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Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom  Interesting you brought this up bc we just had a thorough discussion about tail docking here: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...l-docking.html (great read!)
Personally, I'd like to see the US go in the direction of not docking...for the many reasons I've already stated in the above thread. My Wylie and Marcel both have docked tails; but my Pfeiffer is undocked and her tail is BEAUTIFUL! And never once (knock on wood) has her tail ever seemed to be an especially vulnerable part of her body, any more so than any other part of her body.
It'd be great, anecdotally, if you could always keep track of your undocked litter as to whether or not their tales are ever injured.
My bach degree is in nursing too, and I 100% agree on the pain issue. I've always wondered why, if it's so painless, breeders don't post a video of the docking here if for nothing else, to put people's minds at ease.
Circumcision is also purported by many to be painless. Having seen many circumcisions in nursing school, I'd bet my life that it most certainly is NOT. I'll never forget the screaming of those poor little newborns  . |
The problem with posting a video is that many will use the video as their training. I personally would rather someone forgo docking, if they've never had any in person training by an experienced breeder. Obviously, some vets don't even have the training in the procedure and that should be discussed before the pups are born. The OP doesn’t say, but docking should be done early within the first few days. There are different procedures for docking and some sound lots better than others and I imagine the skill level of the person doing the procedure would make a huge difference. Personally, I would hate to see an undocked tail used as a "selling point", and I fear that's what will happen.
I’m surprised you heard circumcision was painless, as a mother, they didn’t tell me this and this was over 40 years ago. I knew it was painful. I will say both of the boys cried much harder when they did a PKU blood test on their foot a few days later, that test really seem to hurt them. I have heard that "ritual" circumcision is relatively painless, but that’s a whole other story.