Dew Claw Removal*

The dew claw is a tiny toe on the feet of a dog that grows in partway up the leg rather than down with the other four toes. It is essentially a 'thumb', and serves no purpose on a Siberian other than to catch on things. As a general rule, we remove dew claws from puppies when they are approximately four days old.

Conformation Showing

Removing the front dew claws on a puppy produces a cleaner look on the foot, and is often desired by people who will be showing their dogs in conformation.

Mushing

The dew claw is actually a danger to the dog in mushing activities. It tends to get caught on the booties worn in the snow, and can also get caught on ganglines. For this reason, nearly all mushers insist on removing the dew claws at an early age so they won't have an injured foot to deal with out on the trail.

*Note: We strive to remove dew claws on all our puppies, so that they will have less risk of injury as adults. Sometimes we are unable to do it during that brief window of opportunity before they're a week old, and the dew claws do not get removed.

This page was last modified on Friday, 24 August 2007