That's a pretty cool video. I know I've seen my pups use their front dew claws for various things, the most significant being to hold things between their paws.
I have seen London use his in a lot of circumstances - holding onto things/keeping them steady, climbing up rock surfaces, etc. London's look very "strong", almost like another toe, compared to TK's (who has very "compact" dewclaws).
I've also seen TK use them in a situation that was very similar to this video.
Not ice, but TK would NOT use the beach to get to shore when he was swimming once. Instead, he clawed himself out via the cement "dock" in the water. Now that I've seen this video, I realize that TK was using a similar style - rolling his feet out and using his dewclaws to sink himself in and pull himself up.
Here's a comparison of dews I did as a science experiment... because.
London - a truly "arctic" breed - had what I'd consider the strongest-looking dews. He has a lot of toe in comparison to the rest and has really strong claws on those toes. The nails on his dews are just as strong as the nails on his primary toes.
TK had a similar foot structure, but he didn't have as much flexible 'toe'. His nails on his dews are fairly comparable to the ones on his primary toes, though... they're a little long right now because I'm still working on trimming them back (his nails were super long when I got him).
Ayla - an Anatolian X - had what I'd call the "weakest" dews in comparison to her primary toes. Her nails weren't really flimsy, but her "dew toes" seemed really poorly connected? I don't know how to describe it. Her feet are also very different in shape (likely because she's a much different breed of dog~).
As a side note... she has REALLY tiny feet for such a large dog! How strange! I didn't really notice before...
The 'arctic' comment was meant to reference the possibility that they are meant as 'ice picks'. It seemed to make sense, in that regard, that London has really string dews.
No problem! Anything for SCIENCE (and my own strange curiosity). Thanks for sharing such an awesome video.
My contribution for science! (Skip the pics if you are squeamish!)
Kouda snagged his right dewclaw Sunday morning and separated the nail from the quick.
Over the course of the day the nail loosened and fell off. Despite the redness, there was no blood. We gave him metacam for pain and went to see the vet first thing Monday.
That happened to London a few months back. I came home and he'd been nursing it for a while. He took it pike a champ and there was very little blood, just like Kouda. I didn't take him to the vet for it, but kept an eye on it. It healed nicely w/o issue.
The vet said it is a fairly common injury, and they see about 2 cases a month. Makes me think dewclaws aren't so useful after all! :P
Kouda is taking it in stride so far. He was super clingy on Sunday and spent most of the day on my lap. He's back to being playful now, but we are limiting his activities till it heals up (skipped agility class yesterday). @Crispy, it's good to know we can expect a full recovery. We were half expecting there to be permanent cosmetic damage.
@ttddinh, the vet numbed the area and shaved the fur so he could clean it up - he trimmed the jagged edge of the quick and sanitized it. He prescribed antibiotics for infection, and told us to not wrap it. To keep Kouda from licking it, he had to wear his cone for a few days.
Like @Crispy, we probably didn't NEED to go to the vet since the nail had already fallen off by then, but since he was so uncomfortable we wanted to. And after reading horror stories on the net about emergency vets removing entire toes for nail breaks, we waited through that painful Sunday.
Picture from today, a week later. The quick has darkened and could probably pass for a normal nail if we didn't know any better. Since Wednesday, he's been romping around inside, and since yesterday outside, with no concern.
I was most worried about it getting infected since it was raw and open. I found London's quick "hardened" kind of like what @zandame is experiencing now pretty quickly and I no longer worried about it. I certainly don't blame you for going to the vet! I totally would have taken him if it had happened while I was present. Since it was like "old news" by the time I got home, I didn't see the need unless it did get infected.
