Dew Claws.

[Ashby Kennels]

Do you like to leave them? Cut them off yourself? Or have a vet do it?

If you do it yourself, can you please explain the process you use?

I've had Pointers that the breeder cut them, some that left them, and one that was done poorly on one leg so it grew weird.

[FiresideSetters]

We remove ours by ourselves. As a retired veterinarian I've had some practice. I have also seen some done very badly.

I do ours at 3 days of age. By that time you can tell the pups are nursing well and gaining weight and this will not be a huge stressor. Plus their neural network is not completely formed until a few days later. I'd get them done by no later than 5 days.

Clean around the dewclaw with disinfectant scrub or soap. If you are using alcohol you must let it dry to kill mircoorganisms.

Using a straight mosquito forceps, some folks call it a hemostat, some call it a Kelly clamp, the mosquito is just the smallest of the bunch; here's a link for one on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Halstead-Mosquito ... B000BJUG0E. I place it against the skin in the space you can feel between the end of the dewclaw bone and the bone of the paw. You should only need to clamp so you are involving no more than 1/2 inch of skin.

Closing the clamp pushes the dewclaw away and compresses the skin. Make sure you have clamped so that no part of the dewclaw is trapped; it must be all pushed away.

I then use a scapel to cut, using the forceps as a guide. Slice through on the side that is nearest to the dewclaw.

If the incision is oozing a lot of blood, more than a couple drops, I'll use a silver nitrate stick like you use for toe nail clips to cauterize. In the pups I've done that to it's never shown up later. It's such a small incision and the hair grows and covers anything there.

Mom will lick at them so just watch to make sure it is healing ok. It's a couple less nails to clip, less to catch on something and tear and less nails to possibly split.

Hope this is making sense. Let me know if I can explain more.

[BlueRiverKennel]

Ashby kennels you caught the right guy here, thanks Firesidesetters, "What Firesidesetters said". I have done them, but the tails and everything get all done at the same time, and it took me forever, i will not do my own again, I will hire someone like Firesidesetters to do it. It only cost's me about 8$ per pup at the Clinic. I did not have any trouble but like he said you can have some issues. I did get a dog once that was done at the clinic, and 2 dew claws started to come back which is rare when done by a doc, she needed surgery later because it was just causing problems and that was over 300$, so one might have better odds having a vet or a retired one do it.

[kninebirddog]

I like to take them in and have my vet do it...
he gives them the once over heart lungs weight docks dews and gives mom a check also. worth that extra piece of mind

[labrdogs]

I leave the front dews but the rear dew claws that one line has are removed as they are not as tight as front dews. When i have dews to remove this is the method that I use


was where I learned how to do dew removal.

gina n labs

[Ashby Kennels]

Excellent info all. Thanks!

Labrdog.... I edited your post to embed the youtube video. A feature I added to the forum yesterday. I hope to get a tutorial posted soon on how to do that.

[KMK Shorthairs]

I have used the same methodology discribed and usually do it between 2-5 Days if pups are stable. If it is a tiny pup I may delay the procedure a few days.

[RangeViewKennels]

We have them done at the vets, same time as the tails docked. 3 days, $12 a pup for both.

I have a dog who had her dew claws still on and she caught one on something and riped it. $200 to fix. Removed them all after that.

[Dogtrainer4God]

We do our own, in fact, just getting ready to do a litter of 12 in a little bit!

[BlueRiverKennel]

We have them done at the vets, same time as the tails docked. 3 days, $12 a pup for both.

I have a dog who had her dew claws still on and she caught one on something and riped it. $200 to fix. Removed them all after that.

Yes for this reason, I should have added the same thing, we do all of them. It's just what makes sence to me after seeing what can happen with a hard charging dog.