I know that some breeders have the dewclaws removed on their dogs but this instance is kind of weird. When I went to trim Tasha's nails the other day (they looked like they hadn't been trimmed in awhile) I cut the dewclaw as well on her left front foot. When I went to trim the right foot though I noticed the dewclaw was missing. Gone like it never existed. No bump, scar or anything! Has anyone else ever seen this in a dog? Is it possible the vet removed them off a litter and missed one of her's thinking they had gotten it already? Or do you think it just never grew? Strange...

Our little guy doesn't have his dewclaws, so they must have been removed when we was young. I have a question though! What is the little black nub called that's about 2 inches above the dewclaw on the front legs? What's it for? So curious! :)

that is their heal I believe. Or at least thats what it was called when I looked up dewclaws earlier.

Sparky has both (never removed) but last winter she somehow managed to get one torn off on a floor molding while playing. She never yelped or cryed. I happened to see it dangling, she was limping a little and I found some blood by a floor molding where I gather she must have slid into, catching that nail.
It took a while but it grew back.
Our beagle doesn't have them so I gather that they were removed.

As for the original question, I'd bet that the vet missed that.

Now, does anyone here know why they're removed? Serve no real purpose, cause problems (like possibly get caught as in Sparky's case) or ?

Basically from what I read that is the very reason they remove them. Some feel they serve no purpose and may get torn off causing pain and infection or worse. The site I was reading said that in some countries it is not allowed as they feel it is causing the dog unnecessary pain and that they think it might have some impact on how a dog runs or does agility type things.

Most AKC shows require you to remove the dew claw on some breeds. Some breeds, like the Great Pyrenees, REQUIRES their dew claw for showing. They are the unusual dew claw though. Pyrenees have double dew claws.
When I was showing AKC dogs I had their dew claws removed a few days after they were born. Their nerve structure isn't complete yet and it doesn't hurt at all. In adult life of a dog it is quite common for a dew claw to be snagged on underbrush, carpets, blankets or just down right playing. The boney structure is then pulled away from the actual bone and the dew claw just flops around and is only connected by skin. This unwanted dew claw is just a leftover digit caused by evolution.

Oh, by the way...the little black knob on the back of the front paw?....that is called a Stopper Pad. That's about it's only function. If you want to see this pad in use....place you dog in a car with the car window all the way down...let you dog peek out the window to where it's paws are on top of the door. Notice the Stopped Pad is the ONLY thing stopping the dogs paw fron sliding forward off the door. This little stopped is used more than you think. It's great for backing up when a committed jump fails. When the dogs head of below the rest of a body, (like on a downward side of a hill) the dog tries to back up, on the hopes his stopper pad will catch a branch, rock or harder surface to get a foothold. As a kid I always thought my dog had a piece of candy stuck to his leg...like a ju-ju gumdrop!

I would guess your pup lost a dew claw somewhere very early in life. People who use their dachsies for ground trials or hunting of any kind have the dew claw removed to avoid any accidental tearing it off. Sometimes it can be torn completely off with no scaring at all and sometimes it acts like a floppy disconnected boney pad. Hope this helps.

Suz

Over here dachsies have to have their dew claws for showing. My cocker spaniel had his removed before I got him.

They are trying to stop docking and removing of dew claws and limiting it to a vet only doing it.

Rhona