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docking is tail docking still allowed? And if so is it recommended and why?? |
I believe in Aus and UK it is banned "unless it is a working dog." Not sure about South Africa. It's legal in the US, but there is a push from some to get it banned. My baby is docked. I love his little stump especially when he's excited and it wags furiously. I keep waiting for his butt to lift off the ground. lol There are a lot on here with babies are not docked and those tails are the cutest things. It would be recommended for AKC confirmation standards, but it is by no means any sort of health recommendation. Originally these little guys/gals were bread to go into tight spaces and hunt mice and rats. Docking the tails gave them protection from being bitten on their tail. Can't bite what's not there. ;) I believe the long coats were favored as a form of armor. That's how the modern yorkie came into being. |
Docking is still allowed here in the US, and we've had some veryyyy passionate discussions about it in the past (you might want to search for those threads, if interested, they're very informative and interesting). I hope that someday docking is banned and that yorkies have their full, beautiful, unamputated tails in all their glory. My Pfeiffer (a tri color) has her full tail and it's not only just stunning, but it is SO expressive. I truly hope someday the YTCA will lead the charge in this matter here in the US. |
It is still allowed in the US--my Toby came to me with his tail docked. Anne, my little guy's backside *does* lift off the ground! Ha, ha! He wiggles his rear when he gets excited when he eats and his back legs lift off the ground. It is hilarious. It happened more when he was smaller but it still happens on occasion. |
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Tail Docking Veterinarians who perform tail docking, unless for justifiable medical reasons, will be liable for prosecution under the Animal Protection Act no 71 of 1962. Veterinarians found guilty under this act, will automatically be investigated for unprofessional conduct by the SAVC under the Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act, 1982. The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA), as the body primarily responsible with applying the tenets of the Animal Protection Act has in the past not enforced the relevant clause in the Act due to the fact that the SAVC has in the past “condoned” the performing of the procedure. This created a legal loophole that would have made successful prosecution of any person based on the Animal Protection Act unlikely to succeed. This has now changed with the SAVC decision. Although the SAVC decision only directly affects veterinarians, lay people who perform the procedure will now also be liable under the Animal Protection Act. |
It's not allowed here in the uk, it came into law back in 2007. |
Lucy's tail is intact because my US breeder participates in European shows. I love the little wagger! It thumps against the bathroom door when I'm in there.:D AKC is sloooowwwww to change. There are threads here that are passionate about the issue one way or the other. Tracey |
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Yorkies worked in factories to catch vermin & rodents. Their tails would become entangled in machinery - which would stop progress and injure the dog. So, to make their job easier and more efficient, their tails were cut off. The AKC's purpose is to put forth the best breeding stock. The original yorkie stock worked without their tails. So, that's what's shown. The club hasn't caught up with the times. Our yorkies may still catch something in the yard but they're certainly not bred to do that any more. The tradition carries on because it's just that, a tradition. Some will assert health issues about keeping the tail, ie, higher incidence of tail breakage. I don't dispute that argument here, I just don't agree with it. But that's only my opinion. Tracey |
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The reasons for the decision are as follows: Tail docking, even if performed with local anaesthesia, causes pain and stress to young puppies. Recent research in pain management indicates clearly that puppies, even at a few days of age, have a fully developed nervous system and a well-developed sense of pain. Sometimes, tail docking results in serious complications such as bleeding, infection and even the death of the puppy. There can also be complications later in life such as neuroma formation. Tail docking does not provide any benefit to puppies. Traditionally, some breeders considered a docked tail necessary to fulfil the working functions of the dog. Today many working breeds are kept as house pets and only a small percentage are used for field work, which is a recreational activity for people and not an essential function. If dogs of breeds that are customarily docked are left with intact tails, they are not more likely to get tail injuries than dogs of other breeds. Dogs need their tails for balance and body language. If a procedure that causes pain has no immediate or future benefit for the animal and may lead to complications, it is unnecessary and should not be performed. |
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Good info. Thanks for hunting that down for the OP :) Side note/rant: I wish it would become illegal in the US. Since dogs (for the most part) are bred as pets, it's so unnecessary. And, as Peppermint once said: "It's like a speech impediment" (RE: Dexter's Ruff Life) |
