All dogs are born with a toenail on the inside of their front legs called the dewclaw. When looking at a dog’s foot the toes that make contact with the ground are essentially the pinky, ring, middle, and index fingers – the dewclaws are like the thumb. Feeling the nail you should be able to move the dewclaw a little (forwards and backwards) and you’ll probably be able to feel the tendons that connect the nail to the leg. The presence of these tendons suggests that the front dewclaw has a function and that removal of the front dewclaw may have lifelong consequences for our dogs.