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Decided not to dock tails! Hi, I'm new to YorkieTalk.com. Our beautiful yorkie, Nahla had a liter of 4 pups on September 16th. The plan was to have the pups tails docked and dewclaws removed on the 18th. We had been second guessing the whole tail docking thing from the beginning. We hand-raised Nahla and her brother Toby because their mother retained Nahla's placenta (too long of a story to get in to), but Nahla and Toby both have their tails and (dewclaws for that matter) because it was felt they were already under enough stress from being away from their mother at 2.5 days old to endure these stressful procedures. We love Nahla and Toby's tails. We can't imagine them without their tails! Anyway, I always thought that the tail docking was painless. I'm not sure where I got that idea. Before the vet visit I looked up "docking a yorkies tail" on youtube. Well, I wanted to cry. I quickly turned the video off after the pup began to squeal. My daughter and I were continually discussing it on the way to the vet and at the vet. The vet tech came and took the pups and then the veterinarian came out and asked us to come into a room "I've got to be honest, I've never docked a yorkie's tail before. Do you want them longer, shorter, or?" He says. He told us his daughter had a yorkie that had a tail and he felt that it was beginning to become more common not to dock the tail of a yorkie. One of the vet techs looked up some information on the internet and read off some information that basically said that the only purpose to dock the tail and crop the ears on the yorkie is for AKC standards for show purposes. So, my daughter and I looked at each other and said "forget it, we don't want their tails docked." We decided to have their dewclaws done because those little claws on the sides their precious little paws can get caught on so many things. If someone wants a precious little yorkie it shouldn't matter if it has a tail or doesn't have a tail. We can't imagine having put these precious babies through the pain of having their tails docked and we don't regret the decision one bit! Their little paws from their dewclaws have healed right up! Furthermore, the yorkshire terrier originated in England and in April of 2007 tail docking was made illegal there except for working dogs! If you have a yorkshire terrier in England and show it, IT HAS A TAIL! Nahla's nickname is Nahla Boo so we call everyone "The Boo Crew". Even though everyone will be going to great homes at some point we temporarily named them. In order of birth they are: Sammy Simba Ruby Rose Lucy Elizabeth Chance Marie (don't ask about the middle name ;0) Everyone including Nahla Boo continues to do wonderful. She is a terrific first time mother! I'll plan to post some pictures soon :) |
Gotta love those tail's :congrats::welcome4: to Y T. I'm glad you did not dock their tail's. I just love a Yorkie with a full tail. You need to post picture so we can watch them grow up. I may be looking for another Yorkie in the near furture. Would love to have one with a tail. Do you have any girl's? would like to get Luci a sister . But would have to see the parent's and meet you in person, and talk to your vet about their health. I'm just being cautious because I do not support puppy mills. Could you send me a picture of their parent's? And them. My email is ann458@centurylink.net Thanks would like to get to know you and your yorkies. It's still a toss up over a standard Yorkie or a Beiwer yorkie. They are all beautiful in my opinion. Anne/Luci:animal-pa |
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First welcome to YT. Hope you enjoy your stay. I have bolded the information that is unfortunately incorrect from a "vet tech" that researched the internet. That is namely even in England and in the long history of the YT EARS have NOT BEEN CROPPED. And again unfortunately despite what your "learned vet" who if he was learned would know at least how to dock a dog's tail and to what length, there were sound reasons in history to dock a Yorkies tail. I just would like future readers to know there is a tad more to learn about docking a YT tail then is portrayed in this post. I hope your litter and Mama does well, I'm sure your waiting list is agog and impatient to see these Yorkies pups. |
Welcome to YT!! cant wait to see pics! |
Hi, I think I watched that video too and turned it off at the same spot. Ugh I dislike the tail docking and wish my puppy and dog still had theirs. Good for you! Welcome. |
pppft I googled one day yorkie tail dock.. Im so glad you didnt. I help my pup tighter after I wastched what she went through to get that nub she has. I would have been happy with a tail! But she came from the shelter. Was done befre she was dropped off at 7 weeks old. Hope you post pics of the precious ones! and Welcome to YT |
I love the tails on Yorkies. My Allie has a full tail, and my late Molly had a full tail as well. Welcome to YT. Would love to see some pictures. |
Welcome to YT and congrats. I love tails nubby and flowing natural. I wish we could convince YTCA to change the standard of medium docked; to undocked tails will not be penlized. |
