Missing Dew Claw

[Busderpuddle]

Ruby was away at sleep away camp while we went on vacation. At camp she has acres and acres to run. When we brought her home, she smelled so bad we had to give her a bath before letting her lay on anything. She stunk. Anyway, I noticed during her shower that she had a new owie on her left hip. I washed it good and it looked fine, no worries. 4 nights later I hear her licking and licking and driving me nuts while trying to get some sleep, and I notice her entire dew claw is gone. No nail on it at all. It looks healthy and pink, not bloody, but must be bugging her to keep licking it. I told her to stop a couple times and she has since left it alone.

So will the nail grow back ? I HATE trimming those floppy things so I am hoping the answer is no. Anything I need to watch for ?

[kronckew]

they will grow back. millie did a similar thing once, came back from a run around the fields with the dew claw dangling by a thread & blood oozing out.

trip to vet.

he gave it a quick tug, it came off completely, bled profusely for a short while, then it stopped. bandaged it for a couple days. little soft pink 'finger' eventually grew a new claw & was the same as before. (my male grey, blue, had his removed at birth, so i didn't have to worry about them.)

poppy so far has not had any dew claw trauma. she wears her main toenails down herself, but the dews need occasional trimming.

[lukasmom]

Does anyone know why some dogs have dew claws and some don't? Or do all dogs have them and just some breeders have them taken off?

[Time4ANap]

Does anyone know why some dogs have dew claws and some don't? Or do all dogs have them and just some breeders have them taken off?

 

Rocket has 1 dew claw. He came to us that way. Factory defect?

Edited December 18, 2015 by Time4ANap

[cometdust1]

My boy's most recent dew claw tear a few months back has not regrown. His other side was already missing when I got him.

[SPDoggie]

Yes- it will grow back... Ruby has torn the same one off twice now, and it comes back faster than I would imagine... like within a month.

[Guest k9soul]

Some breeders also remove dew claws when they are puppies, which is the case with both of my hounds. Both of my boys have yanked out regular back nails before. One grew back in but is kind of crooked, and the other one just grows a nub that tends to break off easily (no quick).

[3greytjoys]

We've had some hounds arrive from the tracks having already had both dew claws removed, others have damaged one while running during retirement and vet had to cut it off. The claws our hounds lost seemed to grow back much more slowly (if at all), and were much easier to manage. I suppose each hound is different.

 

Good luck with Ruby. So sorry she endured injuries during her time away.

[Busderpuddle]

Thank you everyone. I just got done checking it out tonight and it looks healthy and pink. I am sad to learn the darn thing is probably going to grow back. So hard to trim those wobbly nubs.

[Banjoman]

Whippet puppies usually have their dew claws removed a couple of days after birth and a lot of people, including vets, say it is cruel and should be banned but there is a good reason for it, they are easily damaged when whippets make a quick turn while chasing something i.e. if they are used for coursing. One of the dew claws on my last whippet, Banjo, was accidentally left on and he was always tearing it off when out running and playing.

 

At one visit to my veterinary practice I had a very opinionated vet who disagreed with the process of removing dew claws because 'I've never had to remove a torn dew claw in all my years of practice" - she obviously had never come across a whippet like Banjo! After the first time he tore the claw half off and I took him to the vet to get it removed I gave up going and it usually healed up OK by itself. It always grew back!

 

On the opposite side of the coin I have read that people prefer to leave the dew claw on hounds because it helps with braking and turning if they are chasing something, maybe that is why they keep them on greyhounds that are bred just to race around the track, not doing the jinking and quick turns of a coursing dog?