Dew Claws Removed

Today was the day when I took the pups to have their Dew Claws removed.  I put the whelping box in the back of our car, and drove Dixie and the puppies to the veterinary.  Dixie nursed them all the way there and back.  When we arrived at the veterinary, I only had to take the puppies away from their mamma for about 15 minutes.  (which at this age is as traumatic for Dixie as it is for the puppies)

Dixie is panting heavily as we put her in the car.  She is nervous that we have moved her puppies.

The puppies have Dew Claws on their front paws and sometimes on their back paws too.  Actually 3 puppies had no Dew Claws on the their back paws, while 3 did have Dew Claws on the back paws.   Its just a genetic difference ....and kind of a funny one, I think.

So why do we remove do claws?  The reason is that the Dew Claws serve no purpose.  But they can be a pain in the neck....I mean a pain in the paw.   What often happens is the claws get caught on things like rugs and they rip...which is extremely painful for the doggie.  Also the claws get in the way while grooming, and the claws can grow around and grow into the foot...and that is painful too.   So all around it is just so much better for the dog not to have them.

But you may wonder if it painful to remove?   When the vet removes the claws at 3-4 days old, the claws are so tiny they do not have any nerves there yet.  At least they snip them off with no anesthesia, and the pups make little objection.  There is just a tiny bit of bleeding...but not enough to even warrant the use of a bandage.  The puppies go right back to sleeping and there is no crying afterwards.   Occasionally when the veterinary picks up the puppy to do the procedure the puppy will start crying profusely ....but that is before he even snips the claw.  The cry is just an objection to being woken up and handled.

So I am happy to tell you that all the little dew claws have been removed.  The puppies had very little disruption in the process and they are happily back home in their box with their Mama.