Dewclaw

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The dog's front dewclaw grows on the side of the foot, above the other four toes but below the carpal pad. This one is well worn from contact with the ground when the dog is running.

A dewclaw is a vestigial digit of the paw of many mammals, birds, and reptiles (including some extinct orders, like certain therapods). It grows higher on the leg so that in digitigrade species, when the animal is standing, it does not make contact with the ground.

[edit] Dogs

Dogs almost always have dewclaws on the inside of the front legs and occasionally on the hind legs. Unlike the front dewclaws, the rear dewclaws tend to have little bone or muscle structure in most breeds. There is some debate about whether the dewclaw helps dogs to gain traction when they run because, in some dogs, the dewclaw makes contact when they are running and the nail on the dewclaw often wears down in the same way that the toenails on their other toes do, from friction with running surfaces. However, in many dogs, the dewclaws never make contact with the ground; in this case, the dewclaw's nail never wears away, and it must be trimmed to keep it at a safe length.

It is notable that the dewclaws are not dead appendages. They can be used to lightly grip bones and other items that dogs hold with the paws.

This dog's dewclaw never makes contact with the ground and has grown.

There is also some debate as to whether dewclaws should be surgically removed. The argument for removal states that dewclaws are a weak digit, barely attached to the leg, so that they can rip partway off or easily catch on something and break, which can be painful and prone to infection.

In some countries removing the dewclaws is illegal, as removing it is unnecessarily painful to the dog, in addition to the fact that the dewclaw will rarely or never suffer injury leading to amputation.

In addition, for those dogs whose dewclaws make contact with the ground when they run, it is possible that removing them could be a disadvantage for a dog's speed in running and changing of direction, particularly in performance dog sports such as dog agility.

There also exists in folklore a story which claims that dogs that have not had their dewclaws removed are immune to snakebite. In America, pups are commonly sold by breeders "dewclawed", that is with the dewclaws removed (as by a vet) for perceived health and safety reasons.