To make matters worse, they almost never contact the ground enough to wear them down. If you look again at the left hand picture and compare it with the middle image you can see how they curl tightly. In 25 years, how many times do you think I’ve had to do this? Once. I’m perfectly happy to remove them if a dog keeps getting them torn despite good clipping. However, we used to say the same thing about tail docking.ĭewclaws on the front legs are just as useful to a dog as their tail, and should be kept unless they cause problems. Some breeders also have a strong tradition of removing them. Yes, I’m aware that some breed standards demand dewclaws be removed. It shows a dog who had his dewclaws removed by the breeder shortly after birth. Use good quality bypass clippers and make a quick, precise and confident cut.If you cut too far you will cause pain and bleeding. Trim it back only until your finger slides off it easily.Run your finger under the nail: a dewclaw needs trimming when it catches or hooks your finger.The same dewclaw as above, clipped to a good length Trimming dewclaws is a lot easier than clipping the other nails. Then to prevent it happening again, you need to start clipping the dewclaw. This can typically be removed after 3-5 days. Once again, the nailbed is best protected by a dressing. It’s far too painful, and you run the risk of your dog never trusting you again if you try. No matter how loose it is, never do this without a vet giving sedation. It’s also important that the vet carefully checks for any nail remnants left behind.Ī torn, broken or split nail needs to be removed completely. This requires a vet to gently clip away the hair, apply a semi-occlusive dressing and use antibiotics. What To Do If A Dog Breaks A NailĪ dog that pulls out a nail needs the exposed nailbed protected from trauma and infection. Most of the time we don’t see what actually catches it, but the result is a nail that is either:Įither way, this is very painful. Then, it curls into a hook shape, which easily catches on anything. However, for these dogs, the dewclaw often gets too long, like in the middle picture at the top. It’s perfectly fine to just walk your dogs the important thing is getting out, not what you do. Not enough bodyweight to wear the nail down.Medical reasons such as arthritis or being overweight.Most urban dogs don’t run enough to wear down their dewclaws. The dewclaw provides extra stability, the stopper pad is a bumper that protects the carpus. To answer that question, and at the same time to show what dewclaws do, just watch this video of a dog at full flight.Īt a run, the wrist of a dog flexes so much that both the dewclaw and the stopper pad come into contact with the ground.
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