declawing dogs

Question
My German Shepard mix, who is now 9, stays indoors most of the time these days.  I also have a three yr. old son who loves to play with the doggy.  The problem is my dogs claws are long and sharp even with regular clipping.  He regularly leaves marks and sometimes deep scrapes when playing with the anyone in the family.  He is very much about pawing...This dog is very "handsy".  I am at the point of wanting to declaw at least the front paws.  Is this a bad idea at all?   HELP

Answer
Well this is actually a training problem. It would be really un-natural to declaw this dog at all let alone at such a late age. Better you enlist a trainer to help you deal with this issue.
Meantime, try using a Dremal- a tool that sands - to file down the sharp edges.
Children should always be supervised when with even the most loving dog, kids have no sense of the danger until it is too late. A dog that came first, is larger let alone older, will try to establish his dominance in the pack.
Sounds way more like a training issue- quick.