Is Docking right?

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Originally posted by ChrisH
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!:)

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I agree! If tails were docked because the dog was exuberant, then they'd be doing it to Labs and Springers too. There are lots of Labs who are even more butt wiggly than Boxers.

I don't agree with tail docking or ear cropping at all unless for medical reasons. If tails are docked so the dogs won't get hurt during hunting, then they should NOT do it to companion dogs who are family pets.

I also have to agree that w/ boxers docking to prevent injury is bologny. Labs & lots of other dogs are also very excitable breeds that end up having no injury to their tail later in life due to the nature of the dog.
Cropping of the ears should never be done (unless an injury requires it to be "ampputated"). But that rarely happens.
As far as tail docking... it depends, only if needed. One of the reasons Rotts had docked tails is that they used to be used for carting (pull cart to the meat market & so on) so the tails would not get in te way of the reins (simialr to horse & buggy harness & reigns). I believe that they were also docked as they used to be a hearding dog & that the tail would not get stepped on by bulls & what not or closed in gates when the cattle entered the stalls.

Basically what I am saying is if there is a purpose for docking the tail (you engage in the origional sport, event etc.. that the breed was used for) then by all means sure I agree with it. BUT there should be laws inforced that require it to be done by a licensed vet.

BUT as far as your friend goes, I would say no way. All litters should be totally planned out way before they come. Both parents should be tested free of all genetic diseases & other health problems & most of the pups should of been lined up w/ good homes before the litter was even conceived. This is a major topic to deal with especailly since all the pups are here already. I believe docking should be done between 3-5 days old (or something really close to that).

Please try to speak w/ your friends about spaying/neutering the parents. there are way too many great dogs looking for loving homes that don't even get a chance.

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Originally posted by Cheshirekatt
Wow! You mean I was right about something?!?

lolololol

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come on.....give yourself some credit.


I am against boxers having their ears clipped....

I like Evander Holyfield.:rolleyes:

I am 100 % against this!! It is nothing more than a cruel thing :mad: :mad:
Here in Belgium, this will be forbidden from 2004 (or close to that), and I am very happy about this! I know a person with a cocker spaniel. This dog has a docked tail:mad: ; well, I just don't understand, as a cocker spaniel has such a lovely tail :rolleyes: :mad:

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Originally posted by Cheshirekatt
Actually, I've heard there's no real medical reason for it. But I'm not positive on that....so I could be wrong. :)

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Actually I have heard that it prevents later infection. :) However it also hurts the baby..

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Originally posted by wolfsoul
Actually I have heard that it prevents later infection. :) However it also hurts the baby..

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circs are done primarily for for cosmetic/ religious reasons and the fact that docs can get some extra cash for 'taking a little off the top'.


The human body has ways of keeping itself cleans and under control, otherwise it would not be a 'genuine factory part'......there are cases where a man HAS to have one done in his later years...due to some problems in that area!

I think it is unfair for the dogs. I love the natural look, Long tails with floppy ears! But, I have a question. When we got brodie there were three in the liter his sister was born with a docked tail. But then the mom was a pure bred Rat terrier. Can dogs be born with docked tails? :confused:

I have 3 Boxer all with their tail and ears croped. 2 of them came that way when I resuced them. Tuffy, I made a mistake and had his ears done, 1 reason was I have had Boxer sense I was 1 year old and they all had them done....thats how it was done back then. The other reason was my father found Tuffy for me after my divorce for a watch dog and he pushed the ear croping on me. He said "A Boxer doesn't look like a Boxer with out the ears done" :rolleyes: So I gave in.....even at my age it's still hard not to say No to your father.

I would never do that again, for any reason, Tuffy went through He#l with his ears. I had to take him back to the vet 4 times because he rip the stiches open. It was a mess and it hurt him and me so bad....it's just not worth it.

Now as for the tail...Like I said I have had Boxer sense I was young and a few that we got at a older age didn't have their tail done. Tug, Kimmy and Tigger all had to have their tails done later. They wag them so much that the beat them up, even to a point that they made it bleed some. So I will do a Boxers tail if done very shortly after birth.

