would you ever dock a dogs tail?

[Pam]

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But, if I were to buy a puppy of a breed that normally gets its tail docked, then yes, it would be done. Tail docking is not cruel. It is done when the puppies are a day or so old. ...... It is, honestly, just like having your human baby boy circumsized.

Honestly, if someone loves their pet and provides it a good home ... who cares if they like docked tails or not? That is the LEAST of many dogs' worries.

Thank you for that!! My thoughts exactly! Personally I prefer the look of poodles with docked tails. The pom on the end would just not work on a full length tail. If there was a non-docked poodle who needed a home, though, their appearance would not stop me from adopting them.

I immediately thought of the similarity to a circumcision. (sp?) I put my son through that and he doesn't hate me today. Really, like Twisterdog said, it is more about the care you give AFTER you take that pet into your home.

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

I voted no, but not at all because I think it's cruel (I'm very neutral on the subject, and don't really care one way or another - I feel it's up to the owner and/or breeder). I just much prefer dogs with long tails. I am against docking totally if it is done by anyone besides an experienced veterinarian, but if it's done properly, like I said, I'm neutral on the subject. I'm about the same with ear cropping too.

I also wanted to add that there isn't a whole lot that bothers me more when it comes to my dogs than when I post a thread of Winston (who is both cropped & docked, but we adopted him that way) and all I get is "that is so cruel", "he would look so much better natural", etc. This isn't anything against anyone, but really, even if you're totally against one or both surgeries, there is zero need to announce that in someone's thread about their very well loved dog (I mentioned this because I've noticed people making such comments recently in a few threads). Unless it's a docking debate thread, please keep your thoughts to yourself.