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Ear Cropping

*Pauline*

Well-known member
I met a Boston Terrier today and just googled the breed only to find that they trim their ears. I mean they cut the flesh so the ears are small and pointed. I'm so upset.
 
that's not the only breed hun. :(

A lot of breeders also dock dew claws of puppies.

Dobermans I know for sure are ear cropped ~ apparently they are done between 7-8 wks (OUCH!)

schnauzers are also done.

Furthermore they also chop off or "dock" some breeds tails. :( sad huh?

I don't mean to ruin your day!
 
and they all look much cuter with natural ears and tails. Gus has natural ears, but the breeder did his tail--he was a rescue, otherwise I would have insisted on leaving it natural as well.
 
It's awful what some people do to certain breeds, I think it is worse over here in the U.S. In fact, is anything like that even done at all in the U.K.? It seems that when I've watched dog shows on TV that they don't seem to dock the tails or crop the ears in Egnland. I wish people over here in the U.S. would wake up and stop doing that dreadful stuff.
 
Sorry to say just as bad in England, lots of breeds here have their tails docked and dew claws removed.
 
Most CKCS have their dewclaws removed as well (mine don't). More common I think in the US than in UK and Ireland. The UK just passed a law last year that dogs' tails cannot be cropped unless required for working or other specific purposes so expect to see a real change at Crufts in future for competitng dogs from the UK. It will be odd for judges I think judging undocked dogs as well as docked in the same group.

Animal Welfare Act 2006 (England and Wales) - Docking
As from April 2007 it will be illegal to dock puppies' tails (other than for therapeutic reasons or if a breeder can submit evidence to a Veterinary Surgeon that the dog is of a specified type to be used for work, rescue, armed forces, police, pest control).
Regulations pertaining to this law will be approved by April 2007 by England and Wales separately. It will not be permissible for docked dogs to be shown at fee paying shows.

Animal Welfare Act 2006 (Scotland) - Docking
As from 6 April 2007 it will be illegal to dock puppies' tails in Scotland (other than for therapeutic reasons) or to travel across borders to have them docked. Regulations pertaining to this law will be approved by April 2007.

On the rescue side people regularly see horrific injuries and problems caused by poor tail docking. Dogs have come in with rubber bands cutting off all circulation as way of docking the tail, and the whole area festering. :yuk:
 
When we got Charley, the breeder told us that they didn't dock tails but that it was "optional" for Cavaliers!!!

They proceeded to tell us which joint to "do", I think it's the second one.

Has anyone seen a docked Cavalier??

I think it's terribly cruel but if you're showing your Cavalier isn't the feathered tail part of the beauty??

I watch the Westminster Show every year and never thought Cavvies were docked til we met that breeder. Have never heard it since, either. :flwr:
 
Zippy said:
When we got Charley, the breeder told us that they didn't dock tails but that it was "optional" for Cavaliers!!!

They proceeded to tell us which joint to "do", I think it's the second one.

Has anyone seen a docked Cavalier??

I think it's terribly cruel but if you're showing your Cavalier isn't the feathered tail part of the beauty??

I watch the Westminster Show every year and never thought Cavvies were docked til we met that breeder. Have never heard it since, either. :flwr:

Cocker spaniel tails are docked-- With a cavalier you can take up to a third of the tail off. I don't know why you would. I also have mixed feelings about dewclaws.
 
Has anyone seen a docked Cavalier??

Yes, I have seen several of them - even in the show ring! They are still beautiful dogs, but I must admit.... they just look "off!" To me, they scream "part of my tail is missing" and they look very weird to me! Such a large part of a Cavaliers' glory is that beautiful, wagging happy tail!

On a slightly different slant, what are everybody's views on dew claw removal (front) in Cavaliers? Darby had hers removed when she was 2 days old.
 
Never heard of a Cavalier being docked :yikes The beauty of them, in addition to their incredibly sweet personalities, is that beautiful tail. But then, I think docking in general is wrong anyway.
 
If thing like this are done for cosmetic reasons-- I wouldn't do it. But --- hunting dogs have broken tails and ripped dewclaws while in the brush. That can be life threatening-- .
I have a pup with a rear dewclaw-- now that shocked me. sandy
 
Remi has dew claws on 3 of her paws, and our vet recommended that we get them removed if we were going to let her interact with our rabbit, Jupiter. The vet said that if for some reason Remi tried to swipe or box Jupiter with a paw the dew claw could scratch the bunny. For that reason alone we were planning on going ahead and having the dew claws removed while she was getting spayed. Plus her dew claws seems so weak I'm afraid they could get caught on something...and the nails curl so much I don't want them to start growing into her skin or something. I guess I didn't think having the dew claws removed was cruel, it doesn't hurt them, does it? :?

