Ear Cropping

[Barbara Nixon]

I've never seen a docked cavalier and on asking if anyone had a photo of such, got no response. I certainly prefer the tail, cruelty aside, as it helps the grace of the dog's movement.movement.

I learned about docking, when I read the breed standard, which says it's optional (UK). Monty's breeder (11 years ago) said that some years before that, she had docked her cavaliers, but when legislation came out, her vet refused to dock for cosmetic reasons, so she left the dogs as nature intended and was actually glad about the wake up call.

I believe that Dobbies and Danes are commonly ear cropped in the US, the excuse being that the dogs look fiercer. I was horrified to read , on the site of a security firm, that they actually crop up to the age of 6 months ! It must be excruciatingly painful; you only have to touch (not even pinch) your own ear to see how sensitive it is.

[AT]

I saw a docked cavalier in the vet , he'd had cancer so had to have his tail removed right down to the base , he looked very ,very odd

[yvonne]

My brother has a st. bernard (posted in friends photos) had his dew claws removed. The vet recommended it be done on this particular breed????
Y

[*Pauline*]

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 saw the start of it but had to turn over, couldn't watch. That woman was so vain and stupid. I hope it opened peoples eyes to how cruel it is.

[BarbMazz]

Both my Cavs have their dew claws.... three each. I do have to trim them more often than the other nails, and they do curl inward a lot. I've read how painful a procedure it is, especially in older dogs. I would not consider it! Ouch!

My Golden has his dew claws, which are nice and straight and easy to clip.

My Springer has her tail docked. I looked, and it was done when she was two days old... dew claws removed at the same time. Springers have beautiful full tails, too, when left natural.

I'm ashamed to admit I'd always assumed "it's the way it's done for certain breeds". Now, I know better!

[babyC]

docked tail Cavalier

[WoodHaven]

docked tail Cavalier

They only take a little off--- they leave a huge length.

[Crittercall]

In my experience, docking of tails and removal of dew claws is done before the puppy is 5 days old. The ears wait until the dog is a bit older and have more cartilege so that they will "stand" better. You wouldn't believe the number of times that I've seen some dogs (dobies or schnauzers mostly) come in because their ears weren't standing properly. We kept a supply of little plastic crown-looking things that the ears were glued then taped to so that they would be forced to stand - until the dog got the thing off. Another dr would use a tampon and tape it to the ear.

I have seen dewclaws removed on older dogs and it is considered major surgery. When they are young pups the bone isn't really hardened and they can be just clipped off. When they are older it is like having a finger amputated. You just have to be careful to make sure that the nail on the dewclaw is kept trimmed, otherwise there is a risk of it growing into the pad then you are looking at surgery to fix that.

One of the most awful things in the world is the ear docking. I never assisted on a surgery on that but did have to help clean up. The ears are very vascular so it is a messy surgery. And when the poor dogs wake up they are screaming in pain, shaking their heads wondering what has happened.

I think that the policy on pain medication for dogs after surgery has changed since then, but when I was working they were never given anything to give them any relief. It was always heartbreaking.

Tail docking on puppies is just a snip and a couple of sutures. On an older dog it is major surgery. And you can tell that the older dog knows that something is missing when its tail is gone.

And we won't get into people who have pitbulls and have the ears docked as short as possible along with the tail. These were dogs that we knew were headed to the "ring" for a fight.

Wallis's breeder usually did the dewclaws on her pups but Wallis's litter got missed somehow. I think Sasha and Tibby both have theirs.

And an interesting note, Great Pyrenese have double dewclaws. Strange looking - kind of like a 6-toed cat!

[selina]

I used to get the dew claws removed from the pups I bred when they were 2 or 3 days old. I refused to dock and crop and now we cant in Australia anyway which suits me fine. But I would remove the dewclaws because I found they did curl really badly as they got older and having seen first hand what happens when one is accidently ripped off I thought it a good idea. But I wont be removing the golden pups dewclaws cos they dont seem to cause a problem for them.

[selina]

I used to get the dew claws removed from the pups I bred when they were 2 or 3 days old. I refused to dock and crop and now we cant in Australia anyway which suits me fine. But I would remove the dewclaws because I found they did curl really badly as they got older and having seen first hand what happens when one is accidently ripped off I thought it a good idea. But I wont be removing the golden pups dewclaws cos they dont seem to cause a problem for them.