i have had dogs in the past catch them and they really bleed, usually take them to the vet then to get them checked,,,but some of my dogs have no problem with them,

Both of my dogs have them removed and are both shown.

It is getting harder to find a vet that will remove them now though as alot think it unnecessary to do, my mum has always removed her own dew claws but she use to work in a vets so was shown how to do it properly!

I have seen dogs that have ripped them off and it is not nice and very painful.

Here in Germany and many other European countries you are not allowed to remove the dew claws on any breeds so my next one which I get in 4 1/2 weeks time will have them left on

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http://www.goosesbasenjis.moonfruit.com

So are you penalised for having them on in England or Germany?
Also I take it its not illegal to remove them yourself in England?

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Lifes roads are for journeys, not destinations!

its not illegal "yet" to remove dew claws and alot of old experanced breeders still do there own ,i dont personally remove them as my dogs seem to use them like thumbs ,and in 10 years only 1 of my dogs have ripped theres
but i did have a cross breed litter of chiuahuahs and they had back dew claws which where attached just by skin so i removed them ,but as it used to go hand in hand with docking ,which is now banned i assume less people bother with dew claws if it means a visit to the vets . i know my vet always used to moan at me if a pup was docked but dew claws left on but i suppose he had seen the injuries

No you are not penalised in the UK or Germany for having them left on.

No it is not illegal

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http://www.goosesbasenjis.moonfruit.com

Thats good to know. Thanks.

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Lifes roads are for journeys, not destinations!

My dogs all still have their dew claws and we have never had a problem with them. They are all hard working, jumping fences, working through heavy cover and heather so plenty of oppertunity to damage them!!.

We seem to have more problems with tails bleeding..esp the labs (not so much the spaniels as they are docked)

Ang x

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No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.

In my breed we never remove them, but they are always neat,a nd we don't get them on hind feet.

In some breeds most breeders have them removed, but a dog would not be penalised in the show ring for having them, other than on the hindlegs where the standard does not specify hind dewclaws.

Hind ones except when required to be in place are always best removed as these are often injured tending to be floppy.

The law allows anyone to remove dewclaws unlike with tails where until ti was completely banned, for a few years it had to be done by a Vet.

Do you mean you have pups born without front dewclaws?

I have had one puppy born with any, and was quite worried did lots of research and it seems it does occasionally happen but wasn't linked to any defects.

My vet said, oh will make life easier for the new owner, as so many people forget about trimming claws and the dewclaws can end up growing into the leg.

thanks for everyones input so far it has ben an interesting read, hope to hear more peoples views also .

my dog had lose back dew claws but as I said they were not removed by the breeder, he is 8 1/2 months old now and has had no problems so far, but if he does I will get them removed,

I asked the opinion of my vet as wheather or not to remove them as they were hind leg ones, she would have removed them if I wanted her too but said there was no need if they were not causing any discomfort, so for now his will be staying

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