Maybe we should rethink it, I just don't want her to accidentally scratch the bunny with them.
 
Charleys' dew claws had been removed when we got him.

Should be alright while under anaesthetic, they repair hernias at that time. :flwr:
 
I talk about my lab alot, but I havent mentioned I had a doberman when I was in my late teens. I sort of inherited it - as in my sister picked up my show money I won for the Hunter Classic with my horse and then directly gave it to another rider who's dog had pups on the circuit. I saw it when I went to the hotel room, next day I asked for my cheque, um ya.. she had quite the time explaining that one! Then she moved out leaving me the dog? He was untrainable! I got him a "shrink", not aggressive at all, just missing a few rocks - a bit of inbreeding. Eventually, I came home from school and my mom had arranged for the vet to rehome him...nuff said there - there were fireworks needless to say...

Anyways, I had him docked and ears done because... that's the way they look. I know he was up and about in 1 day, full steam in 2 days. My lab took alot longer with her spay and was much more worn out.
 
It wasn't until Amber's breeders commented that Holly still had dewclaws and needed them clipped- which they did, there and then- that I even realised she still had them. I read a book on cockers a long time ago saying that dewclaws were always removed since they can potentially curl out and stick into the skin. The author hunted with her dogs as well as showing them, so for a working Cocker who could also get stuff caught on them.. that's reasonable.

I have to admit that while I agree tail docking is wrong, undocked Cockers look 'off' to me. It throws the proportions of a rather square dog off balance. But then, that could simply be the result of poring over too many Cocker books as a kid!
 
Lisa_T said:
I have to admit that while I agree tail docking is wrong, undocked Cockers look 'off' to me. It throws the proportions of a rather square dog off balance. But then, that could simply be the result of poring over too many Cocker books as a kid!

Nar I prefer Cockers with tails. Over my local park there are now more cockers with tails than without. My heartbreaks when my brothers’ Cocker tries so hard to wag her stump, she just can’t seem to get across how happy she is. I swear she could wag her tail as mad as Cavalier if she been given the chance. :(

I did see one black Cocker, which had a pure white tail. It was before they stopped docking so it was a strange site anyway. But I must admit it did look like someone had come along and stuck a fake tail the dog.

I found this link Karlin had put on before on how dogs look like with their tails.

http://www.anti-dockingalliance.co.uk/page_5.htm
 
Yvonne117 said:
Sorry to say just as bad in England, lots of breeds here have their tails docked and dew claws removed.

The Kennel Club have recently passed a new bill to ban the docking of tails in the UK. Not sure when it will come into effect though.

Working dog owners are actually against the ban because they say the tail needs to be docked because it can get injured.

Personally, I think all docking and dew claw removal should be banned and if anyone wants it done, they should wait til the dog is old enough to have an anaesthetic and have it done that way and be charged an extrorionate amount for it.

I strongly believe a dog's tail is there to show how happy it is.

Alison
 
alibunnylady said:
Yvonne117 said:
Sorry to say just as bad in England, lots of breeds here have their tails docked and dew claws removed.


Personally, I think all docking and dew claw removal should be banned and if anyone wants it done, they should wait til the dog is old enough to have an anaesthetic and have it done that way and be charged an extrorionate amount for it.

Alison

I don't like docking personally but in my breed pups can be born with very bent tails so it is neccessery to dock them at a few days old for their future wellbeing.

But docking an adult ( or older puppies ) tail is a horrible procedure , I talked to a specialist about it a couple of weeks ago , he said there is a huge risk of infection & its very, very painful :x not something that should be done withought a very good reason .

I do know of people who have bought pups with full tails & had them docked for the show ring.
I had a fight with one woman , She put her perfect new pup through an anisthetic for the sake of the tip of its tail , it was barely noticable it had even been done.

Did anyone see that program a few months ago about cosmetic surgery on pets , The pitbull pups who had their ears cropped & were screaming when they woke up , then they went all shriveled up when they had healed so they looked even worse.
Thankgod its illegal here

I just dont understand why people put there dogs at risk for the sake of looks . We lost a dog after an eye surgery & that was bad enough , imagine the guilt you would feel if they died during something like ear cropping that was purely for your own ego
 
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