My Prima has her tail & dew claws. I asked my breeder to keep her tail & she was more than happy to. Aside from loving the look of a Yorkie with a tail, I didn't really see a reason as to why it should be docked. I always assumed it would be painful & stressful for a puppy. But now that I know it really is, I'm even more glad that Prima has her tail. :) |
I for one will do a public happy dance the day they stop aesthetic mutilations. I can appreciate that there was a time that it was a safety concern and they were working dogs. But to continue doing it now that they are bred as companions for no other reason than "that's the way it's always been done" doesn't seem right. /soapbox /.02 /rant |
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https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/FA...l-docking.aspx I can find scholarly articles, but of course I'm on my computer from home and they are behind a pay firewall. Here's a couple: Tail docking in dogs: a review of the issues - BENNETT - 2008 - Australian Veterinary Journal - Wiley Online Library http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...575.x/abstract If you're interested, I can copy and paste parts of the articles when I'm on a university computer tomorrow. |
Here's a link to an abstact on a study I found a while back. Speaks to the fact that most pups settle fairly quickly after the procedure when tail docking was done on a very young pup. Elsevier |
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Here's a link to a video of a vet removing dew claws and docking the tail of a shrieking puppy. Warning: Do not view if you are squeamish about these kinds of things... |
I just watched the video with my little girls- my 5 year old thinks that she is going to be a vet when she grows up- they all said, "Poor Blazer and Buddy!" and then went and hugged our dogs. They feel bad that our boys went through that when they were new puppies. |
I can't watch the video. Just looking at the vet's face in the clip tells me enough. Part of the problem is that since breeders (the good and bad) never worried about the tail - other than where it's set, there's no telling how the tails will look on yorkies from well-established breeding lines (ie, too long, short, curly, straight, etc.) AKC would have to set forth standards for the tail. That could potentially hurt some breeders who have dogs with poor standard tails. Since the AKC and breeders go hand in hand, it's difficult to say when the practice will stop in the US. Tracey |
I know we don't allow it in SA and was a little concerned while reading ads for yorkies for sale overseas saying docked and dew clawed. I can understand the dew claw as I can imagine the damage that can do if it hooks onto something. And I know that people (and I use the term very loosely here as I am sure I could be banned for the word I would like to use) dock the tails of the dogs they use for dogfights.:mad: |
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Summary and conclusion In summary then, it seems difficult to argue that tail docking, as the widespread practice that it presently is, is justified. It cannot be defended on the basis of arguments from tradition or to satisfy a breed standard created in another time and place. Moreover, there is no clear evidence that any kind of benefit associated with tail docking exists that can outweigh the potential harm that may be caused to the animals involved. There are several reasons that may be used to support tail docking in some breeds, or at least to justify the docking of specific dogs within those breeds. These reasons concern individual dogs that are expected to engage in activities as adults in which tail damage is encountered on a frequent basis, particularly if appropriate veterinary care is unlikely to be available, those in which accumulation of faecal material may become a health issue, those born with deformed or painfully misshapen tails, and those for which the presence of a docked tail may result in a significantly improved quality of life. In all of these cases tail docking of individual dogs could potentially be justified on utilitarian grounds, but only if the expected benefits outweigh the harm that is potentially associated with the docking process, and also only if adequate anaesthesia and analgesia is provided at the time of docking. More difficult, if not impossible, to sustain is the argument that tail docking is justified simply because some humans prefer the docked look or find it more convenient to own a tailless dog. This would constitute an acceptable reason for docking only if it was conclusively demonstrated that absolutely no harm is ever associated with the process. On the contrary, although the potential for harm cannot be proven scientifically for philosophical reasons, available evidence strongly suggests that docking may be associated with both acute and chronic pain. Relevant anatomical and physiological differences between dogs and members of our own species are minimal and there is every reason to suspect that even very young pups do experience substantial pain when their tails are removed, and that they continue to experience pain as the normal physiological processes known to be associated with limb amputation take place. That the docking process occurs just before the critical socialisation period simply makes the practice more difficult to justify, as does the fact that it may leave some dogs with chronic physical problems and possibly unable to communicate effectively with both conspecifics and humans. |
