Do Hawthorn Trees/Shrubs drop thier thorns?

I love Hawthorns and want to plant some. I know they have wicked thorns but what I want to know is do they shed the thorns? Is it going to be a problem with my dogs walking/running near them? We hike in wooded areas with Hawthorns and have not had any problems however I'm concerned as my yard as it is much smaller with less for the dogs to investigate. We had a black locust and it dropped its thorns all over the place (punctured my sons bike tire). I rather not plant the Crusader (thorn-less) variety.

Thanks.
zone 6a

Sorry don't know anything about whether hawthorns drop their thorns or not, but I grew up in Strongsville so I wanted to say hi!

I've had a Washington hawthorn in my yard for 4 years now and can say, no, they don't shed their thorns. They are much neater, cleaner trees than black locusts. It's a beautiful tree and I've pruned mine up to a point where there's not even the possibility that my dogs would inadvertently run into the lower limbs. Until it got tall enough to prune it that high, I kept a wire fence around it to keep the dogs from getting hurt by it. BTW, certain song birds like to nest in hawthorns for the protection those long nasty thorns offer their nest while their young are in it.

way far from my home, but still on the grounds, I have a Hawthorn hedge, it really is lovely when in flower, the blossom is wonderful, Naturelover is right, they dont drop the thorns, they do loose their foliage in winter in most areas, however, the berries are a treat for all the birds when there is not much else to feed on in winter, we find many birds nesting within the hedge, We also have buzzards in our area, magnificent as they are, they will take small birds as food, and the Hawthorn gives the smaller birds much protection especially at nesting time, I would not worry too much about the digs being injured, animals have a second sense, they will get pricked the once and wont go back for more I bet, I have to tell you that deer have no problem stripping the haws as the thorns are called, these deer just get there tongues around the branches and hey presto, the branch has been cleared of leaves, thorns too, so go get your lovely Hawthorn and enjoy it. there are different types too so look for the one you want and one that gives the most berries, over here in UK, if we get heavy bunches of berries on Holly or Hawthorn, it is normally a sign of a harsh winter. Good luck. WeeNel.

Thanks to all for the answers. I trust if the dogs run into the shrub they would be smart enough to not do it again (and if they do then they deserve what they get). I was only worried about thorns on the ground getting stepped on. I've put the Hawthorn on my "buy" list. Luckily I don't have to worry about deer.

Happy Gardening

PS: Hello ecrane3 - I don't think you'd recognize the city anymore, new mayor = trees/land gone, new development everywhere...

Actually I would still recognize it...my parents still live there so I'm back usually at least once a year. And they live in one of the newish subdivisions, so I've definitely seen some of those! I think I liked it better in the good old days though! Except I wish they would have had the mall there back when I was in high school, would have been a good place to hang out.