I'm afraid that we might have to do the same with my Great Dane, he also wags it so much that he has hurt it. Their so much power behind that tail that he can't help it. I been hit by that tail and it does hurt....worse then when my full size Iguans tail hits me. So I can only image what it feels like to him. We are still not sure yet what we are going to do with him. It's very hard to decide what to do, there are pros and cons to it. We just have to weight them out. Whats best for Brock. But that is only reason to get a tail done....for the dogs sake.

Yep, Joxer actually gave me a fat lip one time! lololololol

Good thing I love the big rock-head!

:D

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These are the parts of of your posts I perhaps took the wrong way.

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No problem, ChrisH. I should have been more clear!


I board several dogs, one a boxer and one a doberman, that had natural tails. They would invariably have their tails bleeding within a couple hours of arriving, by wagging them against the sides of their kennels. When the dog was there for a week or two, you can imagine the problems we had!

Some dogs have thick, strong tails (like a lab) and some have thin, fragile, wiry tails, like these two dogs. I talked to their owners, and asked if this only happened when they were boarded. They said no, that they got their tails bleeding at home regularly as well.

It ended up that one or these owners had his dog's tail docked when he got his teeth cleaned, to avoid anymore bleeding and injury. It seems to me the dog is happy with this, as he was forever trying to lick his tail before, to get it to stop bleeding.

The other one had to rush his dog to the emergency vet one night, because he had injured his tail playing with their other dog, and they couldn't get it to stop bleeding. They had to have her tail docked that night. She too, seems none the worse for wear.

These are just some dogs that I personally know from my little hometown, I'm sure there are thousands of other cases like these. There ARE sometimes medical reasons to dock a tail, although the cosmetic reasons are far more common.

Also, some dogs had their tails docked, ears cropped, and certain grooms for completely practical reasons at some point in the past, but the tradition has continued after the original reason is obsolete. For example, poodles originally had pom-poms of hair left over their joints to protect them from the cold when they swam to retreive birds in cold lakes, but the rest of the body shaved to help with bouyancy. Ear cropping (which I hate!) originally started by people who fought dogs in rings, so the opponant had less to grab onto and tear off. :( And with my dogs, their naturally curly tails were docked to the straight portion, about four inches, to make a "handle" to grab the dog by the tail and pull it from a fox or badger hole, if the owner thought the dog was getting the bad end of the deal.

Just some trivia on a slow afternoon.

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Originally posted by Amber
Can dogs be born with docked tails? :confused:

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Yes, some dogs are born without tails or with bob-tails. :) the catahoula I'm getting may be a bobtail, it all depends on which dog the breeder breeds. Other dogs that I know of that have bobtails or no tails are the Australian shepherd and bobtail Australian cattle dog.

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Originally posted by Amber
Can dogs be born with docked tails? :confused:

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You bet. Some breeds that are almost always born with natural bob tails are Australian Shepherds, Old English Sheepdogs, Pembroke Welsh Corgis and Schipperkes.

My grandfather docks his cattledog's tails. He says the reason is because they tend to get caught up in gates, stepped on by farm animals, etc...He says it isn't supposed to be for looks, it is for working dogs.

I really don't have an opinion on docking. I haven't really done any research on it.

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My grandfather docks his cattledog's tails. He says the reason is because they tend to get caught up in gates, stepped on by farm animals, etc...He says it isn't supposed to be for looks, it is for working dogs

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A lot of the ranchers around here also say that cattle and sheep will be distracted and/or alarmed by the herding dog's long, waving tail. I've never quite believed that, since collies have long tails, and they herd, right? :confused:

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A lot of the ranchers around here also say that cattle and sheep will be distracted and/or alarmed by the herding dog's long, waving tail. I've never quite believed that, since collies have long tails, and they herd, right?

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Seems like they're more companion dogs now, but yes their
original purpose was herding. Their tails don't seem to be
very noticable IMO, but who knows to a sheep maybe they are.
They really don't wag their tail rapidly, like say a terrier would.
It's more of a swishing motion and that's done moreso when
their tail is a lower position. When they run they hold it higher,
but even still it's more parallel to the ground, not way up high
for all to see. That's just my view of what I've experienced with
my Smoothie. I would think with a Rough, the tail would be
even less noticable, hidden in all that hair.

I've not been around any cattle dogs to know if theirs is more
distracting in comparison, but it does seem to me, that most
docking did originate with some purpose in mind.

Par...