Docking tails

Comments

• kwyld

  May 2008 edited November -1

  Cruel and unusual in this day and age. Some people think it looks cool and that's why they still do it. I have a friend who had her pit bull's ears cropped and had it done by laser which is supposed to be less painful and quicker healing. She said the dog still got an infection and he cried whenever she touched them to change the bandages or clean them. I wouldn't personally buy a dog from a breeder that does it and I wouldn't do it to my own dogs either.
• Leonberger

  May 2008 edited November -1

  While on the past docking tails had a functional purpose (which is always debatable) nowadays, for non working dogs (and even for working ones) is purely cosmetic.
  I'm against it.
  On another note, but still on topic, I think : with cropping ears i have kind of mixed feelings. No doubt it is cruel, but I think it might help on some breeds, to prevent ear infections from excessive humidity inside the ear. But I don't think I'd be able to do something like that to a dog.
• Heidi

  May 2008 edited November -1

  Well, I'm certainly against purposefully altering a dog's body for no good reason. Docking seems useless to me as does cropping. Personally, I don't think dogs that need their bodies cut and altered after their born should be bred. Why dock tails? Why not just breed a bobtailed dog? Why crop ears? Why not just breed a dog with erect ears? Then again, I don't think dogs with recurring health problems should be bred, and I don't just mean the usual like hip dysplasia and cataracts. I mean chronic ear infections, tails that constantly break off or bleed, dogs who can't breathe properly, walk properly, and so on. Lots of breeds have been problems bred in and it's part of the standard. Without passing judgement on people who enjoy and breed these dogs, I will say that I would personally never be responsible for creating a creature that couldn't live a natural, comfortable life.
• okiron

  May 2008 edited November -1

  Well the only way it would get in the way that seem logical to me is if it's a guard dog. The intruder could pull on the tail to use it as leverage. But then you could just grab a foot or ears or something else, whether or not a tail is there. Besides that the reasoning of "it'll get in the way" doesn't make sense to me. Wild canines have bushy tails and they don't seem to have a problem with it getting in the way.
  
  I'm asking because I cannot find unbias information about it. Maybe I'm looking in all the wrong places but there doesn't seem to be much on it.
• Romi

  May 2008 edited May 2008

  When I got Portia, her tail was docked. I took her to the vet a day later and my vet asked if I was going to crop her ears. I said "no, i love her little floppies!" and he said "GREAT! Because that is one of the most painful things to do to a dog next to getting them de-clawed!"
  
  I have also heard somewhere (i dont' remember where) that certain breeds (rotties, boxers, bull dogs, etc) who are known to have their tails docked get them docked because it has been known that if they wag their tails too hard when excited, it hits their bodies so hard they hurt themselves! ( dont' mark my words though, thats just what i heard somewhere) It might make sense though, I've met rottie's with their tails and man its like being whipped in the leg!
• Leonberger

  May 2008 edited November -1

  About the whiplashes, and a bit off topic, I know of some Great Danes that wag so violently they hurt themselves on walls and furniture, even to the point of getting loads of fur from the tip and bleeding like crazy. Also, getting hit by one of those is very painful.
• okiron

  May 2008 edited November -1

  Hmm, you would think they could eventually breed the tails short, not as short as docking but shorter than it's natural form now.
• JessicaRabbit

  May 2008 edited November -1

  That is actually a condition called "Happy Tail". Many of our shelter dogs have it. In fact we had one dog you may remember (Happy Bobby) whose tail was so bad that we had to have it docked. The wound was open for so long that it was developing an infection that was going to get him sick.
• BradA1878

  May 2008 edited November -1

  I think you can blame the breed standards for the continuation of tail docking. A lot of breeds have a "docked tail" standard in their standards.
  
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• zoiegirl

  June 2008 edited November -1

  Thats why I like BTs they have natural have short stubby tails and their ears stand erect. I dont like how cropping or pinning look. Docking i have mixed feelings if itd done by a vet and its a breed that usually get doxked maybe but when the average joe who think they know what they are doing does its cruel. Our friends rescued a boxer and thr previous owners tried dockibg the tail but they didnt do it short enough so he has like a 6 in nub and is still sensitive about having it touched.
  
  I do think that dogs that have such a small tail when they are super excited cant wag their tail so they wag their whole body is super cute,
• tobyshiba

  June 2008 edited June 2008

  I personally think docking tails is wrong. Thankfully my other dog didn't have her tail docked ( she was a Rotti/Shepherd mix ) and i've seen same mixes with docked tails. I could not imagine how she would've been without a tail. It hurt me when she wagged it, but it was such a long, fluffy tail and I loved it.
  
  The only thing keeping dogs from not having docked tails is the breed standards. All dogs with docked standards would easily be beautiful with tails. But, the show standards are a little ridiculous and should be revised since too many dogs are having the procedure done. Docking really doesn't have much of a purpose anymore. Besides the working dogs, but more dogs in this age are companions.