Front Dewclaws

[Black Watch Debatable]

Lu tore out an entire dewclaw nail working in Ground Squirrel City the "big" pasture Wednesday. Of course she never took a lame step until we got home, and then she was favoring that foot --- the same foot that was broken a year ago, natch. I took her to the vet as a precaution [x-ray was fine] and Lu's on antibiotics now, and should be OK.

 

It'll look stupid, but I may wrap her wrist for a bit, once she's back to work. (I'll be out of town for a few days while she's on the mend.)

 

Should add that this is only the second dewclaw injury for my working dogs in some 20 years.

 

If anyone's had experience with dewclaw injuries, I'd appreciate your comments/suggestions/advice.

[Eileen Stein]

I've had dogs catch their dewclaws and partially tear them out several times. It always looked very painful, and as if it was likely to get caught and wrenched again and again. Ouch. But inevitably the dog would chew the entire claw off (getting themselves to the stage Lu has already reached, I guess), and once that happened, they pretty quickly got better without further incident. Hope that's the way it's going with her.

[NCStarkey]

Hello everyone,

 

I had a dog years ago that repeatedly injured her front dew claws, and I finally had them surgically removed when she was about 2 years old. Having the dew claws of an adult dog removed is far more difficult than removing them when they are newborn puppies, so this procedure should not be considered unless the dog has a history of dew claw injuries. In the course of her first two years, my dog had dislocated each of her dew claws, had torn the nail off of each several times, and had broken the bone which attaches the dew claw to her foreleg (the last injury occurred at a Glyn Jones clinic). My vet and I agreed that removing her dew claws would be in this dog's best interest, even though the surgery involves the removal of a "digit". The front dew claws of an adult dog are tightly attached, and the joint must be severed where the digit connects to the leg bone. Removing rear dew claws (if the dog has them) of an adult dog is a much easier procedure, as the rear dew claws are more loosely attached. The aftercare of a dog that had its dew claws removed can be a challenge, as many dogs have trouble leaving the surgery site alone, and the site must remain dry. However, my dog's recovery was uneventful, and we no longer had to worry about her injuring her dew claws.

 

Below is a photo of my dog after her dew claw surgery. She came home from the vet's office with hot pink bandages on her "wrists", and that led to a very humorous comment by a friend at our training center. My friend took one look at her bandages and said, "Now, I know that Border Collies can be a bit neurotic, but please don't tell me that she attempted suicide!"

 

 

 

Regards to all,

nancy