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Originally Posted by AprilLove  100% agree with you Ann!
Congratulations OP for the new litter and on not amputating their tails ♥ The tail consists of 6-23 vertebra enclosed in muscles, 4-7 pairs of nerves and supporting tendons and cartilage. Some breeds have a small portion of the tail removed whilst others such as the Rottweiler, Boxer or Doberman may be left with 1-2 vertebrae. This procedure involves the cutting through of skin, muscle, bones and cartilage and all without any form of pain relief
Ref: Dog Tail Docking: Issues and Health Implications of Docking, whether on a Boxer or a Puppy
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Nappy can run unlike any of the other 4 dogs I have had, and I now understand it after viewing him in slow mo and watching and understanding how the dew claws are like our thumbs. He can turn on a dime, Rozi and April cannot. He has the smoothest, almost fox like runnig motion that any of my dogs ever had. It is because he utilizes his dew claws.
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Totally agree with you. So glad this litter is keeping it's tail.
We've had dogs all our lives and only ever had one with an injured tail and that's our black lab.He did it to himself several times, wagging his tail so hard, while it was hitting a door post, wall or door. He'd dislocate it, still wag and every time it hit the door/wall he'd whimper, but wouldn't move out the way or stop wagging. He did this about 3 or 4 times when he was younger. We'd have to move him to a safe area, because he didn't have the brains to move himself. Labs are working dogs, but they don't remove their tails, I guess injuries are not common or they have them lopped off too.
We don't remove dew claws or crop ears here and I've never understood why it's done. Any ear can get dirty if not cared for.
I've seen a litter of toy poodles docked and they all screamed...the breeder used a rubber band and razor, and yelled at them calling them 'babies' for crying
. She was a very unpleasant woman, which of course not all breeders are like her.
We don't de-claw cats here either, and have also had them all our lives and never had them ruin our home. They are easily taught and do well as long as they have a place of their own to scratch, we give ours a 2 by 4 plank of wood, that it loves to sit on and scratch.
I'd live to see a study done, with the countries who used to dock tails and now don't....and what impact that has had to injuries and the breeds.