Hi, thanks for the warm welcome! I had meant to specify in my post that there are 2 boys and 2 girls! Perfect! Boy, girl, girl, boy! We aren't excited or anything about these little guys-Haha! I will definitely post pics soon of Nahla and the crew. Then I can get you some pics of Dad and even Grandma & Grandpa. Oh, and we can't forget about Uncle Toby! |
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:animal36 From April 2007, new Animal Welfare Acts covering the UK, forbid tail docking except for certain working dogs. (Tail docking - the case for tail docking) :animal36 :animal-pa Sorry to get so heated about this, but I can't imagine having put those 5 day old babies that are back with their Mama through the pain of having their tails docked. I can't think of one instance where Nahla or Toby's tail has caused an issue! :animal-pa |
[QUOTE=TheBooCrew;4020354]..."........ I always thought that the tail docking was painless. I'm not sure where I got that idea. Before the vet visit I looked up "docking a yorkies tail" on youtube. Well, I wanted to cry. I quickly turned the video off after the pup began to squeal. ........ The vet tech came and took the pups and then the veterinarian came out and asked us to come into a room "I've got to be honest, I've never docked a yorkie's tail before. Do you want them longer, shorter, or?" He says. He told us his daughter had a yorkie that had a tail and he felt that it was beginning to become more common not to dock the tail of a yorkie. One of the vet techs looked up some information on the internet and read off some information that basically said that the only purpose to dock the tail and crop the ears on the yorkie is for AKC standards for show purposes. So, my daughter and I looked at each other and said "forget it, we don't want their tails docked." We decided to have their dewclaws done because those little claws on the sides their precious little paws can get caught on so many things. If someone wants a precious little yorkie it shouldn't matter if it has a tail or doesn't have a tail. We can't imagine having put these precious babies through the pain of having their tails docked and we don't regret the decision one bit! Their little paws from their dewclaws have healed right up! Furthermore, the yorkshire terrier originated in England and in April of 2007 tail docking was made illegal there except for working dogs! If you have a yorkshire terrier in England and show it, IT HAS A TAIL!......". I feel compelled to respond. I think it is every one's individual decision as to whether they want to dock tails or not. I adore Yorkies and I think they have beautiful tails....I will indeed be THRILLED if and when it becomes a common, ACCEPTABLE practice to leave tails in tact. THAT being said, I just MUST address several issues in your post that are either NOT correct, or that at the VERY LEAST, cause the hair on my neck to stand on end!!! First, to put the CORRECT information forward. Whether you want tails docked or not, that is your decision and that is NOT my argument. Please do NOT think you can get an adequate education on "How or Why to Dock Tails", off youtube!!!!!!!!!! You need to learn HOW the nervous system in a puppy develops. I suggest you get educated on THAT using valid, medical and vet text books, not from "youtube"....after you have a clear working knowledge of the development and progression of the nervous system, you will KNOW the nerves in the tails are the last to develop, which is WHY they MUST be docked BEFORE day 5. On day 2-4, the babies may squeal when the tail is docked, but I can GUARANTEE you, YOUR LITTLE FEMALE JUST WENT THROUGH MORE PAIN AS A MAIDEN BITCH, GIVING BIRTH, THAN PUPPIES EXPERIENCE ~ BOTH IN INTENSITY AS WELL AS DURATION~ HAVING THEIR TAILS DOCKED. You have not given that a second thought! Have you ever seen a human baby get a vaccination???? They squall and scream like you are killing them....so is THAT justification to stop vaccinating you child/baby, just because they cry??? Puppies at 2-4 days of age go thru less trauma and pain than your child does getting a shot! (As far as dew claws, I want to add here, that a member just posted research that supports NOT removing dew claes, NOT because of the "pain" but because of the apparent tortion issues created on the dog's legs because removing dew claws takes away the gripping capabilities the dog needs, when running full out, and then planting its legs to turn on a dime. So the argument CAN be made, between the two procedures, you have opted to do the one that causes the most actual damage!) NEXT, ADDRESSING MY NEXT PROBLEM WITH YOUR POST: I am happy you did NOT let a vet that has NO working knowledge of HOW to dock tails, perform this procedure!!!!!! OMG!!!!! Just how much experience as a vet does this person have, IN GENERAL??? MORE importantly, how much experience does this vet have caring for Yorkies????? IF I WAS USING A VET OR A DOCTOR, AND THE DOCTOR AND HIS NURSE WAS LOOKING UP "INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO DO TAIL DOCKING YOURSELF" , on the computer, OR ON AN INSTRUCTION SHEET, OR "ON THE SIDE OF THE TAIL DOCKING KIT", I would RUN! RUN! RUN!!!! You have to stop and realize that this person is what is standing between you Yorkie and death's door!!! IF HE DOES NOT EVEN KNOW HOW TO DOCK TAILS, HOW MUCH OTHER KNOWLEDGE IS HE COMING UP SHORT IN? He FAILED miserably in his role as a teacher...he is supposed to know enough about vet