Ear and tail docking

Well i was just wondering if anyone out there might agree with me about ear and tail docking I consider it a mutilating procedure and find it completely unecassary, I understand that if you show your dogs you can't get around it but I wish there was a way to do away with it. Considering i don't know anyone who actually uses a pitbull for bullbaiting isn't it time to move past this :x also alot of people in my area have their pits tails docked what is the point of that? That's against breed standard, well any way just wanted to see if anyone shared my opinoin!!

 

I don't agree, sorry But I can see your point. Some standards want ear crops and tails done. Which is still unecessary in a way, its only done because of what the judges/clubs have to say on it. However its not an unecessary procedure. Tails are docked for medical reasons because they are broken or injured. Ears are cropped on working dogs to prevent them from having to be cropped later (as adults which is more painful) because of splitting and being ripped. So its not unecessary and a preventative measure.

I show dogs and ears mean nothing so showing isn't a reason to crop, I have some with cropped ears and some with natural ears. I didn't crop them because of showing them, I cropped my males because it fit his head and made him look sharp and complimented him. My female came cropped from the breeder. My other female has natural ears and so does my pup who I'll keep natural.
Dogs like Boxers don't have to have their ears cropped, but they are penalized. There are a couple Boxers with natural ears who are CHs. It is just a minor fault like any other but some judges are very biased. Dobies can be shown even if they have never had their tails done. For some breeds to not have this would DQ them I think?

Cropping ears/docking tails doesn't have anything to do with bullbaiting.

I think the people in your area are a bunch of idiots to dock their Pit Bulls tails. Unless it was done for a medical reason, which I doubt. I'm sure they have never heard a word like breed standard.

 

Personally, I don't crop my dogs' ears because I prefer the look of the natural ear, but I've always felt like it's a personal preference, and I wouldn't look down on someone who chooses to have their dogs' ears cropped. I have personally witnessed what is likely the worst way to crop a dog's ears, and it still did not 'traumatize' the dog. A breeder (she bought him and a brother from me) simply marked the ear where she wanted the cut, then got some surgical scissors and cut. The dog yelped, but only for a second. He hollered more for the stitches, but as soon as she put him down, he shook his head real good and went on playing. I saw him a few weeks later and his ears looked good and he wasn't headshy or anything like that. I would never recommend this as the way to do it. Just goes to show, though, that even being done the wrong way didn't bother the dog too much (again, I would NEVER recommend having them cropped this way!). I think he disliked being held down almost as much as any pain he felt. Here's a pic of that dog's littermate brother who that breeder also cut his ears the same way (I didn't actually see this one). His new owner said that he was a little headshy at first, but I didn't see any of that when I went to play with him (was probably a month or 5-6 weeks after the ear crop).



As for the tail docking on APBTs, I agree with True_Pits, that unless they had them done for medical reasons (I doubt it), they are morons.

 

I do not agree.
Yes, mostly it is cosmetic.
Some people have personal feelings about cropping/docking being cruel and inhumane. It is cruel and inhumane if its not done right or with care. There is not much pain involved if proper steps are taken to ensure the animals comfort and ward off infection. As far as ear cropping goes if done properly it does nothing either positive or negative to help the dog's ear health. Two of my dogs have their ears cropped one when I adopted her and the other was done by my choice. This topic comes up quite a bit on other discussion forums I am a member of and normally I get many negative responses regarding my dogs ears. The thing is It is okay for people to have an I-don’t-like-cropping/docking opinion but its not OK when they push to get laws passed that makes it so people who want to crop their dogs ears or dock their dogs tails can’t. The thing that some people need to realize is It's not okay to verbally attack people (happens to me often concerning this subject) who have a difference of opinion on cropping/docking everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I say if you aren't a fan of the cropped ear or docked tail, don't crop or dock your dogs ears or tails.
As far as docking APBT's tails....Why? Unless it's a medical necessity it's not normally done on APBT. I often find people who are so against ear cropping and tail docking own a breed that does not require it. So they are safe to debate it.

 

I don't agree..I personally like the natural look and so I didn't crop my dogs ears, but I hold nothing against those who do. I think some pits look much better with cropped ears than natural, depending on their head structure. Now I wouldn;t crop a pits tail unless for medical reasons, there's simply no point. Although other breeds where this is the standard, I've seen it done and the puppies didn't seem to mind much at all. So while I prefer my dog au natural, I don't see anything wrong with cropping.

 

Working breeds

I own a working mastiff breed (Boerboels) and they are generally docked. They don't have cropped ears...it's never been done but the tails are docked for working purposes... Tails are injured for a million reasons and in working dogs is speicifically important to dock to prevent injury to the tail and later complications from older tail docking. Ear cropping is VERY similar but is still more of a personal preference... I bet you would be hard pressed to actually find EVERY breed that REQUIRES ear cropping for show etc... There are quite a few out there who get cropped and people don't even know it is done...often people bleleive many breeds are born with ears like that....but it seems to be the other way around. I think you'd be surprised if you looked to see just how many breeds out there are cropped and docked... If it truly was a humane issue...it wouldn't be that widespread...not in this day and age.

 

ok allow me to clear the air a bit first off if anyone thought i was personally attacking the m for getting there docks ears or tail docked i'm sorry it wasn't meant like that. I just feel that if your dog is just a regular old family dog i think it is unnecasary. I fully understand why it is done for working dogs the thing is as i've said people in my area are morons and they get there pits ears and tails done because they think it makes them look meaner, that's just ridiculous in my opinion. I work at a shelter and once saw a litter of pitbull/rott mixes with infected ears and rubberbands around their tails the owner said they don't even feel it and the tails eventually die and fall off!! Are you kidding me. also i admitt i am somewhat illinformed I always assumed that it caused a great deal of pain to the animal but obviuosly there is a difference between backyard breeders with scissors and rubberebands and licensed vertinarians!! Anyway again sorry if i offended anyone!

 

No offense... I just wanted to inform you in case you were not informed, which seemed to be the case... THere is always a right way to do docking and cropping and a wrong way and I do beleive that everyone here that voiced an opinion is definately for the CORRECT way of cropping etc...

I'm pretty sure we were all just trying to be educational and were not offended in any way...I for sure wasn't.

 

No offense taken here - just voicing my opinion like you.

 

I think it was a good post, I wasn't offended by it. I know your just letting everyone know your opinion, same as me. There are people out there though who do look down on people who crop. There are some crazy people in this world, the kind who don't want us to eat lobster?

That is terrible I have heard and seen the same things. Put rubberbands around the ears where they are all wadded up and slice them off and don't do anything for them. They have a lot of scar tissue if they are lucky, if not the get badly infected. I'm sure people try the same thing with tails.

I've seen breeders do it all different, just as different as vets. Some do it great, at least as good as vets and some do it just like these morons. Pit Bulls seem almost immune to pain, but I'm sure they feel some. But when its done right and young enough, its not much, only for a second. None of mine have ever had any problems with their ears being done, they were none the wiser to what happened. The dogs who had their tails done, that was the breeders responsibility as its done at a couple days old, but I think its somewhere along the same lines and its a lot different then an older dogs tail. With their ears all the bloodvessels and cartilege isn't developed yet.

 

A PIT WITH A DoCKeD TAIL!?!?!? :0021:

wth is wrong with them? like i've said before, it depends on the dog. I think in some cases a dog would look better with a docked tail/cropped ears.