We have a male lab that did not have it done.I figured no big deal, that is until we headed east for a pheasant trip (the only bird trip I have ever taken with my Dad and Brothers). About half way through the first hour of running hard through very tough crusted snow he starts limping and leaving blood in the snow. He had pulled both his dew claws back far enough to tear the under side. We loaded him in the truck and with the old shirt and duck tape I had bandaged him up as best we could. He seemed fine with it so we hunted the rest of the morning and headed home. For the ride home we took off the bandages and chewed off the dew claws! We stopped by the vet and he looked him over, trimmed a little more off bandaged him up and gave us a good talking to about good pet care.
This all could have been avoided had it been done at anytime prior to that trip, the situation took a little away from our only trip together, and I really felt bad for our dog. Since then ALL may dogs have the dew claws removed, we had two litters over the years and I had that appointment set as soon as the pups were on the ground.
No, it may not be a requirement but man what a pain if something goes wrong. Even a dog that lives in a small yard in the city can have issues with it. Get your pup from someone who cares enough about their dogs and pups to spend the few bucks to get this taken care of. I understand that some folks do not know all there is to know, but for your pups' sake remove this potential injury
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Congrats on a great Christmas gift, put in the time with it as a pup and you will have a great family member for years
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