Correct size tail to be docked
 

What is the latest day to dock their tails?????????Blondschillin:aimeeyork Happy Mothers Day to All.

I dock my puppies tails on day 4, however if the puppy is extremely tiny or isnt consistantly gaining weight I have waited till day 6 or 7 on some cases. I also know of some breeders that have waited till day 10 on their very tiny ones.

tail docking
 

;)I have my litter's tails docked on the 2 or 3rd day.I ask my vet to give them a tail that is not very short,i request they use there finger as a guide for there tail.:animal36..someday i belive we will follow the rules,that the uk dose not dock there dogs:aimeeyork

You need to be very careful when docking tails before day 3 because they don not have clotting factors in their blood until after day 3.

This bring me to a question if you can answer it.. I began to breed way back 11 years ago..then in canada it had to be done next day.. I left breeding for I lost two of three and I think it was to hard on me at the time ... so began again 5 years later.. and then it was after day 3... what did I miss and this is new to me as I never had heard a reason for it.. but it was always done back then and that was not really that long ago.. so this information to me is nice to know.. thanks for this post.. anne

I think some vets do it early since they use Cauterization techniques which lessens blood loss. I personally do their tails and dew claws myself, but if I didn't do them myself I wouldn't allow my vet to do them before day 4. I have 2 mentors whom I trust completely and they have a combined 80 plus years of experience in breeding yorkies so I feel they know what works best for these furbabies. I have seen too many vets dock early and then lose a puppy afterwards which I feel could have been prevented by waiting an extra day or 2 till they are abit stronger to handle it. I have been known to dock my litters on different days often due to having a tiny one I felt needed to wait an extra day or 2.

I dock my tails myself but never before day three and it is usually day four. I have had some smaller ones that I have waited until day 6. I think I even waited until day 7 once and it was the same as if it had been day 4. I evaluate the individual puppy to decide when to dock.

I usually dock tails on day 4 or 5, depending on the size of the pups. Many years ago I had a litter that the vet did on day 7 and they did just fine but they were small pups. Every since I started using the clotisol, the tail docking has gone so much smoother with no blood loss. It seemed like it took forever to get the bleeding to stop when we were using the Quik Stop powder.

I live in Canada and breeders can their pups tail docked whenever they judge it the right time .

I use a surgical clamp to clamp where I want to dock the tail, wait about 3-5 minutes then twist the remaining piece off, then wait a couple more minutes then release the clamp. I have yet to have a pup bleed (knock on wood) as the clamp seals the tail. I keep mom away for about a half hour or so and no infections or bleeding afterwards.
I also hold the tail down and where it just covers the bum that is where I put the clamp.

Thank you all for your responces
 

Took them to vet today she told me they are small enough they will be fine. So day 6 it was. Had her cut past the brown on the tail a bit. No dew claws though cause enough was enough they were screaming and I could feel their pain. So were back home with mom and doing fine. Vet said day 5 or so is best. Most other vets I have been to say they will not do their tails after 3 days. She's done many tails and knows her stuff. Finally found a good vet. Thanks , blondschillin

Tail docking
 

I have a friend that has bred yorkies for many years and she does her own docking and claw removal. She has shown me how to do this. She does it immediately after birth. While the mom is tending to next birthing puppy she will take away the pup and cut the tail before it has time to have any cartilage coming down the tail,feeling or bleeding. She does this within a 5-10 minute period. She uses her fingernail as a guide to the removal.. She uses a non-serrated knife and in one cut she removes the tail. NO SHORTER than the length of her pinky finger nail. I personally prefer to cut inbetween the base of my finger nail and the first bend in my pinky finger as I like tails a bit longer. The tail forms a scab like substance at the end, I really do not want to consider it a scab, but I dont know how to describe it. It hardens and falls off within days.She uses nail clippers and removes the claw by snipping just below the surface of the nail. It does bleed a tad but hardily considered a smear. I have done this myself to all of my past litters and they really have done well. Not a drop of blood, not a whelp or cry out of them. I will say that if it is a tiny pup I WILL NOT do the tail myself, but will do the 2 claws. I think that when the pup is a a few days old and can feel the pain, and is able to know what is going on, is a bit inhumane. I have found this way to be simple, kind and easy.