rear dew claws on patt

[Ripstop 89]

a dew is a dew mate, mine had them front and back, never a poblem, but if a choice then a would have them off.

[bobcullen79 1,495]

My Patt bitch has them on the front legs,but they seem well connected,dont cause problems and improve her grip,unlike the floppy ones on a mate pair of rotti`s that look awful. The jack pup I got a few months back looks like it had them done at birth.

[Mosby 355]

I didn't know it was uncommon. I had a pup with loose hindfeet dewclaws out of a 2nd generation outcross to totally different breeds.

[Attack Fell Terrier 864]

My Patt bitch has them on the front legs,but they seem well connected,dont cause problems and improve her grip,unlike the floppy ones on a mate pair of rotti`s that look awful. The jack pup I got a few months back looks like it had them done at birth.

 

I seen exactly the same thing on a Rotty a while back on the rear feet, they looked horrible, and couldn't serve a purpose so should of been taken off IMO.

[Waz 4,266]

Have seen it a lot in big breeds, probably only really a cosmetic thing unless its a running dog.

[Tomm Parr 30]

Dewclaws are no more than a dog's fifth digit, the equivalent of our thumbs.

 

The main difference is that our fifth digit evolved to be useful (becoming a thumb opposite our fingers, in order to use tools), whereas a dogs' fifth digit evolved to become obselete, as it was not needed in a running mammal: Tens of thousand of years ago the wolf's ancestors became longer legged and leaner, ultimately becoming the wolf. Hence the now useless dew claw. If dogs are still around in a few thousands of years, dew claws might have disappeared completely, as they are an evolutionary dead-end in dogs.

 

In fact, most mammals have a fith digit, some useful like us, some useless like dogs, others that are half/half in evolutionary terms, like the deer or pig.

Edited March 20, 2011 by Tomm Parr