Today I hiked the dogs out to a pond, which is remote, BUT at some point someone dragged in 10" planks and lay them from shore across some bog mats and logs to make a narrow bridge that gets you out where its deeper and therefore less weedy. The dogs like to walk out on the planks and mess around on the little 'islands.' While on shore, I found a nice smooth dry stick and Matsu brightened- he wanted to fetch and swim! So after a few from shore, I wondered if he'd jump off the plank into the deep water, so I asked him to Go Out on the planks and he did, dancing with anticipation. I threw the stick off to the side and he jumped up and with a big splash landed and swam for the stick. He retrieved it back to me on the planks, and hauled himself out, exactly like this video. At first I thought I should give him a lift, but then I remembered this video and just watched and encouraged him- he did it three times! I think it is really great for him to know he can do this, first on slippery wet wood, and then maybe if he ever needs to do it on ice, at least he has the experience he'll know what to try and that he can persist and succeed.
I should add that watching him work- diving, swimming, and hauling out, then later running, dodging trees and leaping fallen logs- really gave me a great appreciation for his current fitness and athleticism. I love my Matsu, Matsu Man!
Interesting video, kind of scary with the thin ice.....I guess really helpful as grappling hooks . I know when well attached dogs use dewclaws in a variety of ways.
According to Dr. Zink, one of the leading DVMs experts on sports injuries. The dewclaws help keep the tendons aligned on the leg and assists in keeping carpal injuries to a minimum.
"5 tendons attached to the dewclaw. At the other end of a tendon is a muscle, and that means that if you cut off the dew claws, there are 5 muscle bundles that will become atrophied from disuse. Those muscles indicate that the dewclaws have a function. That function is to prevent torque on the leg".
Ref Zink, C. (post date unknown). Retrieved from www.secrethavenkennel.com/resources/DewClawExplanation.pdf
Dew claws are for jabbing into your leg when the dog puts its paw on you for attention. See, the other nails are smooth because they come into contact with the ground, so they need that one to stay sharp and stab you into attention in case you were trying to do something else.
Front dews aren't removed on Japanese Akitas and I think dogs without them look weird. People say they look cleaner that way, like trimming whiskers (also something not done in our breed, but which is done in American Akitas). Doesn't look cleaner to me. Just weird.
That said, I have one dog with a little vestigial nothing dew claw in the back, and I wish it had been removed. Its way down by his paw and I keep waiting for a snag. If ever I have a reason to have him knocked out for something, I'm going to have that fixed too.
I didnt know whiskers get trimmed on dogs, though I suppose I shouldnt be surprised given all the grooming and chalking and poufing that goes on. I have seen it done on horses though- and not for conformation shows, either, for performance events. I feel kinda bad they dont have their whiskers, but what can I say? I love a shaggy horse or cow in their winter coat, my naturally good looking no-groom rugged kai kens, and my guy with a good few days' stubble!
human hands will look clean without thumb. i don't see why they cut dog's dew claw. seems like they are too lazy to keep up with their dog's dew claws.
When I trim a long haired dog's face, the whiskers get trimmed as well, but just because they are caught up in the hair. I have never heard of trimming a short haired dog's whiskers, but I'm not a show groomer either. It just seems weird. I love their little whiskers!
In a collision of two eras of my life, I suddenly remembered that years ago when I was active on an ice hockey goalie forum one of the skate mods some goalies made was to attach a small metal ridge to the inside edge of the toe of each skate- essentially giving themselves a 'dewclaw' to allow a goalie in a wide stance to not slip out when the angle gets too severe and the boot of the skate hits the ice, OR to allow the goalie to push off with the 'dew claw' of one skate while on their knees and slide across on the knee of the other leg.
This is just like the dogs in the video- in a wide stance, the foot/skate is rolled inward to engage the claw/extra ridge for stability. I wondered why this seemed familiar...
This ridge reduces sudden injury making moves in a very fast game with some really awkward technical postures. The little aftermarket blade, called OverDrive blade, was controversial and outlawed in most pro leagues as admins felt that it gave the goalies too much advantage (and fans want to see goals, dammit!), and this trickled down to lower levels as developing goalies would need to learn to play without it if they were to advance so there was no sense in letting them get used to it. It remains an available mod for beer leaguers and their dogs though...
@WrylyBrindle That is so cool! I totally want those if I get iceskates. I did some pretty crazy stuff with my rollerblades and know I'd hurt myself with iceskates if I didn't have something like that on them.
