It's not pretty. First they take puppies away from mom dog, otherwise mom dog would FLIP out if she had to hear what the vet and assistants hear. The puppies are usually less then 7 days old at the time of the surgery.

An assistant picks up a pup, turns it's butt towards the doc and with surgical scissors, he proceeds to cut the tail off. It's usually off in 3 slices, sometimes 4, depending on the size of the pup. The puppy is not put under any sort of local pain killer, nor is it anestasized. You can never imagine the sound that comes from those tiny babies. It's worse then you could ever imagine.

Doc then proceeds to stitch up the bloody stump.

I can't lie, I like the way docked tails look on the breeds who typically get it done, but I wouldn't EVER do it to a dog! Not ever!