This small claw on the back of a dog’s leg is the hind dewclaw. What about the hind dewclaws?Ī lot of people might think that dewclaws are loose, useless appendages. You may also have noticed that your dog will use his dewclaws when holding on to his favorite chew toy. The dewclaw gives the mastiff some help and control while grooming, especially when they clean their heads and faces. However, these functions are minor, such as helping then balance while the dog is moving on uneven terrain or coming back onto land after swimming. So what is this extra toe intended for?Ī mastiff’s dewclaw has several functions. However, you may notice that while a mastiff is walking or playing, their dew claws don’t touch the ground. Therefore, this is why some people refer to them as a canine thumb. It is in the same position that a thumb would be on the human hand. However, Mastiffs also have a fifth toe on their front legs. Mastiffs still have dewclaws or “spur” that may have had some sort of function in the past.ĭomestic dogs have four primary toes on their paws. Interesting enough, some dogs have “thumbs” but they no longer need these appendages. Also, the appendix perhaps had a digestive function at some point in the past. The tailbone shows us that maybe at some time in the past humans had tails. When it comes to useless body parts on humans, consider the tailbone or appendix. This is much like the dewclaws on mastiffs. However, some parts are stuck in the limbo or remain on the bod y and are no longer useful. It was also getting close to dinnertime with nothing prepared, so we ordered Indian food which was delivered thirty minutes later.Īs for Ollie, he is back to his old self, apparently unaware of the drama he caused by getting his claw caught in a rug.Do mastiffs have thumbs? During the slow course of evolution, body parts adapt and change.
#Ed dew claw dog serial
Ollie was able to go for hs usual walk when we got home, my breakfast was eaten in the late afternoon, and my weekly supermarket big shop happened hours later than usual, causing my fiction serial blog post to appear rather late in the day. ($130)Īs a result of having to do that, my day was running over three hours late. The bill for the 10-minute treatment and medicine was £101. The Vet felt that should be enough, although she had also prescribed antibiotics in case the wound became infected. They had cut the claw down to the level of damage, and stopped the bleeding by applying pressure. He had indeed torn the claw down to the quick, but it was still attached firmly, and the digit was not affected. Ten minutes later, she returned with a happy Ollie, who no longer had our bandage on his leg. When we saw the triage nurse she said she wanted to let a Vet examine the injury, and took Ollie into the treatment area at the back while I waited in reception. On arrival at the Vet’s, there was a very long delay, because of earlier appointments over-running. When I went to wake up Ollie, I was amazed to see that he had not chewed the bandage off during the night, and he went out into the garden without limping. With some cajoling and struggling, she managed to secure the neat bandage with tape, and although Ollie didn’t like the feel of the bandaged foot, he eventually relaxed.Įarly on Monday morning, I rang the Vet as soon as they opened, and I was lucky to get an appointment around midday.
For the first time ever, Ollie tried to bite Julie as she applied the roller bandage, an indication of how bad the pain was. We decided that we would have to apply a bandage to the area, in case his vestigial ‘thumb’ was compromised. The wound was bleeding, and every time he tried to lie down, he caught it and screamed again. When he calmed down enough for us to investigate, we discovered that the dewclaw on his left front leg had caught in the rug fibres, and had almost been ripped off.
As he did so, he let out a terrible scream, like a small baby being injured. Late Sunday afternoon, Ollie was sleeping soundly on his rug in the hallway when a noise outside made him jump up to investigate.
0 kommentar(er)
