K9C Vet Dr. Marc Smith - Dewclaws

Dr. Smith discusses declaws.

[tangmm]

I have never had a problem with front dewclaws, but I do have the dew claws on my English Mastiffs removed. Yes, in two litters, sire side has rear dewclaws. My present Vet removed only the claws on the two pups that presented with them, leaving the toe portion. I am 63 and have had dogs all my life and never even heard of leaving the toe portion and only removing the claw. Will this be a problem in the future for them? And is this a new way of doing dew claw removal?

[EdwardHuemmrich]

My pup 15 months is a very active well bred sporting dog. His puppy dew claw removal was botched by a vet tech the breeder took him too. Can he recover 100% from this.

[marycanfield]

Always a sharp nail on Russy's dew claw!
He's 8 years old. Limps on it at times.

[bob-prye]

Dang it ! I really wish my vet would have suggested to take his off early.... Now he is three and its floppy so if it rips off i am basically screwed

[xradelox]

They do need their front dewclaws because they do use them to grip things like chew toys. I see mine do it all the time. Back dewclaws should be removed because they don’t serve a purpose and just dangle there. The front dewclaws tuck in tight to the leg so the likelihood of the front ones getting injured is slim.

[wesleyhempoli]

i can confirm that the front dew claw DEFINITELY makes the difference on ice. the added point of contact of a 5th digit with a seperate directional orientation is essential for getting out of water holes and bsck on to ice. ive seen old dogs that can get up on the ice no problem because they have their front dew claw and ive seen spunky young dogs without their dew claws that cant. if the dog wont be in that situation then I'd say remove them while they are still young squeakers.

[janicealley]

My dog has a growth on his dew claw. He has to have the dew claw removed. He is 7 is this a complicated surgery at 7 yeara?

[Mossmanu]

B!S! Where in the hell did you get your information?

[Livingnightmarefromhell]

my dogs dewclae is coming off. he is almost a year old. I'm not sure what to do :(

[idlewild]

This is a great video.  

Besides being ripped off, dew claws often also lead to overgrown nails that curl into the paw pad, causing pain and infection. 

Good on you for also taking to task the other video floating out there with dogs "playfully" trying to get out of the icy water.

[jamesfrazier]

Our dog Koda just absolutely hates getting his claws even touched so he tick tacks across the house all the time. We would bring him to the vet, but he has a bad history with anesthesia as a puppy to get it done properly

[Ethan.Lamoureux]

This video is propaganda, not based on any science whatsoever. Dewclaws are useful, in fact, every part the dog is born with is useful and should not normally be removed. What is it with people wanting to hack parts off their dogs??!!

[christopherbennett]

I got puppy from lady it's 7 weeks old . It should been done at 2 to 5 days old. Now how hard will it be to remove them now at 7 weeks old

[dr.aliceclearman]

Thank you for explaining. I had never heard of this. My 6 year old dog's dewclaw got ripped off and it was a massively bloody mess. I heard of breeders removing the dewclaw and was gobsmacked. Looking on the Internet out of curiosity. Thanks for the video.

[MarcSmithveterinarian]

Thanks! Removing dewclaws is definitely not the norm. However, we do sometimes remove them in newborns to prevent future problems.

[katkinser]

I don't agree with this man, if owners trimmed the nail properly, dewclaws wouldn't be snagged or torn.
I worked around dogs my whole life. I have 6 dogs, 3 with no dewclaws, and 3 with dewclaws. all 6 are Australian shepards rescues, and are fixed. I've seen the things my aussies with dewclaws can do, that my aussies with no dewclaws try to do.
Every word that came out that man's mouth were opinion based, and lies. Vets get paid to lie to ppl to make money. They will lie to your face to make money off you.

[emad]

Lies bro. Blatant Lies. All u Christians. Tell me. Did god mess up on the dogs design ???

[PKShader]

Do you ever read? Shame on your ignorance!!!! If a dog falls through the ice and doesn't have dew claws they drown. If dogs are running and bank sharply they risk wrist injuries. Stop embarrassing yourself and remove this video. Then educate yourself in fa to instead of opinions

[panzertooE-CollartrainingPAGER]

I would say the trend has become to not cut dewclaws I don't know anyone that does?? regardless this guy is extremely likable!!!