Dew claws

[ScrotesOnFire]

How short should they be...?

I ask because my girl frequently damages hers, I don't think they are particularly long.

After the most recent incident where she once again snapped one right through the quick close to her leg leaving a tiny, black, bloody stump I asked the vet to remove them but then read about how doing so causes later arthritis, dogs use them etc etc decided against it.

I have been filing the stump nail daily to keep it mega short and am just waiting for her to snap the other one when her normal walks resume

How short do I need to keep them to stop her injuring herself?

Or should I bite the bullet and just get them removed...

I wonder why she keeps damaging them, are they straight or curly?
My lab's dew claws curl over and would eventually stick into the skin if they weren't cut. he's 6 and has never damaged them, uses them a lot to hold food as he's raw fed.
Perhaps you should ask vet's advice.

They are straight and very normal looking!
The non stumpy one is a perfectly normal, average length...

I think its from sudden twists and turns when she's playing with her ball or other dogs.
Virtually always on grass so a soft surface though!

It's quite upsetting to return home and hear her whining and pacing and biting her leg, on inspection, I will almost always find a bloody mess.

I think if she keeps damaging them, then they need to come off. DDog1 had his removed as his original owners had obviously tried to remove them, but badly, so when he was neutered they came off.

But what about the arthritis risk?
I'm 99.9% sure she is already mildly dysplasic, I wouldn't want to add arthritis onto that....
If I keep them as stumps, will that not be enough to stop damage?

It's a hard call to make.

I've looked for a proper paper on this (and I know a lot of vet stuff never gets written up), and theres nothing. Just lots of people referring to 'canine athletes without dew claws getting more carpal arthritis' . Trouble is, that unless it was matched dogs, half of which had their dew claws removed as puppies, the others without, doing the same things you dont get the full picture - some may have had them removed when they damaged them, maybe because they moved oddly or whatever.