GatorDog]

Aiden has his fronts and they seem held in pretty strong. They've never bothered him.

My Beagle has front and back and they are super floppy at 9 years old, but they've never bothered her. I was going to have them removed when she was spayed at 4 years but she was having trouble with the anesthesia and they needed to wake her up sooner rather than later.


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[ponyfarm]

I had a rescue husky with really loose ones behind and had them removed as the risk of cutting caught on something and ripping was pretty high. I had it done when we nuetered him, he was two years old and did fine.

If they are floppy I would consider it when you have him nuetered.