medicine, that he can ACCURATELY teach YOU about care he is giving your dogs!!! He should be able to explane WHY he suggests doing the things he does to your dogs, and these decisions SHOULD be based on EVIDENCED BASED OUTCOMES, and NOT on the fact that he is CLUELESS on how or why he is or is not advocating doing something!!!! WHAT IS HE TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE ADDRESSES "DOCKING YORKIES EARS"????? THIS IS NOT DONE!!!!He has Yorkies confused with some other, larger breed!!!! What does he think about vaccination protocols??? IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, YOU NEED TO FIND ANOTHER VET, FOR THE BEST CARE AND FOR THE SAFETY OF YOUR PRECIOUS DOGS THAT YOU ADORE. You want the best for them....and if they get sick or are even critically ill, you need someone that has a thorough working knowledge of vet medicine....NOT someone that has to look up instructions on the computer before proceeding with saving you dog! |
I agree. If my vet has to look up tail docking on the Internet I would find a new vet. I would have ran out of there. What if you had an emergency, would he know what to do. I would not risk the lives of any of my fur balls |
Quit reading between the lines! [quote=Yorkiemom1;4020455] Quote:
I never said anything about the vet "docking yorkie ears" I never said the vet hadn't ever docked any dog's tail. He has just never docked a Yorkie's tail and that doesn't mean he doesn't have experience taking care of Yorkie's either. It just means he has never docked a Yorkie's tail. I never said I was trying to become educated on Youtube about tail docking. I just wanted to see what was involved. Becoming educated on it was NOT my intention! Seriously, you're comparing the pain a pup feels from tail docking to the pain a child feels at the injection site from an immunization (that's required by law I might add). I'm a registered nurse and used to work at an immunization clinic every other Tuesday. I've given my share of immunizations to children. Gimme a break, there's no comparison! Who said the vet and the vet tech went on the internet to look up instructions on "how to do tail docking yourself"? I didn't. I was only trying to talk about the experience we had, not give out information about tail docking. I definitely stated my opinion for sure. I believe the only factual information I stated was that England banned tail docking in 2007. You can't correct opinions. :animal36 My suggestion-YOU NEED TO QUIT READING BETWEEN THE LINES AND COMING TO YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS :dogprints |
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** I don't want to get in an argument started,but I would really like to know what advantages there are to having a YorkshireTerrier's tail docked in today's world? I'm talking about a Yorkshire Terrier that is a lovingmember of your family, not a working dog. If there are so many advantages to it, then othercountries would not have banned the practice of docking tails except ininstances of certain working dogs. In my opinion, one of the only reasonsYorkshire Terriers still have their tails docked is because people think that'swhat a Yorkie is "supposed to look like". It's time to change the waypeople think! These precious babies are needlessly put through painfulprocedures. For what? Because that's what they are supposed to look like? Taildocking originated because of the "working dog". Times have changedthough for the most part. The Yorkshire Terrier originated in England. Englandbanned tail docking except for working dogs in 2007. TIME FOR THE UNITEDSTATES TO FOLLOW (in my opinion). FromApril 2007, new Animal Welfare Acts covering the UK, forbid tail docking except for certain working dogs. (http://www.cdb.org/case4dock.htm) Sorry toget so heated about this, but I can't imagine having put those 5 day old babiesthat are back with their Mama through the pain of having their tails docked. Ican't think of one instance where Nahla or Toby's tail has caused an issue! |
Yorkies look great with long tails or the shorter tails. I believe the tail docking was done in the first place because the Yorkie was bred to go into small spaces to kill rodents. Having the tail cut short kept the dog from various injuries that could occur under those circumstances. As already stated the Yorkie ears are supposed to go up naturally they are not cropped. A 3 or 4 day old puppy has not developed connective tissue or bone in it's tail. If done properly the docking is only a brief bit of pain and they are back to normal shortly. As Yorkiemom 1 stated puppies will incur more pain than that in their future and certainly a pregnant and laboring mom suffers much more than that brief docking procedure. I cannot consider it a "cruel" procedure. Human piercing would be more painful. By the way. Do you realize that male babies have been circumcised without anaesthetic for years. Now that is something with a high pain level. |
