More dogs have them than don't. They have to be cut out. So I would just wait. If they live there life with them and no problem you saved money. If they get one tore up have it taken off then. Just keep them trimed short like the rest.
I'm pretty much against any surgery that is unnecessary. Weigh the risks of anesthesia against the risks of having dewclaws. 95% of the time surgeries will turn out fine, but you don't have to sign consent forms and all that for no reason. My first hound died as a result of anesthesia complications from one of the most common and simple surgeries--a dental.
Dew claws can be removed by cutting them OR banding them. I have never done it with dew claws but I have banded Doberman tails and it was, IMO, alot better on the pups than cutting. If your going to band the claws 3-5 days old is when they shoul be done....as with tails.
Do you have a specific concern that makes you want to remove them or is it just that you've heard some people remove them and want to get general opinions before you decide? There are some reasons for removing them and reasons for letting them be. Also, it may matter whether they are on the front feet or on the back feet.
They help the dog run due to increased traction, they help them climb, they can do damage to a female during breeding if the male has them on the front feet, they can get caught on things and injured, the nails have to be cut more often than any of the dog's other toenails because they don't wear against the ground and some breeds have requirements in the breed standard for no dewclaws.
None of my dogs has ever had a problem with their dewclaws other than my annoyance at having to trim them all the time. If you forget they can curl back into the dog and it gets hard to fit the nail clippers around them.
I've never heard of removing a coonhound's dew claws.
I thought that would be surgery to improve looks or correct problems, but the breed standard says 'rear dew claws removed' under Redbone and Walker. This seems to contradict: 22. The following is NOT allowed: c. Surgery to cover a genetic or structural fault, such as ears, eyes, muscular or skeletal. I don't know much about the show stuff, though. I have never noticed rear dew claws on a coonhound, mine don't have them. I'll sure be looking now!
Dirty Jobs on Discovery just had him up on a sled dog ranch. They removed dew claws at age two days with hemostats, didn't even bleed, came right off. The pups barely noticed, the dew claws looked like the stinger from a bee.
Both of my hounds have dew claws on their front paws and I have never had any problems with them getting caught on anything. They grow a bit faster than the other nails so you just have to be sure to keep them trimmed.
_________________ Nicole )0(
Owner of no good, lazy, flea bitten, front porch lounging, biscuit eating blueticks. But I love 'em anyway.
both mine have theirs. never had any conmplitcations. never trim them either...my buddies walker had one ripped off while hunting...but he has alot of troubles with his feet getting ripped open and stuff like that, dont know if the dew claw was linked to weak feet or not, but ive never had any problems, and like i said, i think my females had hers trimmed once in three yrs.
Huck only has front, and they don't need trimming anymore than other nails. She is a climber. I wonder if her always trying to climb, even when there is no way she'll be able to get up, is why her dew claws don't get super long.
All of my dogs still have theirs and I've never seen a bit of problems out of any of them. The only time I've seen a dog have some difficulty with them is when we were hog huntin in some of the thickest briars and bushes you have ever seen. One of the dogs got one ripped up pretty good on a briar or somethin. You wanna talk about a mess right there.
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