Is Docking right?

[Labrador_Lover]

My friend has just bred a litter of dobermans and is wondering whether to dock them or not? What would you say?

[PayItForward]

Welcome to Pet Talk

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If a dog is born with big ears, that is how they should stay.

Why breed a particular breed, to put the pups though un-neccessary pain.

With respect, why is your friend breeding pups without thinking this kind of issues though beforehand.

In fact why is your friend breeding at all, while there are plenty of homeless dogs, looking for homes already.

Maybe you can persuade him/her to have his pets neutered, after these pups have been rehomed.

[cloverfdx]

Welcome to pet talk

i agree with PayItForward, about the reasons for breeding in the first place and decisions abo0ut docking the pups tail should have been made BEFORE they were born.

as for tail docking i have to agree with it , but there should be laws about how it is done (Eg local anethetic (sp?) and ONLY done by a vet)

i have 2 reasons as to why i agree with tail docking #1 is some breeds like the Boxer are very excitable (would you rather have a tail docked than having to have an injured tail amputated later on in life?) and the other reason is because where i live the Animal welfare (RSPCA) are going on and on about banning tail docking (not to mention wasting a hell of alot of money on posters) when they should be using the money to train up more inspectors (we have ONE inspector for a 5 hour drive radius ) so many animals die every day because the one inspector can only get through a few visits a day and then can never get back to check up on the animals.

so yes i agree with tail docking (and have signed a petition for the VCA (vic canine association) saying so.

[ChrisH]

Firstly, welcome to Pet Talk Labrador Lover. I look forward to seeing pictures and hearing all about your pets, especially your Lab!

As for your friend wondering whether to dock the Dobie`s tails, I say please, please, don`t. When I had my Dobie`s, Prince and Max, many, many years ago, it was done as a matter of course and it was impossible, no matter how hard we tried, to get a Dobie with a natural tail. Nowadays it is a totally different story as more and more people are discontinuing this practice, and I hope your friend will become one of them. There is a website you and your friend may like to take a look at, on this page there is a picture of an undocked Dobie and on the very bottom there are links to read more.

http://anti-dockingalliance.co.uk/dobermann.htm

Whatever your friend decides ( and I hope it is against docking!) maybe you can, please, show us some pictures of the pups? I love Dobes!

Christine

[*LabLoverKEB*]

Welcome to Pet Talk!! Glad you could join us!

If a dog is born with big ears, that is how they should stay.

In fact why is your friend breeding at all, while there are plenty of homeless dogs, looking for homes already.

I agree!

[pitc9]

I know the breeds that have docked tails, (dobes, rott, bxr...) but I don't know for what reason they do, I thought once I heard people years and years ago started docking tails of dogs so that when they were hunting, the animal the dogs were hunting didn't have anything easy to grab onto. Now... if some breeds are still doing that for that reason.... then no I don't think docking is right.
But like cloverfdx said.... with the boxer, it can cause problems and pain down the road... so then in that case yes!

As for ears... NO!! There is NO reason to put puppies through pain like that!! I've seen plenty of dobes with natural ears. It seems that only people that want there dog to look "Mean" will have there dobes ears done. Or people that think it won't look like a dobe if it's ears are not done. Well ya know what.... if more and more people didn't have there dobes ears done, then people would realize that you DON'T have to do it!!!!
Now... if there is a medical issue that I don't know about there ears, (and I'm not talking about ear infections!!) then there maybe a reason. But if it's just to make them look "mean" or because "They won't look like a dobe" then forget it!!!!

[cloverfdx]

Now... if there is a medical issue that I don't know about there ears, (and I'm not talking about ear infections!!) then there maybe a reason. But if it's just to make them look "mean" or because "They won't look like a dobe" then forget it!!!!

as far as i know there is no medical reason to crop ears (JMHO it looks awful) and it is just to make the dog "look" mean some people. *cheers* we dont crop ears in austrralia *legally anyway*

[primabella]

No I don't agree with it. They look best au naturel anyways. My uncle's Dobies have all had uncropped ears and they are just so adorable that way.

