BYC Café

[FortCluck]

The ones I am talking about were Shetland Sheepdogs and Lhasa Apsos.

Love those breeds

 

[CapricornFarm]

Love those breeds

Yeah, Shelties seem to be hard to come by around here. I have a Shepherd and a Papillon now.

 

[FortCluck]

Yeah, Shelties seem to be hard to come by around here. I have a Shepherd and a Papillon now.

EEEKKKK papillons are so cute! I haven't seen a sheltie around in my area

 

[CapricornFarm]

EEEKKKK papillons are so cute! I haven't seen a sheltie around in my area

Yes, Paps are hard to find too! And this one is super friendly. She loves everyone!

 

[FortCluck]

Yes, Paps are hard to find too! And this one is super friendly. She loves everyone!

Sounds like Jolene. She wants to kiss everyone and share her toys with everyone.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Supper time!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Also, as to removing dew claws, I know most breeders remove them still but some are starting to not and I think if I ever got one, I would look for one that didn’t now after doing research on the topic.

Not that I would decline a dog that had them removed but they’re starting to say that dogs do use them and they’re attached to muscle.

Helps prevent torque on the leg or it twisting too much. Also helps in getting out of icy water, etc. and all our dogs always held bones and toys and stuff with them.

The rear ones are basically useless but they do use the front ones.

And especially in active dogs doing a lot of hunting or high intensity sports like agility, they can develop arthritis in the wrists later from it.

Here is a good article on the topic and some videos. The article is short but good.

http://www.sugarfactoryvetclinicmt.com/resources/medical-articles/do-the-dew-claws/

Also, for the record, I do not personally care if others choose to remove dew claws or whatever. That is their choice and I don’t judge. And I know people have done it for years and years and the dogs were always perfectly fine.

But just, for me personally, moving forward, I will always try to leave them intact and/or find a breeder who does this if possible.

I’ve seen how much all the dogs I know that have them use them so doesn’t feel right to me, personally, taking them when I know they use them a ton and would probably rather have them.

But it is personal choice and dogs are very adaptive.

Heck, a lot of dogs get around perfectly fine on 3 legs! Not that I advocate lopping a dogs legs off LOL

But dogs adapt so either way is fine but I prefer to leave them.
Much like I now prefer to leave the dogs intact as long as possible after researching.

I think that is key too.... doing your own research and deciding for yourself which is what I have done.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I love all of those breeds. Shelties are super cute but I worry about the barking

 

[FortCluck]

Also, as to removing dew claws, I know most breeders remove them still but some are starting to not and I think if I ever got one, I would look for one that didn’t now after doing research on the topic.

Not that I would decline a dog that had them removed but they’re starting to say that dogs do use them and they’re attached to muscle.

Helps prevent torque on the leg or it twisting too much. Also helps in getting out of icy water, etc. and all our dogs always held bones and toys and stuff with them.

The rear ones are basically useless but they do use the front ones.

And especially in active dogs doing a lot of hunting or high intensity sports like agility, they can develop arthritis in the wrists later from it.

Here is a good article on the topic and some videos. The article is short but good.

http://www.sugarfactoryvetclinicmt.com/resources/medical-articles/do-the-dew-claws/

Also, for the record, I do not personally care if others choose to remove dew claws or whatever. That is their choice and I don’t judge. And I know people have done it for years and years and the dogs were always perfectly fine.

But just, for me personally, moving forward, I will always try to leave them intact and/or find a breeder who does this if possible.

I’ve seen how much all the dogs I know that have them use them so doesn’t feel right to me, personally, taking them when I know they use them a ton and would probably rather have them.

But it is personal choice and dogs are very adaptive.

Heck, a lot of dogs get around perfectly fine on 3 legs! Not that I advocate lopping a dogs legs off LOL

But dogs adapt so either way is fine but I prefer to leave them.
Much like I now prefer to leave the dogs intact as long as possible after researching.

I think that is key too.... doing your own research and deciding for yourself which is what I have done.

All of mine have theirs. Most of mine are mutts and rescues so it's not like I truly care about their breed or if they have dew claws

 

[ShrekDawg]

All of mine have theirs. Most of mine are mutts and rescues so it's not like I truly care about their breed or if they have dew claws

Yeah, that makes sense. All the ones I know are rescues too except Gator we did buy but he was from a BYB.

I don’t really care if they have them or not or would never turn a dog away because of it but every dog I know with them uses them all the time so that’s reason enough for me to keep them lol Plus all the new research coming out about how important they are. At least for active dogs. Which mine would be because I plan on doing agility and/or dock diving plus nose work but that’s not really super active/hard on the body haha