TAil docking Here is one article that would be worth your time to read. Also there is another thread on here, where we all discussed tail docking, and at least two posts were made (including this one below), that offered up for our perusal some more "expert" opinions on the subject. The thread is called Tail Docking, and can be found with the search function. For me it is quite simple; the report below indicates a very low level of pain if any at all, due to the neuronal development of puppies. To me either he is right or he is wrong; and if wrong where is the research that invalidates his studies? Once the pain question is put to one side; then the argument becomes different in my mind. The fact that Europe in main has banned docking, doesn't mean that the decision was made based on scientific data. Emotions run high on this issue as well as others; and as humans often times emotion rules the day. Of course there is the pain of any spay and neuter operation, and the attendant risks of surgery, and complications there after. But we here in North America continue to believe that "spay and neuter" is best for each dog, gives them better health. There are studies, and probably more coming that have more than begun to challenge that assertion. One thing I wonder, have you thought at least about mentioning that sometimes long tails do get injured, when you place these puppies. While I understand with your two dogs you mated, their's haven't yet, and may never; I have no idea how robust are the tails of these puppies. There are concerns for me with dew claw removal and docking of tails, that have nothing what so ever to do with the brief (if present) flash of pain. Razzle yelped more over his last needle to withdraw blood, then I ever heard a puppy do with tail docking. My concerns are firmly grounded in functionality of the working dog. In particular with certain performance events - like agility. The other thing I would like to mention, I am a proud owner of Working Dogs, AND they are beloved and much treasured members of my household. I have Black Russian Terriers and a Yorkshire Terrier and yes he is a working dog! He will be training in Earth Dog trials and he is already a dock jumper as well as a Multi Ch and a Grand Champion. Whereever did you get the idea that a Working Dog is NOT a beloved member of the family? Ever person I know, that has working dogs, treat them with just as much, if not more, love and care then the "average" pet owner. And if you consider that most if not all dogs, loved to be engaged in fun and fruitful activities with their owners, working dog owners are way out ahead of the pack. I like to see people "argue" a case based on proven facts and research. And yes as our understanding grows, as research comes in, we do get to change our minds about topics. This board is one of the best forums around to learn the many ways and things about Yorkies. There is a wealth of information here, on many subjects. At this point in time, in my opinion, there is no overwhelming case to ban any docking of tails;) Tail Docking - The Fritsch Report Since the classic research by Adolph Portman (1944/1990), which verified the work of Herder, Gehlen and Plessner, the validity of the Altricial/Precocial differentiation in animals has become a well-established scientific fact. More recently, this gained new attention with research on artificial intelligence in information-processing systems ('Altricial self-organising information-processing systems', Aaron Sloman & Jackie Chappell, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, UK). Briefl y, animals belonging to the Altricial group (dogs, cats, some birds, rodents, etc.) are born relatively immature, with a nervous system not fully developed. They have very little feeling of pain during the fi rst fi ve days after birth. The blood circulation and the bones of the tail are relatively undeveloped or 'primitive'. This is in contrast to animals in the Precocial group (pigs, sheep etc.), which are born fully developed. Performed on altricial neonatal puppies, 3 days postpartum, the procedure is regarded as significantly less intrusive than toe-clipping in rodents for laboratory identification. In the event the procedure is to be undertaken on other than neonatal animals, there must be a strong scientific c reason for using this technique and the procedure must be done on an anesthetized animal (Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1996). Tail docking in neo-natal puppies is certainly far less intrusive and painful than the shortening or docking of tails in Precocial pigs and lambs, because the latter have a fully developed threshold of pain. . http://www.k9alliance.com/resources/...-FactSheet.pdf Since docking was banned in Sweden in 1989, there has been a massive increase in tail injuries amongst previously docked breeds. Within the 50 undocked Pointer litters registered in that year with the Swedish Kennel Club, 38% of dogs suffered tail injury before they were 18 months old and two years later, by 1991, the number of individuals with tail injuries had increased to 51% in the same group (Gunilla Strejffert, Report to the Swedish Breed Council for German Shorthaired Pointers, 1992, Borlange, Sweden). Even more alarming is the fi nding that only 16% of injury cases had improved, 40% showed no improvement and more than half of dogs with tail injuries had regressed during the two year period! An ad hoc survey amongst owners of English Pointers in South Africa, also a shorthaired breed, indicate that at least one out of fi ve English Pointers suffers from some sort of tail injury during their life. The English Pointer’s tail is traditionally not docked mainly