Atanquin Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 hey i have just gone to groom zorro and trim his fluffy feet when i saw one of his toes was smaller than the the other: what could it be? Normal: Non normal: Sorry about quality but he is a wiggly pup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Looks as if he was born that way . Contact the breeder and let them know - it's odd it hadn't been noticed . It might pay to get it looked at .. as this will probably change the way his foot works a bit ..you may have to keep that nail shorter, too, it may not get worn down as much. perhpas put dome food colouring or something on his pads.. then walk/run him..and see if everything is touching the ground ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atanquin Posted November 2, 2011 Author Share Posted November 2, 2011 no it is not touching the ground he walks and runs just fine and is very quick on hi feet i have just had a look at his papers to see his blood lines and i have only just seen that his grand mother on his mothers side is his Fathers mothers :S i had not seen it before. he also has one testicle that has not dropped ( he is 7 months) so im now a bit concerned about his breeding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I wish you well with it - def. get it checked, as his foot action will be affected to some extent . The breeder needs to know, too. Hope it it is not too much of a nuisance down teh track . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancinbcs Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 no it is not touching the ground he walks and runs just fine and is very quick on hi feet i have just had a look at his papers to see his blood lines and i have only just seen that his grand mother on his mothers side is his Fathers mothers :S i had not seen it before. he also has one testicle that has not dropped ( he is 7 months) so im now a bit concerned about his breeding A first cousin mating is very common in dogs and a lot are bred closer than that with no problems. Undescended testicles are very common in all breeds and while it is believed to have a genetic component, no one has discovered what it is yet. I believe there could be nutritional link to it as well but we just don't know yet. So long as he isn't intended for showing and breeding, the vet will find and remove the missing testicle when he is desexed. I am surprised that the breeder didn't notice the toe when she clipped his nails and trimmed his feet. There is however a rare short toe gene in some breeds but both toes on the outside of the foot usually stop growing, not just one. Puppies with this seem normal at 8 weeks and as the foot grows the outside ones don't. The shortness of the toes affected varies a lot from very short to hardly noticable, so some affected dogs are no doubt bred from because no one noticed. Again it is really only an issue for breeding but may also affect performance if you were planning on doing agility. In everyday life, dogs missing a toe get around just fine. I have known a couple of top winning show dogs that had to have a toe completely removed due to infections that got into the bone and they continued to win after the toes were removed. Please let the breeder know asap. It is highly likely she has never encountered the problem before, so will need to do a lot of asking around to find out if anyone else in the breed has ever come across it. If not it could be a one off mutation in your puppy. That is how genetic problems start in a breed. One dog has a mutation as the embryo develops and if it is bred from it passes the faulty gene on to the next generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atanquin Posted November 2, 2011 Author Share Posted November 2, 2011 no it is not touching the ground he walks and runs just fine and is very quick on hi feet i have just had a look at his papers to see his blood lines and i have only just seen that his grand mother on his mothers side is his Fathers mothers :S i had not seen it before. he also has one testicle that has not dropped ( he is 7 months) so im now a bit concerned about his breeding A first cousin mating is very common in dogs and a lot are bred closer than that with no problems. Undescended testicles are very common in all breeds and while it is believed to have a genetic component, no one has discovered what it is yet. I believe there could be nutritional link to it as well but we just don't know yet. So long as he isn't intended for showing and breeding, the vet will find and remove the missing testicle when he is desexed. I am surprised that the breeder didn't notice the toe when she clipped his nails and trimmed his feet. There is however a rare short toe gene in some breeds but both toes on the outside of the foot usually stop growing, not just one. Puppies with this seem normal at 8 weeks and as the foot grows the outside ones don't. The shortness of the toes affected varies a lot from very short to hardly noticable, so some affected dogs are no doubt bred from because no one noticed. Again it is really only an issue for breeding but may also affect performance if you were planning on doing agility. In everyday life, dogs missing a toe get around just fine. I have known a couple of top winning show dogs that had to have a toe completely removed due to infections that got into the bone and they continued to win after the toes were removed. Please let the breeder know asap. It is highly likely she has never encountered the problem before, so will need to do a lot of asking around to find out if anyone else in the breed has ever come across it. If not it could be a one off mutation in your puppy. That is how genetic problems start in a breed. One dog has a mutation as the embryo develops and if it is bred from it passes the faulty gene on to the next generation. thank you that explains a lot i have sent an email to his breeder just to let her know what is happening i hope she reply's. i hope it doesn't affect him as i was training him for agility he is such a quick mover and really good on his feet i would be really disappointing if it affected him. im going to make an appointment with the vet to check it out as he is fine walking and is not in pain it is fine till i can get him in to town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I've groomed a few dogs with a smaller toe pad and it hasn't made any difference to their normal lives. Nail may need cutting more often though. I wouldn't worry about it. I would however give serious thought to getting him desexed soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atanquin Posted November 2, 2011 Author Share Posted November 2, 2011 i asked about the desexing when he was last in and the vet said i could wait till he was a year but no longer than that as if it has not dropped it could turn to cancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirislin Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 I doubt it will have any real affect on his potential athletic performance. Some greyhounds have a toe removed and continue to race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 i asked about the desexing when he was last in and the vet said i could wait till he was a year but no longer than that as if it has not dropped it could turn to cancer. having known a friends dog who was desexed at 9 months and the retained testicle was showing cancerous signs - it is something I wouldn't want to wait around to long for. It's made me more cautious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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