Hi, I'm new to YorkieTalk.com. Our beautiful yorkie, Nahla had a liter of 4 pups on September 16th. The plan was to have the pups tails docked and dewclaws removed on the 18th. We had been second guessing the whole tail docking thing from the beginning. We hand-raised Nahla and her brother Toby because their mother retained Nahla's placenta (too long of a story to get in to), but Nahla and Toby both have their tails and (dewclaws for that matter) because it was felt they were already under enough stress from being away from their mother at 2.5 days old to endure these stressful procedures. We love Nahla and Toby's tails. We can't imagine them without their tails! Anyway, I always thought that the tail docking was painless. I'm not sure where I got that idea. Before the vet visit I looked up "docking a yorkies tail" on youtube. Well, I wanted to cry. I quickly turned the video off after the pup began to squeal. My daughter and I were continually discussing it on the way to the vet and at the vet. The vet tech came and took the pups and then the veterinarian came out and asked us to come into a room "I've got to be honest, I've never docked a yorkie's tail before. Do you want them longer, shorter, or?" He says. He told us his daughter had a yorkie that had a tail and he felt that it was beginning to become more common not to dock the tail of a yorkie. One of the vet techs looked up some information on the internet and read off some information that basically said that the only purpose to dock the tail and crop the ears on the yorkie is for AKC standards for show purposes. So, my daughter and I looked at each other and said "forget it, we don't want their tails docked." We decided to have their dewclaws done because those little claws on the sides their precious little paws can get caught on so many things. If someone wants a precious little yorkie it shouldn't matter if it has a tail or doesn't have a tail. We can't imagine having put these precious babies through the pain of having their tails docked and we don't regret the decision one bit! Their little paws from their dewclaws have healed right up! Furthermore, the yorkshire terrier originated in England and in April of 2007 tail docking was made illegal there except for working dogs! If you have a yorkshire terrier in England and show it, IT HAS A TAIL! Nahla's nickname is Nahla Boo so we call everyone "The Boo Crew". Even though everyone will be going to great homes at some point we temporarily named them. In order of birth they are:
Sammy Simba
Ruby Rose
Lucy Elizabeth
Chance Marie (don't ask about the middle name ;0)
Everyone including Nahla Boo continues to do wonderful. She is a terrific first time mother! I'll plan to post some pictures soon