because of a relatively short tail in proportion to its body, with a lower risk of tail injury (Fig 2). A docking ban is no cure at all If tail damage occurs during adulthood it often does not heel well or does not heal at all. This is mainly due to the injury being constantly banged against objects, poor blood circulation in the tail and constant licking and chewing by the dog (Fig 6). The healing process can be painful and protracted with considerable distress to the dog. Injuries often result in necrosis of the tail tip. This can sometimes be treated with partial amputation but secondary problems can occur in the healing process, which actually makes it necessary to amputate the tail several times before the healing process is achieved. A docking ban is no cure at all If tail damage occurs during adulthood it often does not heel well or does not heal at all. This is mainly due to the injury being constantly banged against objects, poor blood circulation in the tail and constant licking and chewing by the dog (Fig 6). The healing process can be painful and protracted with considerable distress to the dog. Injuries often result in necrosis of the tail tip. This can sometimes be treated with partial amputation but secondary problems can occur in the healing process, which actually makes it necessary to amputate the tail several times before the healing process is achieved. It's not just working dogs Sweden banned tail docking over ten years ago. Swedish veterinary reports indicate that 17% of Boxers are Swedish veterinary reports indicated that 17% of Boxers are sustaining tail injuries in and around the home environment. Wagging tails cannot be immobilised, and these injuries frequently result in tail amputation. FACT SHEET 5 damaging their long tails in and around the home environment. While less than the 51% incidence of tail damage sustained by pointer breeds in Sweden following the ban on tail docking, 17% still highly signifi cant. The damage range from broken tips to total fractures further up the tail, just distal to the point where docking would normally be carried out. Because treatment of the injury does not address the aetiology, the injuries keep recurring and frequently end up requiring amputation. Conclusion Tail docking of the gundog breeds is practised not for cosmetic reasons but to prevent serious injury. Field working is a human induced activitiy for which we must accept the responsibility. It is our duty to prevent distress in our animals. From the veterinary point of view, no scientifi c studies have been submitted to show why the docking of gundogs' tails are benefi cial. Indeed, the treatment of tail injuries in adult dogs is a costly, protracted and repetitive process compared to docking — and, in conclusion, infi nitely more painful and stressful to the very animal whose welfare we seek to protect. After all, the reason for tail docking is a cornerstone of good medicine and animal care. It is called: Prophylaxis. Policy Statement It is the policy of the undersigned organisations that 1. From a professional veterinary point of view, failure to dock and clip in the prescribed manner the tails and dew-claws of specifi c gundog breeds intended for fi eld work, is considered unethical; and 2. From a legal point of view, such failure is regarded as constituting animal cruelty. |
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 :(. |
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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. |
[QUOTE=Nancy1999;4020726]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. Once again I concur with Nancy. Vets generally speaking, unless they are reproduction vets, and or have had years of experience, do NOT have a good experiental knowledge of docking. It is yet again why it is so wise to grow up in breeding with an experienced mentor. They have found the vets that do have the knowledge, and often unless a huge distance is a factor you will go to their vet for the procedure. And also their vet can refer you to one closer to you that Does have the experience. Yes and their are different methods as we have discussed earlier. My breeder of Razzle, even though hugely experienced still I believes takes the pups to her vet to do. My breeder of Magic, who is also an MD, did her own. |
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I have a yorkie with a full tail and never once has she hurt it. So we should dock all tails because they may get hurt? That to me is absurd. Let's chop off a body part because damage may occur :confused: |
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I know there are worse things that happen to dogs like breeding without health testing, but we are talking about docking. I don't believe in cutting off a body part that an animal is born with just because it may get hurt. I also don't believe in infant circumcision, so that shows you where I stand :) |
[QUOTE=TheBooCrew;4020582] ** [SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]I don't want to get in an argument started,but I would really like to know what advantages there are to having a YorkshireTerrier's tail docked in today's world? I'm talking about a Yorkshire Terrier that is a lovingmember of your family, not a working dog. Actually this is where I got the idea. |
