Dutch Shepherd Forum

kchristy wrote:I guess it depends on what you are putting in the homemade.

True. If "homemade" would mean pizza and french fries, I would say, stay with the kibble!

vneerland wrote:Not sure what page that would have been, but it is not true. DS's DO have dewclaws. Not usually on the hind legs, but certainly on the front. They are not typically removed, certainly not in Europe, where, I believe, it is practically illegal to remove anything these days!

Adding to that, I have never met a DS in Europe without the claws on the frontlegs, hindleg-claws were usually removed. It is no longer allowed to remove those...but somehow you still hardly ever see them...

Marjolein wrote:Adding to that, I have never met a DS in Europe without the claws on the frontlegs, hindleg-claws were usually removed. It is no longer allowed to remove those...but somehow you still hardly ever see them...

I have never had a DS born with them. (but I did have a malinois pup that had them) Here, you are allowed to remove whatever you like so those came off pretty soon after he was born. They were not attached to the bone and he did not even cry. It was not for cosmetic reasons that I chose to remove them, but because they will almost certainly injure a working dog back there, while the front ones are almost always used as thumbs.
In Europe, if a working dog has them on the hind legs, at what point could they be removed? Do they really have to hang up on something and tear themselves up first?

Its definitely interesting the way some things are the norm in one county and completely unexceptable in another. I had never heard of dogs having the dewclaws removed, until we got my son a dachshund and the breeder asked if we wanted them removed.

vneerland wrote: In Europe, if a working dog has them on the hind legs, at what point could they be removed? Do they really have to hang up on something and tear themselves up first?

yup. And you probabely know what that injury would look like, way worse than a little cut on a 1 day old pup with the nerves not even developed to that part of the body. They don't cry, most don't even bleed. But it is no longer allowed. I had to leave them on for the two that had them in my litter. One died (Ukkie) the other one I adviced to have them removed as they x-ray the hips The owners are allowed to do that. But if I do it as a breeder, I will be fined, or even be on a breeder "black list", not allowing me to breed dogs anymore, EVER

Good Lord. That is CRAZY!!
Europe has a tendency anyway, to stick their nose in things that are none of their business. What about personal responsibilty? I understand that you should not hurt an animal intentionally, but for heavens sakes, the removal of a dew claw is absolutely minor 'surgery', especially compared to the damage that can be done.

Regarding the diet issue...

I feed raw to my own kids, so I am in no way against it. But I would hesitate to just jumping in to feeding a 7 week old growing puppy that way. They need pretty specific nutrition, balances, etc. I know many people who say "I raised all of my dogs that way...." However, I have seen enough dogs be down in their hocks or develop other abnormalities caused by well meaning individuals who didn't have the right diet.

If you are planning to raise a pup on raw, really do your research. Also, check into your local vet school, as they often have nutritional labs that will analyze your diet, make recommendations or even have specific raw diet plans to help a newbee.

Thanks for the advice