Please explain docked tails to me

[jabear]

Thanks for the insight guys! Another question though- if it was done for a purpose or for a being to thin, then why do they crop tiny dogs tails? They can't possible hurt anything. Trigger is a mini-Yorki and only weighs 4 lbs. (barely) and he has a cropped tail! I think this is a topic we need to investigate more.

[GYPSY JAZMINE]

I wasn't aware that they cropped small dogs tails...With the larger dogs I can go for the tail docking but not the ear cropping unless there is something about certain breeds that I don't know which is not only possible it's likely..lol!

[ilovemyaussies]

Ah the question we Aussie folks are constantly asked.  First of all, Aussies can be born without tails.  Many can have no tail, some with a range of half length tails, and some with full tails.  Its in the genes.  Why then do we dock the full tails?  Well, first of all Aussies were bred for livestock/ranch hands.  Many work long and hard in all weather and in all kinds of terrain.  Its not only easier to keep a dog cleaner, easier to keep the dog from being injured, but also easier to keep the breed standard (if everyone is docked then there won't be a variation in the ring). Plus Im  glad I don't get whipped to death by a tail (as Labs tend to do) . Has anyone ever slammed their dogs tail in a door? Fence? Car?  If not, your dog is lucky.  Docked tails are so much easier to keep clean and keep from being caught in fences, doors, etc. 

Why are those puppies screaming?? Because they are being taken away from their momma, siblings, and a warm place.  There is no nerve endings in their tails when they are docked (if done properly).  So you aren't hearing them scream out of pain.  More like screaming out of discomfort from being away from their mom/safe place.  I have worked for a Vet and I will tell you cropping a dogs ears is more painful.  The worse part was getting the stitches out of their ears. Or the infections that came along with it.  I saw so many dobermans with sore, raw, and painful ears.  I felt sooo bad for those puppies.  So don't feel bad for our docked dogs tails.  There is more suffering with going thru hip repair, spay/neuter, etc then a minute of being away from their momma and having their tail docked.   

[pndlake]

Obviously tail and ear lopping are for looks and that is an owner preference thing.  Niki has a docked tail and she is a cross breed, rotweiller and lab.  If I had her mom at the time, I would not have cropped it.  The owner of the mom said she just thought it looked better but I just don't think it was necessary.  Now I crop all of my baby lambs by putting a tight band on it and after about a week, the tail falls off. They are uncomfortable for a short time after I place the band then it is all over.  I never put the really small babies through it because I like to see them full fed and stronger before it is done.  Everybody here with sheep crops their tails, they say it is for cleanliness and I suppose so because sheep can be pretty dirty, however, in Europe they never crop their tails.  To us a sheep with a long tail just looks weird.

Peggy

[ann]

     my 2 boxers tails are docked i'm fine with that i did leave thier ears floppy ,the look i prefer,but i am glad people still have a choice to crop or dock...

    as much and how hard my boxers nubs get goin i can't amagine if they had tails god that would hurt.......... ........

ann

[BabsT]

My boy has both a docked tail (natural not surgical) and cropped ears.  The main difference with my breed is that the ears are done at 3 days like the tail.  There are no stiches and the ear is the size of a thumb nail.  One time at the vet and it is done and healed by weeks end.  It is much different than the standard of waiting for 13 weeks, taping,anesthesia and constant medical care etc...

In my breed a litter can have a tail or not...in my pups litter 8 out of 11 pups were born with naturally short tail the other 3 were docked

Zero also came from a 100 acre working ranch and majority of the dogs went to working homes.  It is also part of the standard for the breed to have a cropped ear and docked tail.  I am not for or against cropping and docking. My concern is that it is done by a licensed experienced vet in cropping and that the owner of the dog provide the same care at home.

[K9ldy00]

I've worked in animal hospitals and have helped with many tail dockings. It is a cruel prodedure even though they are very young. 3 to 5 days old. They scream and squirm and deficate. I had to hold them for the vet. I could feel their little bodies tense up and they would try to get away  and scream as the tails were being cut off and a stitch or two put in. I hated it.