Comments
My last three dogs had their removed by breeder and one by shelter..
Luckily they lived in Louisiana so no frozen ponds to mess with.
Saya and Bella have their dew claws mainly uses them for chew toys and stuff.
I've also seen TK use them in a situation that was very similar to this video.
Not ice, but TK would NOT use the beach to get to shore when he was swimming once. Instead, he clawed himself out via the cement "dock" in the water. Now that I've seen this video, I realize that TK was using a similar style - rolling his feet out and using his dewclaws to sink himself in and pull himself up.
Here's a comparison of dews I did as a science experiment... because.
London - a truly "arctic" breed - had what I'd consider the strongest-looking dews. He has a lot of toe in comparison to the rest and has really strong claws on those toes. The nails on his dews are just as strong as the nails on his primary toes.
TK had a similar foot structure, but he didn't have as much flexible 'toe'. His nails on his dews are fairly comparable to the ones on his primary toes, though... they're a little long right now because I'm still working on trimming them back (his nails were super long when I got him).
Ayla - an Anatolian X - had what I'd call the "weakest" dews in comparison to her primary toes. Her nails weren't really flimsy, but her "dew toes" seemed really poorly connected? I don't know how to describe it. Her feet are also very different in shape (likely because she's a much different breed of dog~).
As a side note... she has REALLY tiny feet for such a large dog! How strange! I didn't really notice before...
No problem! Anything for SCIENCE (and my own strange curiosity).
Thanks for sharing such an awesome video.
Kouda snagged his right dewclaw Sunday morning and separated the nail from the quick.
Over the course of the day the nail loosened and fell off. Despite the redness, there was no blood. We gave him metacam for pain and went to see the vet first thing Monday.
Shaved and cleaned
Kouda is taking it in stride so far. He was super clingy on Sunday and spent most of the day on my lap. He's back to being playful now, but we are limiting his activities till it heals up (skipped agility class yesterday). @Crispy, it's good to know we can expect a full recovery. We were half expecting there to be permanent cosmetic damage.
Thumbs up!
Like @Crispy, we probably didn't NEED to go to the vet since the nail had already fallen off by then, but since he was so uncomfortable we wanted to. And after reading horror stories on the net about emergency vets removing entire toes for nail breaks, we waited through that painful Sunday.
Picture from today, a week later. The quick has darkened and could probably pass for a normal nail if we didn't know any better. Since Wednesday, he's been romping around inside, and since yesterday outside, with no concern.
I should add that watching him work- diving, swimming, and hauling out, then later running, dodging trees and leaping fallen logs- really gave me a great appreciation for his current fitness and athleticism. I love my Matsu, Matsu Man!
According to Dr. Zink, one of the leading DVMs experts on sports injuries. The dewclaws help keep the tendons aligned on the leg and assists in keeping carpal injuries to a minimum.
"5 tendons attached to the dewclaw. At the other end of a tendon is a muscle, and that means that if you cut off the dew claws, there are 5 muscle bundles that will become atrophied from disuse. Those muscles indicate that the dewclaws have a function. That function is to prevent torque on the leg".
Ref
Zink, C. (post date unknown). Retrieved from www.secrethavenkennel.com/resources/DewClawExplanation.pdf
That said, I have one dog with a little vestigial nothing dew claw in the back, and I wish it had been removed. Its way down by his paw and I keep waiting for a snag. If ever I have a reason to have him knocked out for something, I'm going to have that fixed too.
This is just like the dogs in the video- in a wide stance, the foot/skate is rolled inward to engage the claw/extra ridge for stability. I wondered why this seemed familiar...
This ridge reduces sudden injury making moves in a very fast game with some really awkward technical postures. The little aftermarket blade, called OverDrive blade, was controversial and outlawed in most pro leagues as admins felt that it gave the goalies too much advantage (and fans want to see goals, dammit!), and this trickled down to lower levels as developing goalies would need to learn to play without it if they were to advance so there was no sense in letting them get used to it. It remains an available mod for beer leaguers and their dogs though...