12 Comments:

• The only two reasons I can see for docking a dog's tail is that (1) it stops him from clearing off the coffee table when he walks by and (2) it prevents him from wacking the heck out of the back of your leg cause he's happy to be near you.
  
  I agree that it stunts the communication of the dog. It is much easier to see what stance the dog's tail is at when it hasn't been docked. I can tell from a distance the mood of the dog. I have to be on top of the dog that has a docked tail and focus on her back end to see if that stub is going back and forth.
  
  How the heck do I know if she has her tail tucked and if the dog is stressing when all she has is a stub? I can't. I have to look for other signs.
  
  I'm all for the prevention of tail docking and ear cropping.

  By  FPN, at 9:09 AM, January 13, 2006  

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• I agree a hundred percent with banning tail docking. Althrough I don't know much about it,I don't think it does any good.
  As for ear cropping, I'm all for it.

  By  Anonymous, at 4:46 PM, January 13, 2006  

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• Dog breeders in the UK are furious over the lack of impartiality and ignorance displayed by MPs debating the tail docking issue and we have slammed the rapid about-turn on the subject by Animal Welfare Minister Ben Bradshaw.
  
  How can democratic decisions be made by MP’s who both display their ignorance to the facts surrounding the issue and appear to be quoting directly from RSPCA propaganda which is not backed up by any scientific facts whatsoever?
  
  Ministers have had three and a half years to consider this subject since it was first opened to public consultation. Government officials have considered it from every angle and perspective, and they finally admitted last October that their preference was to maintain the freedom to choose and allow vets to dock if they considered it appropriate. They found that pain was not an issue and that neither balance or communication was affected.

  By  Peter Squires, at 6:03 AM, January 21, 2006  

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• The grand dog designer put it there for a purpose, evolution decided it was a good idea to keep it - so leave that beautiful tail alone!!!

  By  rmd, at 2:06 PM, January 29, 2006  

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• Tail docking is disgusting. The metaphor of cutting off a baby’s finger summarized the subject completely. Not only is it cruel and unnecessary, most people prefer natural dogs. I would imagine it causes a lot of pain to the puppy regardless of whether or not it will remember it. Tail docking is diabolical, it must be banned.

  By  Anonymous, at 1:35 PM, July 30, 2006  

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• As a docked Rotty owner I'd say I'm pretty much impartial on the subject.
  
  I know it causes them no noticable discomfort when done properly by banding at a very young age. But things can and do go wrong and then you get the horror stories.
  
  I would be just as happy with an undocked Rotty though. With my big silly puppy, believe me you know when she's happy tail or no tail.

  By  warlord0, at 1:19 PM, October 30, 2006  

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• There are truths to every side of a story. Fact one is that a large dog with a large tail are prone to injuries and infections. As the owner of a docked rottwieler I know these dogs grow up happy and healthy. However, when our dog had pups it was suggested that we band their tails. We did, but we FEEL TERRIBLE. I am sure they will be fine. I am even sure they will grow up and be beautiful dogs. But I strongly urge people not to do this if it is no need to be done.

  By  Anonymous, at 10:31 PM, March 09, 2007  

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• I support docked tails. First of all, if you are only focused on the tail to interprete the dog's mood, then you can be mistaken. I have a standard poodle with a full tail. Yet he rarly moves it. in fact when he is happy, he jumps up and twirls a bit. I am for cropping as well. When I rescued my dog, he had the worst ear infection I had ever seen in my time as a groomer. Which I know one of the reasons was because of previous improper care of the first owner. When medication didn't work, I secured his ears in an open position, by tying the loose hair with a rubberband. Within 2 weeks, the infection was gone.
  
  I am planning to get a dobe for the purpose of protection and trainablility. I would hate that a "bad person"can get a hold of my dog, by its tail, or ears.
  
  If it was such a big thing to the dogs, they would show pain or wimper.

  By  Anonymous, at 9:24 PM, April 16, 2007  

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• I think it's funny that people who admittedly have NO idea what they are talking about choose to post. Tail docking prevents many breeds from injuring themselves, keeps working dogs safe, and helps stop hygiene problems for other dogs. It's normally done when the dog is only hours old and often times they don't even wake up if it is done when they are sleeping. There is no difference between tail docking and circumcision in humans. Get over it.

