Christine Zink, DVM, PhD, DACVSMR, is a veterinarian with Johns Hopkins University, and has extensively studied dewclaws. The Great Pyrenees and the Icelandic sheep dog have double dewclaws including two on each of their hind legs. Some dogs have two, called double dewclaws. The paw and claw combination resembles our hand and fingers. Give a dog a bone and you’ll see him use his dewclaws for manipulation. Pointing, flushing, and versatile breeds can benefit from improved traction when climbing hillsides and rough terrain. Those dewclaws come in handy in the uplands as well. Retrievers navigating ice while fetching late season ducks are likely to use their dewclaws, too. The Beauceron, the Great Pyrenees, and the Icelandic sheep dog use their dewclaws for gaining traction on ice in slippery winter conditions. Other breeds use their dewclaws in tough environmental conditions. Dewclaws provide extra stability and leg stabilization when they’re running wide open. You’ll notice that extended front leg reach in speed demons like whippets, border collies, and greyhounds, but you’ll also see it in many performance sporting dogs. Those dewclaws don’t touch the ground while the dog is standing still, but when their running at full speed they make contact with the ground. Many believe that it is the dewclaw that offers dogs stability, traction, and improved manipulation with their feet. While all breeders and handlers agree on the importance of pads and claws, their views on dewclaws is a coin toss. Some studies suggest dewclaws are essential to a dog's mobility in the field, and the removal of them may cause arthritis and other problems down the road for sporting dogs. It gets its name because its position situated high enough above the ground so that it only brushes the morning dew. The fifth claw, the dewclaw, sits above the wrist. Claws are like our nails in that they are made of keratin and contain nerve endings and blood vessels. They’re also used for digging or holding prey. One claw connects with each of the digital pads and provides the dog with traction. Four of the claws extend from the front of the paw. What is a Dewclaw?Įach front paw has five claws, sometimes called toenails. They’re made of muscles, keratin, collagen, adipose (fat) tissue, ligaments, tendons, and bone. Paw pads also provide protection from rough terrain, traction, and the protection from either hot or cold ground. It’s called the carpal pad and serves as a shock absorber when the dog is running hard. A sixth pad is located higher up on the leg just above the dewclaw. The same pad located on each of the rear paws is known as the metatarsal pad. That pad in the front paw is called the metacarpal pad. It’s a heart-shaped pad in the center of the dog’s paw that, because of its proximity, absorbs more of the dog’s weight. Behind those four digital pads is one other pad. The digital pads support some of the dog’s weight and joints. Each paw has four digital pads, and two are in front and two are to the side. The dog’s paws are their connection with the ground, and there are two parts to them: pads and claws. Let’s take a look into dewclaws and examine the pros and cons of their removal. They’ll reference that removal can cause arthritis later on, and that with some normal and preventative maintenance they won’t break or tear. Others believe that the dewclaws are part of the dog’s anatomy and should be left intact. In fact, they’ll cite numerous examples of how a broken or torn dewclaw has landed their dog on injured reserve. Those folks don’t believe dewclaws are essential to a gun dog’s performance. “They’ve got to be removed,” says one group. Ask a group of breeders and handlers if their dogs have dewclaws and you’ll get a mixed response.
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