Dew claws in livestock guardians

If you have a dog in your life you may have seen their dew claws and thought “why do they have a claw there?”. More active dogs, such as border collies, actually use that dew claw to help grip better when running through rough terrain. You may notice when playing if your dog uses their paws more they can actually get a better grip on their toys when engaging with their dew claws. But these are the dew claws on the front feet, what about those breeds that have hind dew claws? This is less common, and for most breeds considered a vestigial digit, which is a digit that serves no known purpose currently. There are some differences in the hind dew claw, and the front. The rear actually has a small bone that creates the digit. 

There are also breeds that have a double hind dew claw. All of these breeds can be tracked down to one similarity: Guardianship. The Icelandic sheepdog, Beauceron, Briard, Spanish Mastiff and the Great Pyrenees are prime examples, in fact they are some of the only dog breeds that have double hind dew claws in their standards. These dog breeds use those dew claws to dig into the ground to gain traction and force when defending their charges. We use Great Pyrenees at our farm and have seen them go on alert, they do not hesitate to run over rocky and uneven terrain when they think their flock is in danger. 

We like to say our border collies are “all terrain” dogs, but the Pyrenees are the true all terrain breed.