my daughter is wondering if you could please give her some advice regarding her dog =it has just bred with another spaniel and she is wanting your advice regarding the docking of the puppies tail when it arrives your expert advice whatever would be very much appreciated i dont know if this is a good thing or not this dog would be a family pet i hope you can find the time to reply thanks once againyou can e=mail me at =hc010a8605@blueyonder.co.uk

Docking can only be carried out by a qualified registered vet in the first few days of life so you need to find one now. It may not be a local one so be prepared to travel. Please do not accept someone coming round to your house who you are not allowed to know who they are or how to contact them as they may be docking your pups illegally. Always ask for proof that they are what they say they are.

Hi,
my vet docks my pups. H even comes into the surgery on his days off so he can do them before they are 24 hrs old. The earlier the better in my opinion.

It really depends what you want the pups to do. If you anticipate that they are all going as pets then there is no need to dock. However if like me you do not know which pups will go to working home and which will go to pet homes then get them docked.

Vets like it if you are a memeber of the counil of docked breeds as they provide legal cover for your vet.

Ask the vet how experienced they are at docking. Inexperienced vets tend to think you dock with a scalpel and then sew the tail up. What you should be looking for is a crushing action on the tail. My vet uses pincers to crush the tail and then remove the spare portion. It used to be popular to bite the tails of, I know it is barbaric but think about it, you are replicating the same crushing action.

Another thing is the length of the dock. Many dogs are docked too short in my opinion. You can effect bowel function by docking too short. People who breed show spaniels tend to have them docked quite short. I breed working cocker and have bren working springers. I their case you would remove half the tail of a cocker and one third of the tail of a springer. This leaves enough tail to see a correct and happy was, but not so much that the look like they are deformed.

If you require any further info on docking these please contact me.

thanks a lot for taking time to reply to my query i was under the impression it was very difficult to get this done now what with all the new rules and regs?

Only you can decide what you feel is best for your pups & I agree with all that has been said. However, it is vital that you make an informed decision long before the pups arrive as docking must absolutely be carried out when pups are young & before all nerve endings are fully functional. Perhaps you could look at all the info from the various societies mentioned previously to aid the decision.We recently bred our first litter of cockers &, although we like to show a bit we did not dock. The pups we didn't keep went to pet homes & they specifically wanted undocked cockers.Docking will be banned in the future I am sure, in line with a number of other countries that have banned it already.Good luck & I hope the experience is as great for you as it was for us.

I think TH's tail is docked way too short. It's barely a tail at all. And she does so love to wag it :)

You might also like to contact the Council of Docked Breeds. They will be able to provide you with information too. If you decide to dock your puppies, they will also be able to advise you on available vets :-)

Lots of vets will only dock if the bitch is already registered with them before pups are born.Also some will only dock if the pups are working bloodlines and where we go they like them to be 2 days old for the procedure to be carried out .I suppose it may vary a little from vet to vet.I would start asking around now,who is pro and who is anti and then transfer the bitch over as soon as u find one thats agreeable so that she can recieve anti natal treatment ,and they get to know her before pups are born.

why do you want to dock? Contact www.Anti-DockingAlliance for more info

Join the council of docked breeds, they will help you and give you details of the nearest people who do it.

Was it a deliberate or accidental mating? If accidental bitches can be speyed during pregnancy and you can buy a pup from someone else and not have to worry about whether to have bits cut/banded off or not.

Christine

My dog has got a docked tail, The breeder always goes to a vet which I think in the not so distant future is the only way you should have them done.I think I am correct in saying the government are passing a law only vets will be able to dock tails.[go on shot me down in flames if I am wrong]

Pat

It is law already :-) Only a veterinarian can dock puppies.

Well that is strange, the news letter i received from the bouvier de flanders club said
would we write to our MP's regarding the tail docking. But I must have read the thing wrong ,But that is not a bad thing Leigh the horror stories you hear with amateur's doing it Must admitt I was a little dubious of getting a breed with a docked tail until I meet Zac's breeder .

Pat

You are getting it confused with the proposed 'Animal Welfare Bill' Pat :-) This bill will force an outright ban on docking, but also covers many other dog related issues.

Thanks for that Leigh .Why are they picking on the dogs so much lately ?
every day you a are reading articles of new laws stoping this and thatall to do with dogs .

Pat