If you are a dog parent to a rottweiler, you might have noticed that extra nail on the upper inner side of your dog’s feet. This extra nail is known as a dew claw.
Rottweilers do have dew claws much like every other breed and this is a natural part of their body. They are located on both legs and can be described as the human equivalent of a thumb.
Rottweilers also have declaws on their back legs. Sometimes dew claws are connected to the dog’s bone, and sometimes they hang loose, attached to the leg by the skin.
Unfortunately, dew claws have certain tendencies to pose problems for your rottweiler’s health in the future, if not properly dealt with.
This article will talk about everything you need to know about dew claws rottweilers.
Table of Contents
Are Dew Claws Useful In Rottweilers?
Dew claws give traction to your rottweiler’s feet, especially when running fast and taking sharp turns, and their usefulness depends on their location.
When your rott’s front feet touch the ground at fast speeds, a larger surface area collides with the ground. The toes and the rest of the foot, all the way to the dew claws, touch the ground as well.
They help provide additional friction to the front paws, in making turns and handling speed. Which basically means that they are extremely important to your dog.
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Rear dew claws, however, do not seem to have such a highly functional value, although they also can assist with traction.
Why Do They Remove Dew Claws On Rottweilers?
Here are the 2 main reasons why people remove dew claws:
They Get Infections From Bruises
Rear dew claws can get cut and bruised in active dogs, so if your rottweiler runs around a lot and is very active in nature, it can easily hurt or wound its dew claws.
This can quickly lead to an infection, resulting in an expensive trip to the vet. So it is best to remove rear dew claws in your rottweiler if you do not want extra complications as your pup grows.
It’s The Standard For Show Dogs
If you’re into showing, which is a high possibility if you own a breed like a rottweiler, you might be tempted to remove its dew claws.
Show dogs are usually required to remove their dew claws (all of them) for a cleaner look, which is favored by the judges as well.
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But this is a highly subjective context since some judges prefer the natural look as well, and just snipping the rear dew claws will suffice on other occasions.
Should You Remove Rottweilers’ Dew Claws?
Removing dew claws is something that requires careful thinking. If it is the rear dew claws, removing them is a clever move since they can turn into infectious wounds in the future.
Removing dew claws will also help with the grooming process, especially when it comes to clipping nails. Leaving your rottweilers’ dew claws on will give you four additional nails to clip, and if you’ve clipped nails on a pup before, you KNOW how difficult and irritated they can get!
However, leaving them on is also entirely possible. It will give your pup a more natural look, and allow it to make use of the dew claws (the assistance with traction).
It will also be a more humane approach with your rottweiler, since dew claw removal, tail docking, and spaying are frowned upon by most dog owners now as it affects your dog’s natural processes.
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Additionally, if you are planning on placing your rottweiler in AKC events, removing the dew claws will also affect your rottweilers’ overall standing within the competitions.
Is Removing Dew Claws Cruel?
If you’re planning to take your rottweiler to the vet, you might be wondering and having second thoughts if removing dew claws is cruel and painful.
The answer is complicated and relies on how you see the issue. Removing your rottweiler’s rear dew claws (as explained earlier) is not something you need to feel guilty about, because they are mostly hanging loose and they have very little function.
Since they are hanging loose and not attached to the bone, their removal won’t be painful either. And it will save you multiple trips to the vet with infections in the future.
Removal of front dew claws in your rottweiler is a different story, since they are quite important functionally, and are attached to the bone.
Plus, it WILL be painful when they are removed, and recovery can take some time as well. Such removal will mostly be for aesthetic purposes and you might want to ask yourself if it’s worth it.
Final Thoughts
You CAN remove dew claws on your rottweiler, but it’s best if you do so with the rear claws only (since they pose an obvious threat to your pup’s health).
However, removing their front dew claws is inessential and painful, so they are best left untouched.
FAQs
Rottweilers DO have dew claws on their back legs. They are located on the upper area of the inside of their feet and will look like an additional finger that usually hangs loosely by the skin, unlike the front dew claws that are attached to the bone.
