Wow... It is just amazing what you can learn on this site..
Excellant information here and I just wanted to add... a Big Thank you for all the wonderful advice..

The vet I took my pups to did it this way. Sure, they screamed and hollered but there was very LITTLE blood involved. My friend did her pups with scissors. I was traumatized for life! :eek: What can I say, she's more of a woman than I am. I'm a wimp at stuff like this! LOL

docking
 

I do not like rubber bands or tying anything on tails or claws. It is just so fast to clamp them..plus I think she cry very little here because they are home with mom in the bed. I have very laid back moms, they lick babies faces while I "operate"..LOL

tail docking
 

I use the same method as Yorkie Rose; however, I always do the tail and dew claws on the 2nd day of life while the nails and tails are still small. No bleeding and never had infection.

njgiger

My wonderful mentor taught me well and gave me wiggle room. My rule is that the puppy has to weigh at least 2 ounces before tails and dewclaws are done. The woman I am mentoring has a very tiny female that was not 2 ounces at day 4. I did her brother and told her to take teensy to the vet. Well, this wee girl will not be a docked Yorkie..

Tail docking
 

A lot of the things I do or don't do is a result of having worked ob-labor. delivery, postpartum, and new born nursery, as well as newborn intensive nursery for many years. Many years ago a newborn human male would be delivered by an obstetrician, who would also care for the newborn. Much of the time the baby would be circumcised the day of delivery because of the physician's time constraints. However, after much research, it was shown that the process of being born was enough stress for the first day. The stress of having circumcision was delayed for a time (days) until the newborn was more able to cope with it. So I applied the same principle to my pups; however, if a newly born pup is stressed by not eating well, and all of the stresses of not being a well puppy, I delay this for for several more days. The only 2 pups that I had born who were under 2 ounces did not thrive and were not unstressed enough to go ahead with the tail docking and removal of dew claws and ultimately died. (I really hate to do tail docking and dew claw removal and so have to really psych myself up to do it, if you know what I mean. I appreciate your reply and the fact of using weight as a criteria for these procedures is another good way to decide when to do them.

Thanks,

njgiger

I have found the best way to do the dewclaws is with curved surgical scissors from the vets office, its a clean cut that does not leave a bump, they cost ruffly $40,but well worth it. Instead of using scissors for the tail a brand new sharp pair of wire cutters works best. A rule of thumb pups tails and dewclaws should be done with in the first three days, If you wait till after you will have more problems with bleeding.

Are surgical clamps the same thing as hemostats? I thinks next time that I have a litter of puppies I may just try and do it my self. My vet isn't open on the weekends and therefore didn't get my babies in to him until Monday the
5th day. The puppies cried all day long. If I had know how I would have done them myself on Sat. which was the Any way I have a small hemostat that clamps shut if I got a larger one would this work? Thanks Deb:confused:

how in the world did this old thread get back? SPOOKY:eek:

What is the price range or normal vet fee for this kind of thing.

Anyone here live in Los Angeles area who does this to their own dog? Maybe can show me? I dont like the idea of exposing my babies to all the germs at the Vet either... *shudders*

where can i buy the clamp to use ? and what is it called ? when you say afew min. what do you mean exactly ?

YORKSHIRENTERRIERISTIT

Here you can see a lot of undocked tails.

and one more

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y29...93/nimetn2.png

The "uk" -- now it makes sense. I was watching a show on Animal Planet, "It's Me or the Dog" and they had a darling Yorkie and it had a long tail. I believe that show is produced and filmed in the uk.

I personally like the looks of a docked tail but that's JMO.

Aaaaahhhhhh! It's the return of the 3-yr-old thread that just won't die! :eek: :p