Well I reason as follows, if we as a "human" species decide and the only reason to decide a certain way is that a certain procedure has some pain (albeit) temporary pain that this is a good enough reason to ban a procedure; then there are a whole lot of medical procedures we put our dogs through that have at least as much or even more pain (one would think) associated with them. There needs to be more to the picture in my opinion then just "avoidance of pain". It's fine that you feel happy you didn't dock the tails, and it was your CHOICE, one you were able to freely make to do or not to do. I prefer to maintain that CHOICE for every breeder. So I could never support at this point in time (with the research that I am aware of) and my own experience a BAN on docking. A BAN on dewclaw removal, and a BAN on ear cropping. |
I would not like to see docking banned by law in this country. It should be left up to the breed clubs as to what the standard should be. If a breed club feels they should change the standard due to updated info or general consensus then that should be done. I'm sure some people would still dock. The worst docked tails I have seen have been done by puppy millers and BYBs that do their own and hardly leave any tail at all on the poor dog's behind. Of course that is one area I do have strong feelings about and although I am against government intrusion into American lives I do believe that something needs to be done about the rampant abuse of dogs by puppy mills. I do think that people who have a particular breed that they love many times would like to keep the historical look of the breed and I see nothing wrong with that. Personal choice by responsible individuals should be respected. |
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I'm so glad you nade the best descision, especially considering the circumstances. Personally I'd be looking for a more competant vet who expects more competancy from their staff as well. I can't say enough about the difference in finding a small dog specialty vet. Congrats and wrlcone to yorkietalk, looking forward to updates and pics. |
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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 Tail "docking", ear "cropping" and "dew claw removal" are all amputations of body parts and I hope we as a country can get these practices outlawed. I don't buy the "might injure it" argument. They might injure their paws, should they be removed? They might injure their claws, should we remove them? Or their nose, or... or .. you get the picture :) As someone who has had four dogs (two dearly departed rip babies ♥), with full tails and AprilLove being the only one without a tail, and with barely a nub at that I can tell you that it does affect their movement by amputating them. Also no injuries of the long tails in 16 years. AprilLove can not run like my two with full tails and walks differently too. I see it as a disadvantage having the parts of their body that they were born with amputated. I am going to provide a few links at the end of my loooooong reply :) for some interesting reading on both sides of the issues of dew claw and tail removals (AMPUTATIONS) About the dew claw removal. I never really knew that they were removed on purpose on my first two dogs, I just really thought they were born with them or without them, until a friend had their cats' claws removed, I really didn't get that they were being amputated. After reading and studying more on the issue, and living with Nappy who has his, I now understand they are an integral part of their function. Similar to our thumbs. http://caninesports.com/DewClawExplanation.pdf and a very interesting video for example: 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. The comparison of the dew claw and canine foot to our hand and thumb makes total sense to me. I recently amputated part of my thumb and had surgery on it. (a procedure called the "Moberg Flap") The hand surgeon informed me that our thumbs are 80 % of our hand function... I learned this verrrry quickly, being unable to use the hand for almost three months after the repair. Anyway, my point in all this is that if in fact our dogs dew claws are even close to being 80% of their foot/paw function, then why on earth do we remove them? Food for thought I hope. Nappy has never had an issue with his, I clip them when I clip the other ones. Removing a body part because "it might get injured" is a very very weak excuse for amputation, imho. If that were the case, If I would have had my thumb removed when I was 3 to 5 days old, I would never have injured it!!! :p :p HEre are the links I mentioned before, just some other viewpoints on both sides and some referenced studies, on these issues. Kandu's Breeding Philosophy Cropping and Docking: A Discussion of the Controversy and the Role of Law in Preventing Unnecessary Cosmetic Surgery on Dogs http://caninesports.com/DewClawExplanation.pdf Dog Tail Docking: Issues and Health Implications of Docking, whether on a Boxer or a Puppy - WSAVA Tail Docking Position Statement |
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It makes a lot of sense to me... Couver had his dew claws removed and tail docked and he walks a lot differently than Khloe. He is not as agile and cannot turn sharply when running. |
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