  By  Morgan, at 8:04 PM, May 14, 2007  

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• I just recently purchased a doberman and he is now 4 months of age we just had him docked and cropped and let me tell you it is horrible he is in constant pain. He is actually in the hospital today and will remain there for a few days because of a severe infection on his tail. I strongly urge people to consider it very hard, because the end results may not be what you were hoping for. All dogs are beautifull animals and deserve some consideration, I unfortunatly didn't read into it but now that I am living with this I strongly suggest not to hurt any animal in such a way.

  By  Anonymous, at 8:11 PM, June 12, 2007  

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• You know I can honeslty say that Docking their tales off is like people paying over thousands of dollars as a graduation gift to get their daughters "breast" inplants.
  
  Its all in the purpose of looks, women get bigger boobs because they want to look attractive to the opposite sex, or to themselves. We get our dogs well groomed and if we want to we get their tails docked or ears cropped cause it pleases us.
  
  It is cruel to take off an animals limb because "we" like it, but you know they cant really speak for themselves in this matter.
  
  I think that medical issues would be an issue in this, it could be good to get your dogs ears cropped, it could give them an infection to get their tails docked whatever!
  
  I think if the owner wants it than who are we to speak?
  is he taking a hammer and beating the tail off while the puppy is awake?
  If he did than it would be cruel but thats not how its done.
  
  Most of the time the puppies arent even aware that their tail was cut off.
  
  I mean we get our daughter inplants and we get their ears pierced when their like 4 or so and we're gonna have a fit because we think that docking tails are bad?
  
  ......yeah

  By  Anonymous, at 6:09 PM, July 21, 2007  

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• I am a college student, studying to be a veterinarian. I have worked in several vet clinics and have seen how procedures (such as tail docking, ear cropping and declawing) are done, how it affects the patient(s), and how it affects the owners in the long run.
  
  With tail docking it is a painful procedure. It is done when the puppies are between 2 and 10 days old. It is without general or local anesthesia because they are too small and don't weigh enough. However, many breeders do this themselves which is a bad idea. When breeders take this into their own hands it is called banding, it has been proven to be more painful, and the process is much longer. If done by a vet, the process takes 3-4 minutes at the most, if done by a breeder it takes at least 3 days because they tie a rubber band around the tail and wait for it to fall off. However, tail docking isn't always a bad thing. There are potential risk for having a tail in some breeds. Hunters prefer to have dogs without tails (with an exception for labs) because the tail can get caught on something while they're in the woods or diving in the water after a duck. Injurying aren't always going to happen, but there would be less of them if the tail was docked with the specific breeds that are known for docking tails.
  
  Ear cropping is a very painful process that takes a great amount of time to heal. The first step is to put the dog under anesthesia, this is usually done at about 8-10 weeks in age. The veterinarian then takes the majority of the outer edge off the ear so that it looks pointy. Thats the easy part. The ears are then bandaged to the top of their head 2-3 times a week for about 3 weeks. After the bandaging process, the ears are then racked into a "pointed" position for several months. After everythings over with the ears do not always come out how the owners wanted them. Sometime they come out still floppy, twisted, or even wrickled. So in the end, was it really worth all of that pain and money. However, ear cropping can be a good thing. Some breeds are prone to ear infections which makes cropping the ears a good thing. It lets air get in and dry the canal out so there is not a build up of moisture which can lead to an ear infection.
  
  In the end, there are pros and cons to everything, but you have to think whats best for the animal. Its not about looks or style, its about the friendship and bond you develop with them. You would still love them just as much with a tail or without a tail or with or without ear crops. I'm not says either one of these choices is a bad thing, sometimes it is in the best interest of the animal. Personally, I am neutral about both of these topics but I can the pros and cons and understand what can happen if the procedures are not done correctly. In the end, make sure that this is really what you want to do and put them through.

  By  Anonymous, at 4:22 PM, January 17, 2008  

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