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In their discussion of tail docking in dogs, Noonan et al noted that breeders often use the fact that pups either suckle or fall asleep immediately following docking to support their view that the pups do not experience significant pain. However, while such behaviour may indicate that the pain felt during docking is minimal, there is no empirical evidence to support an association between lack of pain and these behaviours. On the contrary, other studies, in which young animals or humans show increased feeding or what is known as a ‘sleeping fit’ following a painful or stressful experience, have concluded that this may be either a displacement activity or an adaptive mechanism which ensures that the baby animal has sufficient nourishment and rest to survive under adverse circumstances. In addition, as discussed in Noonan et al, suckling behaviour may provide analgesia by stimulating the release of endogenous opioids, with oral administration of carbohydrate-laden solutions being commonly used to reduce pain responses in human infants. It is possible, therefore, that pups suckle following docking to reduce docking-associated pain, rather than because the pain they feel is minimal. This issue could be investigated empirically by subjecting puppies to various experiences believed likely to cause pain and noting their responses, particularly whether their sleeping or suckling responses increase or decrease with the magnitude of pain believed to be inflicted, but it would be ethically difficult to justify such a study. |
I used to love a docked tail if done properly, but aside from show breeders just about everyone else even vets go to short. My sister's yorkie has a stub about 1/4" long which looks very bad. Now that I have Lola who has a tail I love them and hope the practice in the US stops. I know there are some show breeders bucking the trend and one here in MI I was told was recently finished having an intact tail. The thing is that unless you pick out a puppy before it's born (which is something I would never do) most yorkie breeders go ahead and dock since they say that's what people want. I just had this discussion with someone that was preparing to have a litter of parties, I suggested she keep the tails and while she really wanted to was advised against it by her mentor because she was told that buyers would expect a docked tail. I often wonder if we did a poll of YT US members to see if they would prefer a tail or not which would win out, I sort of think it would be in favor of tails. |
I did ask that Blazer's tail be left intact but because he was a gift to me and the breeder wasn't sure if I was truly going to take him she had his tail docked right along with his littermates' "because that is what people expect" if she ended up having to sell him. His stub is rather short but I leave the hair on it long so it currently looks almost twice as long as it's true length, and like a flag! |
My breeder is a quality show breeder with 35 yrs experience. He's VP of the local YTCA chapter. He leaves tails in tact because he now he participates in European shows. As I've said in other posts, I bought the breeder - so having the tail intact didn't make a difference. AND when you see beautiful puppies with tails, you simply melt! IMHO, I think people looking for pets will buy beautiful Yorkshire Terriers even with tails intact. Take care. Tracey |
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#18 tail docking video. I tried to watch it but had to turn the sound on my iPad completely off as my four year old Yorkie boy who was next to me went crazy, barking and trying to get at the iPad. He was so distressed by the crying baby, so it shows that dogs know pain and suffering when they hear it. The video without sound was sad enough! I have no particular views on the procedures except that I wonder why some local anesthetic could not be used to prevent the pain? |
Since I got my Niko when he was 6 days old I was with him for his tail and dewclaws removal. I was ambivolent about it but sorry to say gave in to the pressure. Never again. He and I both cried for an hour. I look at his stump and still feel guilty. He's fine. I think one of the reasons I would like a biewer is because the tails are intact. What can we do.to stop the amputation and get the standards changed? Let me know and I'll do my part. As for the pain after and the suckling, I've been with hundreds of infants after circumcisions. The behavior is similar and multiple studies have proven that this a method of pain control as stated above. However we've also had some infants who shut down and won't eat or even use a pacifier. Thank god I had a girl and didn't have to make that decision. |
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https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/081215c.aspx https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/FA...l-docking.aspx However, the AKC is firmly entrenched in support of tail docking (cited in the first link to the AVMA). I don't know about any organized efforts opposing tail docking, but I think it ultimately comes down to a three-pronged approach: (1) lobbying legislators to make it illegal, (2) lobbying the AKC and the breed parent clubs to remove docked tails from their breed standards, and (3) educating veterinarians and backyard surgeons to stop docking the tails of dogs because it is animal cruelty. |
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