Tail cutting and Ear Cutting

 Tail docking and ear cropping.

tiffy

 Tail docking and ear cropping.

You beat me to it, lol.

My opinion is, and neither of my dogs is cropped or docked (though Harry was born with a stubby tail, lol), is that if it the procedures are performed humanely (as in, with anesthesia and sterilized equipment) by a licensed veterinarian, I see no problem with either practice.

 Me neither. I'll take a cropped and docked Dobe over a natural one any day.

I honestly think that if I were still "doing" cockers, I'd stop breeding  Depending on the vet, tail docking is done between 1-3 days of age and they use NOTHING for the pain.  You can't tell me that they "don't feel it" because they are so young.....if they didn't feel it they wouldn't cry so pathetically.

I've never had a dog that was expected to have cropped ears, so I can't comment on that, but it sure doesn't look very pleasant.\

I guess I'd rather see dogs the way they were meant to be.....

Tail docking is done when the dog is still a neonate and hasn't fully developed the nervous system.  I am less comfortable with ear cropping.  Honestly, I just am not into any breeds that have docked tails or cropped ears, so I leave the decisions up to the owners and fanciers of those breeds.  I don't fully understand the reasoning behind them but I feel it's not really my business.  Many people don't understand why a German Shepherd stacks different than all other breeds but just b/c one doesn't understand something doesn't make it wrong.

I like full tails and natural, pricked ears so I stick to breeds that are born this way.

I have no issue with cropping & docking so long as it is done humanely.  I prefer a cropped/docked dobe. 

glenmar

I guess I'd rather see dogs the way they were meant to be.....

 Just FYI, Herr Dobermann believed that our breed was "meant to be" cropped & docked.

I dont like it, I'd take a natural tail & ears over docked/cropped any day. But Im not totally against it... I think in some situations if its best for the dog & its done right it can be OK.

I think dogs look best the way they were born to be, without anything being cut or amputated...

Why is it done? 

Spazzy

I think dogs look best the way they were born to be, without anything being cut or amputated...

This leads one to wonder about speutering right in line with cropping and docking.  After all, dogs born intact until we humans alter that, too.

I just can't help but wonder what kind of back yard croppers or dockers will arise due to the vets no longer doing these operations.....if in fact a law did pass here. 

Are all cropped ears cut?  I always thought that dobe ears were made to "stick up".  again I'm probably using the wrong terms here.

I prefer natural ears/tails (though one doesn't have much of a choice in respect to tails). That said, I don't think it should be illegal, as I think that could lead to outlawing other practices and could become a slippery slope.   I don't have dogs of breeds that need be cropped, but if I did, I do think I would leave them natural. But, that's my choice for my own dog. I can certainly admire a good crop on other peoples' dogs and think they should make their choice for their own dogs as well. Doesn't make either right or wrong, imo.  :)

As someone who holds puppies for tail docks, I am not that certain that they do not feel pain.  Do they settle when you put them back with their littermates? Sure.  But, they certainly DO fuss when it is done, with some fairly horrid cries (that are different than normal pup cries when they're cold or because you're holding them) and fuss when you check the tail even when they're with their littermates. I think their pain levels might be a bit diminished, or puppies are just more accepting of things, but I do not think it is painless.

Now, I'd rather a dock be done on a 2 day old puppy than an older one (even though it is done under anesthesia at that point), by all means. A 12 week old pup had its tail done at work the other day because its owners thought it wagged too much...not that it was wagging and injuring itself...they just thought it to "waggy". That pup was in a lot of discomfort afterwards..even on ample pain injections.

willowchow

Why is it done? 

Dobes were originally used as personal protector.  They were docked to prevent injury, & docking provided one less place for an attacker to grab hold of.  Ears were cropped to keep attackers from grabbing them.  Cropped ears are better at sound localization than uncropped ears can.  A cropped dog can localize sound to a 5 degree cone.  Uncropped dogs can only localize it to a 20 degree cone.  That 15 degrees could have been the difference between the dog locating & detering a possible attacker, & a handler being attacked because the dog couldn't locate them quick enough.

Now, people argue about why it is done.  Most claim that it is purely cosmetic, but that's not entirely true, IMO.  I do think that there are health advantages to having a cropped/docked dog.  I have only had dealings with a handful of natural tailed dobes, but all of them have had numerous injuries to their tails.  Some of which required docking at a later age to repair.  I have yet to meet a natural eared dobe who doesn't fight chronic ear infections.  This includes Cher.  It was her chronic ear infections that pushed me to have her cropped.  She hasn't had an infection since the cropping, even during the time that she was being posted. 

 Johnny, all standing (there is a term, but it's censored, LOL) ears are not cropped. Only certain breeds/types. German Shepherds, for instance, are never cropped. Almost all Dobes with standing ears are.

I have no issue with a well done crop or dock, OR with dewclaw removal, debarking, or neutering. I will never have a problem with it, and I have been there when it's done. I've also been there when a tail was amputated due to injury. I was there for Emma's adult dewclaw removal and recovery. I've been there for multiple spays, nueters, and recoveries. None is really any worse than the other, barring complications. A puppy I loved dearly died, this week, while she was at the vet's to be spayed. Nobody's going to chime in and say that spaying puppies is cruelty.

jennie_c_d

Nobody's going to chime in and say that spaying puppies is cruelty.

I would not be so sure about this, Jennie. When I worked at the HS, someone surrendered an unaltered female. When we asked if she was spayed as part of the intake questionnaire, the idiot went off on us about how spaying a female dog and not allowing her to breed was going 'against nature' and that we'd be *denying* the dog it's purpose in life...something to that effect. Jerk still signed the dog over and didn't bother to leave a donation, either.

As for docking and cropping, I've always been a 'live and let live' kind of person - I'm honestly not educated enough about the issue to make a decision.