When it comes to the tail--I sort of agree with docking but only if there is a possibility of it being a health problem.

[Karen]

No! Leave those sweet floppy ears and that whip of a tail!

[ChrisH]

Ear cropping is illegal in the UK so I am certain Labrador_Lover is asking about tail-docking which is, I am sorry to say, still legal here.

I heard people years and years ago started docking tails of dogs so that when they were hunting, the animal the dogs were hunting didn't have anything easy to grab onto.

That is partly true, the reason was, and is still, given for docking tails, that it prevents retrievers and hunting breeds getting their tails damaged when going through thick cover, brambles bushes etc.

.... some breeds like the Boxer are very excitable (would you rather have a tail docked than having to have an injured tail amputated later on in life?)

I have to disagree with very excitable being a reason to cut off a tail! These beautiful Boxers seem to be happy and healthy with their tails still intact!



As you all may have guessed I am against docking.
Chris

[tomkatzid]

No docking. No cropping.

We saw a grayhound with what we thought was a docked tail. But the owner said it was "Happy Tail" injury.

[Kfamr]

I think docking tails and cropping ears is stupid.

The best thing about a dog is when it greats you with a wagging tail! Or when you're playing, and the tail goes super fast.

[wolfsoul]

I agree with docking because it seems to me that the breeds that have their tails docked are very excitable breeds can can hurt their tails very easily or hurt a child with that whip of a tail. I read a story about an undocked doberman that blinded the eye of a three year old child with it's tail.

I don't agree with cropping ears though. There are no medical reasons to do something like that. Personally I think that some breeds look better with their ears cropped, like dobies, but think about it. You are putting a dog through anesthesia, cutting off part of it's ear and stitching it up, all for the sake of look.

[primabella]

The best thing about a dog is when it greats you with a wagging tail! Or when you're playing, and the tail goes super fast.

That's so true! Mickey always smacks me in the head with his tail. (if I'm lying down of course ) And I love watching his cat-like ears twitch.

[Twisterdog]

I think that there are many, many more important issues that dog lovers should be concentrating on, rather then bickering about tail docking.

There are tens of thousands of dogs dying every day because there are not enough homes for all of them. There are dogs being tortured in research labs. There are dogs starving to death. There are dogs being tortured to death before being eaten, because high adrenalin levels at death are supposed to make the dog meat taste better. There are dogs being gassed at shelters, sometimes with hot car exhaust fumes, because cities don't allocate the funds to euthanize humanely. These are the issues dog lovers ought to be spending their time, energy, money and voice fighting. Not something as petty as tail docking.

If a dog has a loving home for its entire life, perhaps sixteen to eighteen years, what difference does it make if those loving owners prefer the dogs tail docked or not? If a dog is lucky enough to find someone to feed it, love it, take it to the vet and provide a safe, warm home for it in this cruel world ... who cares whether it has a long tail or not?

Docking a puppy's tail at a day or two old is not the huge, agonizing tragedy some would make it out to be. I've seen many tail dockings. Done properly, it is over in a matter of seconds ... kind of like getting your ears pierced. Getting its tail docked in no way, shape or form traumatizes a dog for life.

Is it necessary? In most cases, no. Is it cosmetic? Sure. Is it important enough an issue to cause a rift in the dog fancy? Certainly not. Instead of worrying about dogs getting their tails docked, please go volunteer at a shelter and help save some dogs' lives. Long or short tails, they all want to live.

Also, I'd just like to add this: dogs with docked tails still have tails. I've seen so many posts that make it sound like the dog's whole tail it cut off, and it has no tail whatsoever to wag. That is not the case at all, unless maybe with some "home crop" job, where the idiots didn't know what they were doing. Several of my dogs have cropped tails (already done when I rescued them as adults) and several have natural tails. The natural tails are about eight inches long, and the docked tails are about four inches long ... but everone still has a tail!