Who uses hemostats to dock tails?
 

I need to dock 9 tails. Yes, new babies, 5 days and 3 days. How do you find the joint to place the hemostat?

Very detailed step by step would be supremely helpful. I have never seen it done with hemostats. Sylvia

i did last time and I will never do it any other way from now on. YorkieRose on here told me how. There is no joint to find. on the underside of the tail is a brown or gold dot. depending on how long you want the tail to be, come down that far from that gold dot. i think mine were 1/4 from the gold. You fasten the hemostats right where you want it cut. exactly where. i got a tape measure and eye balled one fourth so knew what one fourth looked like. Okay, after you place the hemostats, you are supposed to wait about thirty seconds but i just couldn't cause the puppy cried a little and i got scared. Then you place your other hand at the base of the tail and hold tight. with you other hand start to twist and pull a little as you twist. In just two or three twists, the little tail just falls right off. leave the clamp on for another few seconds then release and put baby back with momma. it cries a little when you put the clamp on but it is over fast and the little tail doesn't feel a thing. The baby is just scared . I had no blood at all and the little tails healed up nicely. PLUS, i was so proud that I was able to do this by myself. i depend on my husband to help with those things but when he woke up from his nap that day, I proudly showed him five little tails in my palm. he couldn't beleive it. Okay. more info that you asked. good luck and it's easy after the first one.

don't know vet does it for me can't bring myself to

LOL Yup, I could have lived without the image of 5 little tails in your hand. LOL Much better to have shown him the actual puppies. LOL

I am used to using knives and scissors but they just bleed too much. I have not found anything to stop the bleeding. I have tried to pinch with my fingers and put the Blood Stop on with the other hand. I hold for 30 secs to a minute but it still bleeds a lot when I let go and after mama gets done with them they bleed more. I have never lost a baby (Poodle, Cockers or Yorkies) from blood loss but it scares me to see so much blood from something as tiny as a 2.3 oz baby Yorkie. Well, actually by the time they are 3-5 days old they aren't that small anymore but they are still the littlest of the litters.

Thanks for the step by step. I will copy it out and print it out so I have it in my records. Sylvia

I have never seen one die from blood loss yet but if you notice, their weight is down next day.

Oh, yes. I have noticed that. I got a postage scale to keep track of their weights so if any of them have "failure to thrive" I'll know about it and can be right on it.

Have you noticed a weight loss using the clamp method? I would think there would still be a little loss because of the shock to their little systems. Sylvia

no I haven't. the weight loss is due to the blood loss. I also dock mine on the fourth day. i did wait until the fifth day last time for one of my babies that i felt was too tiny at 2.8 oz.

Can't get much better than this. Also want to add that you clamp the hemostat as far as it will go....not on the first click.

My vet puts a couple of stitches in it too.?

Tried the cutting method and clamping method, prefer the clamping, clamp just where the tail begins to narrow. Being a show/breeder I'm pretty particular about getting it the right length, and the narrowing point works for me.....I do it on the 3rd day, that is unless a pup is on the small side, then I wait until the 5th day. Never noticed a weight loss.....and I do weigh twice a day for the first month.....I do cover with liquid bandage, just to protect against infection...

And so does having babies, but we still breed them, without their having a say in it.

We already know you feelings on this.

But, remember this is the USA, you do it differently across the pond and that's fine...

Oh, how I would love to but people want Yorkies that look like the show Yorkies. I am praying for the day when the US also "outlaws" tail docking. I don't think it will happen any time soon. There are too many "standards" and show people upholding them for it to happen soon.

I think it's allllllmost as hard on me as it is on them. I can barely stand to do it.

OMG, yes!!!! The first one I was clumsy and I hurt him. Poor little guy but I kissed him and told him that if he needed to bite me to go ahead. Poor little thing ofcourse couldn't understand me and had no teeth to get even.

I bought hemostats, is there something smaller to clamp with? The poor little things were trying to get away and everytime I lost my grip it hurt them to drag the hemostat. It did seem to numb quickly but they still kept trying to get away from me.

The liquid banage, is it the stuff for humans or is there some for doggies?

