mbc1963 Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 My new girl was labeled "terrier/border collie mix." Um... probably not. But I asked the foster the justification for this label, and she told me a lot of the dog's relatives (she's from a hoarding case where 50 dogs were taken in) looked to be BC in background. And, she's got double dewclaws, which is not uncommon in BCs. She also has a white chest, which I suspect added to the label. Anyway, her double dewclaws seemed freak-show to me at first, but now I'm used to them. One per rear paw is attached by bone, but the extra one is simply attached by skin and flops around. My vet says they generally don't remove these unless there's a problem. My dog is certainly not going to be running in the hills, herding sheep. Has anyone ever had a pet dog with double dewclaws who actually HAD a problem with them? I had an old dog with a single floppy dewclaw a while ago, but with the doubles, the extra one sticks out considerably more than normal - seems like the potential for injury might be greater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvw Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 My first dog had THREE on each of her back feet. They were floppy and not attached to the bone. We had them removed. She was a crazy wild child pup and it was just a matter of time before she caught them on something. The only trouble we had was she was ingenious at getting around her "cone of shame", licked the incisions too much, and we had to have some restitching. Got an even bigger cone then. I would have them removed. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cass C Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 My sister's husky had double dew claws that weren't attached by bone they constantly got caught on things causing the dog pain so she just got them removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 double dewclaws, which is not uncommon in BCs. Is that true? I don't recall ever seeing one and none of my own or foster dogs have ever had single rear dewclaws much less doubles. I wouldn't call single rear dewclaws common. Not unheard of, but not common AFAIK. I'd think doubles are even less common. Not being argumentative, just curious. My lurcher has the floppy rear dewclaws, which I was very annoyed weren't removed when she was spayed prior to my adopting her. But she's a rescue so that's probably why. Anyway, she's never had any problem with them, so I haven't done anything about them. If she ever has to have surgery for anything else (or if she tore one of them), though, I'll probably have them removed when she's under. They can get caught when they're running in brushy areas and I've heard it can be painful. Tansy doesn't seem to like hers. I'll occasionally find her gnawing and pulling at one or the other of them. Never enough to harm herself, but it's odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 I've seen them quite a bit. In fact I've removed a lot from pups in my litters. Generally they are removed at birth and no one has any idea they were ever there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denice Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 The worst cases I have seen have been when they catch in carpet. They are common in guardian breeds never have had a problem with my dogs. My bcs (nor the litters I have had) dont have them in rear at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Had an icelandic sheepdog mix (probably some bc in there too), who passed away last winter, 13 years old. Huge double dew claws, floppy. Never a problem. I would not remove such dew claws on puppies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted August 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 Thanks for the input! At this point, the dog is an adult so the removal would be more difficult than if the dewclaws had been removed at birth. I'm going to leave them along and cross my fingers for no problems. Good info about carpeting - I don't have any in my house but will keep it in mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted August 6, 2015 Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 The old wive's tale in Kuvascs(or however you spell that breed) is that double dew claws are supposed to protect them from snake venom. I learned that from a breeder when he brought his in due to snake bite. It did live, butnot because of the dew claws. I had a dog(not BC) with floppy rear dew claws that got one caught when he jumped over a branch and tore it up his leg about 1 1/2 inches. We had both removed while he was under getting stitched up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted August 6, 2015 Report Share Posted August 6, 2015 Yeah. That's the problem -- when the loose ones tear it can be a pretty significant injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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