# Puppy play and dewclaws Aside from the mouthy nature of my 11-week old, Ichi, I've come to notice he likes putting his paws on me and his dewclaws are downright lethal. I know they are optional in terms of a breed standard, but I'm curious to know from other owners whether their little shibas have them or not. Jesse ## Thread In Shiba Inu · started by CrimsonO2 · 12 replies - **Category:** [Shiba Inu](https://nihonken.org/community/c/shiba-inu) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## CrimsonO2 · 2008-10-23T01:15:30.000Z Aside from the mouthy nature of my 11-week old, Ichi, I've come to notice he likes putting his paws on me and his dewclaws are downright lethal. I know they are optional in terms of a breed standard, but I'm curious to know from other owners whether their little shibas have them or not. Jesse ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-10-23T01:44:25.000Z Mine all do, they were born with them so they must serve a purpose, and I imagine to remove them would be a lot like declawing a cat, and both are something I could never do to an animal. My mom's dog (who turned 13 or 14 this year) still has both declaws, no issues, and she was a crazy rat terrier in her day! ## Kaddy · 2008-10-23T01:46:55.000Z Keiko doesn't have them... I was actually kind of surprised. Although... now that you describe them as lethal, I guess I'm lucky ;o) ## Nekopan · 2008-10-23T01:57:42.000Z It is up to the breeder whether or not to remove dewclaws from the pups. It's done within a few days of birth. The theory behind removing them is that it is much less painful and messy than to have them torn off accidentally later in life. ## CrimsonO2 · 2008-10-23T02:34:00.000Z Ichi's are definitely attached to bone, but I may talk with my vet about removing them while the dog is under anesthesia for neutering. Oh well, I'll be talking with my vet this weekend for Ichi's 12-week shots. Thanks, Jesse ## MommyofNiko · 2008-10-23T08:28:12.000Z Niko has them. The only hang up is they are hard to clip cause of the angle and she is a shiba of course! ## shikokufang · 2008-10-23T09:16:35.000Z Jan doesn't have them. They were removed by the breeder. She was part of an accidental litter between a rat terrier breeder's rat terrier and a mutt, but for some reason the breeder still declawed her. ## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2008-10-23T10:13:48.000Z Moto doesn't have them but Miko and Piglet do. As long as they are not getting stuck on anything they are fine. I would suggest clipping or grinding them down to minimize their lethal impact. ## KFontaine04 · 2008-10-23T10:29:58.000Z Neither of my Shiba's have them, but my moms dog a shitzu has them and he tears them constantly. She finally made an apointment to have them removed because he rips them all the time and has gotten a few infections from it. If they are not any trouble (other than the lethal nature!) I wouldn't worry about them, but if they become a problem to your baby I would suggest having them removed. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-10-23T10:42:36.000Z Once dogs are older, I think they only remove the dew claws if it were to become torn, and then risk infection. Dew claw infections can be pretty serious. They used to be removed on hunting dogs so that they would not get torn while running through tall grass. ## Ryu · 2008-10-23T23:23:52.000Z Ryu has both of his dewclaws. However, in June, his right dewclaw was torn out during play at daycare. It sucked. We couldn't get near the wound site and had to take him to the vet to get it checked out. Since it hurt like hell, that vet visit was the last straw and he became a nightmare at every visit afterwards. It eventually grew back but he still won't let anyone hold that paw. I just make sure to keep them trimmed and he hasn't had any problems since. ## AkiraleShiba · 2008-10-24T04:56:06.000Z Akira has his and likes to use them to grab bones, my hand, toys ... so I guess they are useful. I keep them short to avoid accidents hoping it will work ;) ## lindsayt · 2008-10-24T15:28:48.000Z The shiba standard allows dewclaws, they are a primitive breed and not supposed to be "touched up" in the way of grooming, etc. I really like that they are "wash and wear" so the dewclaws sort of go along with that. I imagine they serve the same purpose as a thumb (polydactyl is an advantage for dogs that climb, like the famous Lundehund, but are in the way for coursing breeds because they catch and rip). So, as long as they don't bother the dog by ripping and catching on things, have fun trimming them. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)