# dew claw question



## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

I was looking over Bridget the other day, and noticed she HAS a dew claw on her Left foot, but not one on her right. 

Are dew claws generally removed in a Golden?

Thank you........


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Are you taliking about the front paws or the hind paws. Hind dewclaws are always removed. If there is only one front dew claw, then someone forgot or someone did not remove correctly. Front dew claws on a golden can either stay or be removed.....


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Only dewclaw I find is her front Left foot.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Yes... but I can't imagine they'd remove one and leave the other. 

Ask her breeder what happened.


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

I just sent her an email........


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## mrmooseman (Aug 12, 2011)

whats a dew claw?


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Sally's Mom said:


> Are you taliking about the front paws or the hind paws. Hind dewclaws are always removed.


Please tell me if I am mistaken, but there are no hind dew claws on a Golden.


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## Discoverer (Feb 3, 2011)

Some people remove dewclaws. Some don’t. Not all dogs have their dewclaws removed. The practice is actually becoming less and less common. Most dogs have dewclaws on their front paws only, and it is rare to find them on their back paws. However in several breeds rear dewclaws are common and included in the breed standard. as it believed to help dogs in their line of work.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Since it was a general dewclaw question and wasn't specific, I answered generally... I have never seen hind dewclaws on a golden... And actually there are some breeds like pyrs,etc that do require hind dew claws. Again, I would say someone either forgot or the dewclaw was removed incorrectly and grew back.


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## Discoverer (Feb 3, 2011)

GoldenCamper said:


> Please tell me if I am mistaken, but there are no hind dew claws on a Golden.


You are correct, in fact very few dogs have back dews


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## MyMaggieGirl (Nov 12, 2008)

Dew Claws are their thumbs.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I remember when I was picking out my great pyr, one of the puppies was missing his back dew claw on one of his feet ( can't remember if it was both declaws or only one - pyrs have two on each back foot ). The breeder told me that the mother dog had accidentally bitten it off when she was cleaning the puppy at birth.

Brady has his front dew claws but MacKenzie doesn't.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

My first Golden girl I found dumped in a parking lot had no dew claws. I figured she must have come from a breeder. Back then (I think) it was more of a common practice to remove them. Not so much now (I think).


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Dew claws in Goldens are optional. My Laney, born in 1995 had hers removed as did Cookie, born in1999. Cookie's breeder no longer removes them. I do not remove them from mine, either. In my experience, dew claw removal hurts more than tail docking.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sally's Mom said:


> In my experience, dew claw removal hurts more than tail docking.


^^^ Which is why I'm convinced that's why the two dewless dogs we've had (Danny and Jacks) have had issues about having their nails clipped. Jacks is getting better, but he still acts like I'm trying to clip his toes off and it's the worst ever thing. I stopped having the vet do his nails, because I found out it takes 3 people to hold him down while they clip him.

The collie loves having his nails done. He still has his dews. It take less than a couple minutes to just clip clip clip.

And Sammy and Charmy both had their dews. They loved having their nails done. Sammy acted like he was getting a manicure. He would actually switch paws and prompt us to clip off the other foot.


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Okay.
Goldens only have dew claws on their front legs. For sure.
I use to raise Chocolate Labs, and they only had them on the fronts too.

Well, I did get an email from the breeder:

"Hi, Yes I did remove the dew claws, evidently one grew back, sometimes that happens"

The one that is still there on her left foot just kind of appears to be a small amount of nail.


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## mrmooseman (Aug 12, 2011)

So Moose still has both of his dew claws.. is he not suppose too ???


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Dewclaws are generally removed when the pups are a few days old, so they don't get that extra..(well not really extra, is it?) toe stuck on a log or bush, or something........


I've never had a dog with them.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

mrmooseman said:


> So Moose still has both of his dew claws.. is he not suppose too ???


He is fine! Dew claws help a dog to turn at speed. They help them to hold things. Just don't forget to clip them too, some folks forget. Unfortunately I have seen them curl under to nasty pointy little things on dogs other than mine. 

They do tend to break more. Fiona split hers a few times. It happens.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Not to be nit picky, but dew claws only grow back when they are incorrectly removed.... Usually not a big deal!


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## Calistar (Dec 13, 2011)

We always had the dew claws of our Dobie pups removed with pups under sedation (not general anesthetic) and local anesthetic. As such given the pain prevention techniques and the young age (2-5 days), there seemed to be no consistent correlation to the dogs not liking their toe nails clipped. it always seemed more of an individual thing. Show dogs had their nails clipped consistently from a young age and seemed to be more relaxed with the exercise that pet quality dogs whose nail trimming usually started later and was generally less frequent.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

You can't use general anaesthetic with puppies as young as they are when the dews are removed. 



> Show dogs had their nails clipped consistently from a young age and seemed to be more relaxed with the exercise that pet quality dogs whose nail trimming usually started later and was generally less frequent.


When we got our first golden, we did a lot of consulting with our vet about what to do... every little thing we were calling up our vet. We even had their cell phone numbers... LOL. So most definitely early and frequent trims were tops on the list. We did all of the proofing early on. Handling. Baby trims. Tapping toenails. Playing with toes. Doing all of this every other day when he was little. <- We did all that with our first two goldens (who had their dews still) and they were totally pax with the whole thing. And keep in mind they were both red heads and would definitely snark if they weren't happy.

We did the same thing with Danny who would let us trim his toe fur and fuss with his feet, but as soon as he saw the clippers he would start panicking. This was right from the beginning. 

Jacks I've finally trained to settle and hold his breath and sweat it out until I say it's time to get treats. And he is getting better since I stopped taking him to the vet for this and doing it myself and associating treat rewards with letting me clip. 

The dew claws DO get cracked and messed up more than the other claws. I think it's because they are not as thick? They also are more likely to curl if not trimmed. That's why we keep the collie's nails trimmed every week. This collie is very sensitive and thin-skinned compared to the goldens. Goldens are fairly pain tolerant, collies are not. This dog has no concern about his toenails being clipped.


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## Phoebe's mom (Jan 17, 2012)

mrmooseman said:


> whats a dew claw?


They are like thumbs for dogs, it's the claw and nail a bit above the paw. Used for holding things in place while lying down and I have seen some videos where hounds use them to climb trees.
Breeders take them off of Field Dogs because they can get caught in the brush and rip as I have seen only once. Back dew claws is one sign of "bad breeding" or inbred breeding, sometimes it can just be a mistake though. 

Our first westie had her front dew claws removed (11 years old), second westie (4 years old) from the same breeder kept her dew claws, we asked why and she said it was just too painful for the puppies and she decided to stop doing it.


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## Wendy427 (Apr 4, 2009)

Megora said:


> ^^^ And Sammy and Charmy both had their dews. They loved having their nails done. Sammy acted like he was getting a manicure. He would actually switch paws and prompt us to clip off the other foot.


Soooo cute!


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