Banning docking of tails......in nz....

[Twisterdog]

You know I always thought cocker spaniels and dobermans were born that way, I never knew their tails were docked, naive I know, but honestly thats the truth.

LOL ... don't feel bad. I had a customer once who thought Scottish terriers (Scotties) were just born looking how they do for dog shows, she had no idea you had to get them groomed.

She brought her dog in so I could look at it, because she thought the breeder sold her a furry black mutt, and called it a Scotty, and she wanted me to back her up when she tried to get her money back.

I told her that he looked like a purebred to me, but of course it was hard to tell for sure until he was groomed. She gave me the funniest look and said, "You groom them?" She felt SO stupid. LOL

I also believe anything to do with docking, cropping, dewclaw removing, n' lets go ahead n' say fixing your dog to.....since it does cause pain to your animal. Should be sent to the "Doghouse"

Well, I have to disagree with that. Most of us ... say 99% of us ... can have a debate about these potentially controversial subjects, and not have it turn into an argument. There's always one or two people, however, that have to turn threads like this one - no, actually any thread - into a petty argument. That doesn't mean, IMO, that every thread that one or two people start an immature argument in needs to go to the Doghouse. I think we all just need to start being more assertive and saying, "Hey. Stop it. We had a good, open, friendly debate going here until you came in and tried to turn it into a petty fight." Just MHO.

There's nothing wrong with debate. Debate is how you learn. Debate is also open-minded, and fun. Debate means making a statement only when you have relevant facts to contribute. Argument, on the other hand, is replying to every single post you don't agree with, whether you have any new useful information to contribute or not. Argument is saying, repeatedly, "I don't agree. You are wrong. If you don't have the same opinion as me, then you must be mean/cruel/stupid, whatever". (Obviously not in so many words, but always implied well enough to hurt feelings or infuriate.) Argument is also being snotty, mean or sarcastic - while debate is being calm and factual.

You can correct someone's facts, if they are wrong, or contribute new facts, and that is debate. But you can never, ever correct someone's opinion, because opinion is not "right" or "wrong", and can't be corrected. Trying to change or correct someone's opinion is one sure mark of a petty argument just for the sake of argument.