I have a male chihuahua. My sister has 1 male & 1 female. I was clipping their nails one day and noticed both males have only four toes on their back legs and the female has five. I was just curious. Anyone know why?
2006-10-21 10:06:54 · 8 answers · asked by Jess 2 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Four toes is normal. The fifth toe, actually the first digit, is no longer functional, and if it is present is called the "dewclaw." The first digit is the equivalent of our thumb, and through evolution, the first digit of the dog virtually disappeared.
Sometimes dogs are born with the dewclaw, but owners will often have them removed when the pups are still quite young. This isn't quite the same as declawing a cat... the dewclaw most of the time isn't attached to the leg and can be snipped off without much or any bleeding and leaving virtually no open wound.
2006-10-21 10:12:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The extra toe is called a dewclaw. Some dogs are born with them and some arent. Also when they are not older than 5 days old some breeders take the puppies to the vet to have their dewclaws removed because they can cause problems later on in life.
2006-10-21 10:16:18 · answer #2 · answered by apha_barrelracer 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Genetics help to answer that question. Many times inbreeding will cause genetic mutations such as the loss of limbs but other times it is simply a characteristic of a breed. I too have a male chihuahua and he only has four toes on each of his hind and fore legs.
2006-10-21 10:40:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The female is the odd one out. I used to have cats that had the same mutation - some would have six or seven toes on one paw. Nothing to stress out about, just a freak genetic mutation.
2006-10-21 14:53:45 · answer #4 · answered by Kate 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
why would you conclude that there was something wrong with both males when the female is the odd one out? four toes is natural, not mutation. five toes is the one that is weird.
2006-10-21 11:09:16 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I raise Chihuahuas,and have never seen one that has five in the back. They have four in the front plus the dew claw and four in the back.
2006-10-21 10:13:41 · answer #6 · answered by BARB 1 · 0⤊ 3⤋
this is normal, no cause for worry
2006-10-21 10:37:36 · answer #7 · answered by gallopingboo 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
LMAO!!!
"ONLY 4"???
That's what they're SUPPOSED to have!!!FRONT *&* BACK!!
LOL!! the *5* is the WRONG one!!!
Are they such CRAP that their ignorant/lazy/CHEAP "back-yard-breeder" didn't remove their DEWS????
2006-10-22 01:40:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