would you ever dock a dogs tail?

[Canis-Lupess]

Only for therapeutic reasons....ie. the tail is damaged beyond repair.

I don't agree with docking puppies just in case they "might", injure their tails when they are older and certainly not for cosmetic reasons which is the main reason most dogs are docked these days.
I am a member of the anti-docking alliance which demonstrates how against this practise I am.

I don't really like the look of dogs without tails anyway. They remind me of arctic trucks with no trailor on the back...could fall on their face at any time. A tail makes them look more balanced and attractive. Without a tail, they look forward heavy.

I have read a report by an Australian vet that says that there is good evidence that the pups do feel the pain of having their tails docked and just because they might not actually show it...ie..show visible response to pain, that doesn't mean they aren't feeling it. Many pups bleed to death, end up having to be re-docked or are left with lifelong problems because of docking.

Here is a useful link for anyone against docking.
http://anti-dockingalliance.co.uk/page_13.htm

It's uk based but they'll welcome anyone to join.

[CathyBogart]

I voted yes ONLY BECAUSE there are dogs out there like my aunt's dog who constantly injures his tail banging it on stuff. He's never injured it seriously, but 5-6 times a year he hurts it and is in pain for a week or so while it heals.

*Personally* I feel that a one-time surgery to remove part of his tail would be preferable to spending over a month out of the year, every year, fighting to keep a bandage o nhis tail and the abrasion wounds clean.

In general though, just because the breed is "supposed" to have a docked tail (wouldn't they be born that way if they were supposed to??) absolutely not. If you think it doesn't hurt a three day old puppy to have part of their spine cut off, go watch the procedure sometime.

[luvofallhorses]

NO!!! unless the tail is broken and has to be removed.
I wouldn't crop a dog's ears or declaw a cat either.
Would I adopt a dog with an already docked tail? of course!
same goes for adopting a cat that is declawed and a dog that
already has cropped ears.

[dab_20]

No one should personally dock their pup's tails themselves. It should be done by a vet at 2-3 days old in sterile conditions. If I had the choice, I would never have my pups tail to be docked. Sammy's tail was docked as a pup, but I didn't choose it, and it would not stop me from getting him.

Now, with ear cropping, it's a whole different story. I'm totally against that... can you imagine how painful it is?

[cyber-sibes]

Personally I think some breeds look & function better with docked tail, so I don't object to tail docking. It was done originally in working dogs, because of the work they did. I never could figure out if my Rosie had a naturally short tail or if it had been docked (she was a rottie-aus. shep. x), but I loved her cute little tail.
I really prefer natural ears to cropped. I don't think I'd ever have a dogs ears cropped.

[Kalei]

Nope I wouldn't, I love doggies natural long tails!

[mike001]

Nope never, unless it was a medical emergency that had to be done.

[wolf_Q]

Of course I would never *personally* dock a dogs tail, it needs to be done at a vet. I honestly do not agree with cropping or docking, but I do think cropping is much worse. If a dog came to me docked, then that is fine. Sydney has a docked tail, actually all of the dogs we've had until Nebo had docked tails. Some breeds are very difficult to find without docked tails since its done when they are young. I don't agree with altering a dogs appearance for cosmetic reasons, if it is truely for a medical reason that's the only way I'll agree with it.

[cyber-sibes]

Personally I prefer the look of poodles with docked tails. The pom on the end would just not work on a full length tail.

Duh! Pam, I just learned something - I didn't know that they docked poodles' tails! I thought they just naturally had short tails. One more cool thing I learned on PT! Thanks.

[SunsetRose]

well yes but you would NOT have a dog to show
you should have a dog to enjoy care and give
it a good life not for shows

I'm not sure if you have ever owned a show dog, but there is more to showing a dog than just taking it in a ring. A dog who is not loved and cared for and enjoyed as a pet will not make a good show dog. People who get dogs "just to show" are still taking extremely good care of their dogs and they are enjoying their dogs and loving them as much as you love and care for yours. It takes alot of patience, training and love to get a dog to do well in the ring. A dog can conform perfectly, but it is worthless as a show dog if it is shy and unconfident.

[Lori Jordan]

I have an Australian Shepherd,And her with a tail would not be the same,With the breed some have Natural Bobs,Which Lacy does.

But the thing i do not understand,A friend owns Rotti's and they put elastics on there tales,Is this what they all do now???

[Canis-Lupess]

When puppies are docked, they tend to do one of two things. The first is simply to chop the tail off with scissors, the second is to tie elastic bands around them so tight the blood circulation is cut off and the tail dies and drops off. Can you imagine doing this to the little finger of a human baby?
I can't imagine the pain being much different really. They can't use anaesthetic on puppies that young so they have to deal with whatever pain they feel.

In the UK, most vets won't dock and they can't anyway because the royal college of veterinary surgeons is opposed to it and will strike any vet off their register if they are found to have docked puppies for non therapeutic reasons.

Docking by the lay man, unqualified person, is illegal but thats mainly who docking is done by here now because most of the vets refuse to do it. Breeders do it themselves and insist they are doing it right but, how would they know, they aren't qualified or had any professional training?

At the end of April, docking is being banned in England apart from certain working dogs that are being exempt. Scotland has gone for a complete ban. They'll not be allowing dogs to go over the border into the UK to be docked and taken back either.
No docked dogs will be able to be shown at any paying dog show either.

I don't mind dogs that are born with naturally bobbed tails because they don't have to actually have it chopped off. I know there are some breeders in Europe breeding specifically for naturally bobbed tails in several breeds in countries that have already enforced a ban on docking. If it turns out ok, then all's well but I do worry a little about what other impacts such select breeding could have on the dogs.

[TFTpwnsYou]

I voted yes because well I do own one with a docked tail. I read about the proceedure because I just thought that would hurt. It really doesn't. Puppies don't have the feeling pain capability as just a few days old when the docking takes place. Now I cannot personally dock a tail because a.) I don't breed, and b.) I would not trust myself to do it even if I did. To me that is better left to a vet who knows what they are doing.

Docking has very good reasons though. Especially for field and hunting dogs. I saw the damage done to a tail of a non-docked hunting dog. Now that would hurt. Now a small breed like mine I never understood, but it is the standered, and I truthfully look at him, and I think he'd look funny with a tail....lol.

[cali]

I would and have adopted a dog with an already docked tail. but I would never dock or drop myself, I have one breed(Blair) who is supposed to be both docked and cropped, I have him completly natural, and I prefer it that way.

[cassiesmom]

I have a former co-worker who kept her Great Dane's ears un-cropped. I wouldn't do either unless there were some medical reason for having it done.