[sobe]

We had a Bouvier who had his natural ears and tail and he was gorgeous ! He lived to be 10 and never had any accidents with either ears or tail that would have justified them being cropped in the breed. He was purebred with papers but of course because of the ears and tail we were not allowed to show him, which was fine, we were only looking for a companion , not a show dog.  
In my opinion cropping is done because of the way the breed is 'supposed' to look. While for some working dogs there may be a reason to crop so that they don't get caught in say barbed wire or something, for most breeds it's pure cosmetic . To top it off, it's painful when done too.
I don't want to step on any toes, but what bothers me is that with baby boys they have finally figured out that circumcision does hurt and they are finally offering pain meds. I wish they would figure out the same with dogs, of course it hurts ! One needs only look at the pup's reaction and I have known plenty of dogs who were very leery of having their stump or cropped ears touched even years later.  
I prefer dogs to look natural, I think  cropping is cruel and in the majority of cases not necessary at all.  This is my own personal opinion, as I said I don't mean to step on anyone's toes here, but I am very grateful for this topic as I think it's a very good thing that this  is getting discussed.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest .

[ann]

    i understand how you feel sobe..i do not care for the idia of it all ,like i said my boxers both have thier tails docked and i like it that way and i can tell they have never shown any pain in thier nub sencei've had them at 8 weeks..and i;m not so sure if i was a breeder i'd have it done i do lean towards yes for the docking but i would never have any of my dogs ears cropped but if someone does thats thier choice i have a friend with3 dobies thier ears are cropped and they look great..who knows someday it might be illegal here but i sure hope we don't get our rights taken away...

ann

[shangrila]

I hate the practice of tail docking and ear cropping. I don't want to offend people who have had it done, but I do want to state for the record that I find it cruel and unnecessary. If a dog was meant to have a short tail or pointy ears, it would have evolved that way.

It may very well be that it was once done to help prevent injuries on hunting dog, but there aren't many dogs today who still actually hunt. Nowadays, it's all cosmetic to fit the preconcived notion of what a certain breed is 'supposed' to look. I think that the AKC is particularly to blame for this - people look to them for wisdom on what makes a 'perfect dog' and their official policy is  "that ear cropping, tail docking, and dewclaw removal, as described in certain breed standards, are acceptable practices integral to defining and preserving breed character". I don't understand how altering a dog's natural state helps preserve its character. I think it's ridiculous that if you have a certain breed of dog and choose not to dock its tail, the akc calls it 'faulty'.

[Phillips]

I like the boxers with the tails cropped. It just looks good and I love to see that little nub wagging. Like some of you I am not sure on the ears. The ears cropping I dont think is a necessity. Dixies ears do get dirty alot and maybe a good Idea to crop them. I really dont know. I think if I had a male i would do ears but leave the females ears floppy.  I wonder can you do a boxers ears early like the tail. I always heard it was done before 18 months.  Dixies ears have changed alittle since we got her one hangs over toward her head more its adorable. I would not want her to go thru pain for nothing. Still havent made up my mind yet. Thanks for all the good information on the subject.

[mitchie]

Hello everyone!
A breeder in Lansing, Mi explained to me that Rotts have docked tails because they were used as cattle drovers.
When the dogs would lie down-there was no tail to get covered in -well you know, cow pies.
A tail full of cow pie would attract too many flies to the dog and infection was a concern.
The reason why she thought docking still is something done to rotties is that there is no set standard
for a rotties tail to be.  She said you could end up with curly tails or a tail like a lab.  Until a standard is
agreed on they will still continue the practice of docking rotties in the U.S.  I guess in the show ring
this makes sense. 
She also said that if a potential buyer wanted a tail left on the rottie, she didn't mind not docking.
Apparently the nerves are not fully developed in the tail when they dock and it's like getting your ears
pierced.  I just want my rottie to have a delightful personality... tail or not.  I can't imagine a lab having
a cropped tail, so much of my labs giggles of happiness flow out through her tail.  She would jiggle if
she didn't have a tail.     

I love how we all just adore our doggies on this website!!

[nickerbokker]

this is NOTHING against you...so please dont take it that way....

but i love how people assume they know what an animal feels.  and even more so, how they compare it to something we feel. 

until my dogs look me in the face and tell me what it feels like.....i will have no idea and be forced to listen to the pain they verbally expresss.

[nickerbokker]

biittee ME

[pndlake]

ok since a male child does not remember what it felt like to be circumcised then how do we know what pain, if any, happened.  Babies cry all the time anyway.  Common sense will tell you that it DID hurt no matter what the age.  Even unborn children feel pain, that has been proven.  To me we must assume it hurts to dock an animal's tail. It probably does not hurt for long, but it does hurt.  A puppy still likes people after they do that to them. 

  I wonder why in Europe it is against the law to dock tails or ears?  In other areas Europeans seem to have more freedoms than us.  Can you imagine how many people here would protest if a bill was introduced to prohibit docking dog's tails and ears? 

Peggy