QUOTE=Lady of Yorkies;1082080]Oh, how I would love to but people want Yorkies that look like the show Yorkies. I am praying for the day when the US also "outlaws" tail docking. I don't think it will happen any time soon. There are too many "standards" and show people upholding them for it to happen soon.

I think it's allllllmost as hard on me as it is on them. I can barely stand to do it.[/QUOTE]

Yeh....I must admit I feel so sorry for you having to do it....but things may change, they did here. ;)
All you can do is the best you can for your puppies while they have it done, and at least it is over quickly and hopefully everything will go fine:D
Good luck in doing your tails......best wishes to you and your pups:)
My doggies will wag for your wee ones instead;)



.....Did I hear some other person say something ? Maybe not:rolleyes:

I want to thank you again for this information. It worked out pretty well. No blood at all from the tails. I didn't even see any from the dewclaws but I'm sure there must be some on the towel in the bed. Autumn was sent off to be downstairs with the other dogs while I did the dirty deed. She knew something was different when she came back but the babies settled right down to nursing and she seems puzzled by their behaviour. She has had 3 other litters and she seems to know they should be bleeding all over the place. This is so much better.

Usually I only have one litter at a time and the nervousness I feel is over quickly. This time I have 2 litters and the other litter is 6 puppies. I had to put it off, maybe till tomorrow. A good nights sleep might enable me to finish the job with a little less stress.

[COLOR="Blue"]Yeh....I must admit I feel so sorry for you having to do it....but things may change, they did here. ;)
All you can do is the best you can for your puppies while they have it done, and at least it is over quickly and hopefully everything will go fine:D
Good luck in doing your tails......best wishes to you and your pups:)
My doggies will wag for your wee ones instead;)



I would love to see one in person with their tails wagging behind them. Some of my dogs have such long hair on their tails that I wonder what it would look like all long. I would love to run their tail hair thru my fingers. It looks so thick and silky.

Oh, I find this hard to read. I have seen a lot of things but I dont know why I find this so disturbing.
I will have to have the vet do it.

What about the old school method of using rubber bands? I remember doing that on sheep when I was a kid.

This method bothers me because it seems to take so long. It seems to me like it would hurt for a long time instead of 2 or 3 days. I tried it one time and I couldn't stand it. I've never done one with rubber bands again.

Ohhhhh I cringe reading this post...very interesting to read how its done though..both my babies have their tails in tact...I cant imagine them without a tail now..I forget what they look like docked lol..I know people look funny at my dogs when they see a tail though...

Dawn :)

I have yet to try this myself...our vet has done it for me so far, but she is trying to get me to let her teach me how. One day...
Good luck, hopefully you will be able to get the answers you need without this being turned into a debate...again...:) Congrats on two healthy litters! You sound like you have your hands full...lucky...

Probably they are wondering what kind of dog you have. I had an idiot just tonight tell me that Yorkies are born with short tails unless they are not purebred.

Well, I'm not a breeder, and don't really belong here. But every once in awhile I end up reading one of these posts. I just gotta say

God bless the breeder. I could never deal with everything you have to. Like nurses, emts, and firefighters...tg there are people out there who do what you do!

More power to you all!

LOL I don't know how lucky I am, 7 boys and only 2 girls. LOL And then in about 4 weeks all that puppy poo! LOL They are fun to play with tho.

I have had an overabundance of boys since I started to breed 2 years ago.

Aww, you are too sweet. I consider it sharing the love. Yes, I sell puppies but I sure don't make much. It's still for the love.

That's sweet. Well thank you for all that you do:)

Everyone knows Reece is a yorkie..but Ive had people ask about why he has a tail...when I tell them simply that it wasnt docked at birth...they seem confused lol...maybe they think yorkies are born with short tails like that guy who told you that...oh well...lol...short or long they are ALL beautiful babies!!

Dawn:)

Sighhh, aren't they tho?

There is but, the human grade is better, I have a friend that is a practicing RN, so I get it from her Dr.

It's better if you have someone hold for you, lil ones are squirmy lil guys.