How old are puppies when they are docked? Is it fairly soon after birth?

My breed isn't a docked breed, but I do recall someone saying that they have to be docked fairly soon after birth, as it's only considered "humane" to do so before their nervous system is properly developed.

This can only be done by a vet in the UK.

Puppies are normally docked within 1 or 2 days of being born.  If it is done correctly it causes no distress to either the puppy or the mum.  I do find that when dewclaws re removed they cause more upset.

Thanks for the replies. :)

Can I also ask, if it needs to be done by a vet, do they come out to the puppies or are they taken in to the surgery. I only ask as I wonder about the risk of infection from the puppies being exposed.

My vet comes to me to remove dewclaws (not a docked breed), but many vets won't dock so you may have to travel with the puppies to one that will.

At that age a puppy should have the full protection from the antibodies from the dam anyway, so infection should not be a problem.

Best wishes, John

Thanks everyone, I'm not a breeder just to let you all know. I'm just a bit nosey sometimes!!LOL

Cheers for the replies :)

Its worth while joining the council of docked breeds as well,they can help you find a docking vet :)

I joined the council of dock  breeds and i had a vet come to my house to remove tails and dewclaws when the pups were 3 days old.

I believe that the Vetinary Council for Great Britain have actually told their members not to dock, but some vets will still carry out the procedure.  Our vet won't, as I found out when a very irate woman was shouting at the receptionist whilst I was waiting for worming liquid!

As working breeds who will go to working homes mine were docked on the third day.  The vet wasn't in over the weekend.  I was so impressed at how painless a procedure it was and how they weren't concerned by it in the slightest.  I compare to the trauma my springer when through before, during and after his tail was amputated due to damage.

docking is a greatly debated issue you will find many threads on the subject on this forum-
having witnessed tail injuries caused by day to day work in the field I choose to dock
my breed are a traditionally docked HPR (gundog) breed,we have always docked /dew clawed and have been lucky enough to find a willing vet my origanal vet will remove dew claws but not dock unless the puppies are sold to working homes  and we must prove this before docking,last year we sold a bitch puppy to a pet home (so under the old vets rules she couldnt have been docked) she was returned to me a couple of months later due to a change of circumstance,she is now in training as working gundog something I wouldnt have been happy about if the tail had still been on.

It can be difficult to find a docking vet but the CDB are always very helpful :)

Unless the pups are going to working homes there is no need to dock, I breed cocker spaniels (show type) but do not dock, all my pups have been sold purely as pets, I do have their dew claws removed though.

But do your cockers realise they are just a pet and not a working dog when you are exercising them on the same terrain? :) I know mine doesn't and as I have only ever sold my pups to country homes I have always felt it wise to dock.

My breed is a traditionally docked HPR one and I had a bitch with a tail left on which caused her absolutely no problems at all and she worked/played/exercised in the thickest cover imaginable with no damage at all.  She did however rip her ears up a lot :D

Many tradtionally undocked breeds have damaged their tails so badly that they have had to be amputated including labradors and GSDs that I know personally!

Leaving tails on does not necessarily mean that damage is a foregone conclusion; luckily for those both pro and anti docking it is still a matter of personal choice and both can be worked and shown. 

I find the docking debate interesting...

From what i have seen (3 litters, total of 15 pups, same vet) the pups seem far more bothered about dew claw removal than the tail. I really cant understand why a vet would do dew claws but not tails?

The breed that arguably has one of the greatest requirements for docking is possibly the working springer spaniel (Due to the nature of the cover they are expected to work in and their natural tail-action whilst doing so. However, most trialling springers only have a relatively small proportion of the tail removed (quarter - third). This leaves them with a 'proper' tail left, and many untutored people would probably assumed that they were un-docked.

The risk to the average pet / show dog of tail tamage is unlikely to be greater in the majority of docked breeds than undocked (an example being boxer vs dalmation. Not many breeds of dogs will thrash around in heavy cover sufficiently to damage their tale, however, many will damage them around the house on doors / coffee tables etc.

I think if we are really honest the majority of pups are docked for purely cosmetic reasons, and the lack of tail damage is merely a POTENTIAL benefit arising from attempting to breed dogs that have the desired appearance.

Sounds like I am anti-docking? Actually no, because if you turn the debate around I havent really seen much evidence that docking is actually bad for the dog. I've seen it done and am sure that most dogs would go through much more traumatic experiences in their lives at some point or other.

I've got 5 cocker spaniels, 3 with tails 2 without and I've never had any injuries to any of their tails,  My vet has been following a study of un-docked dogs over the past 10 years,  to see the percentage of tail damage.  The most damage was to the Gordon Setter and this dog isn't docked anyway.

My personal views is that it is cruel to dock, which is why I don't do it, but that's not what this topic was about ;-)

Just out of interest Sharon, in what way do you think removing dew claws is less cruel than docking? (A genuine question, hoping the topic doesn't get locked ;-) )

I take my pups to the vet and they have a cream anaesthetic, so don't feel any pain unlike when the tails are docked........I used to have my pups tails docked and no matter how people try to convince themselves that it doesn't hurt, it does!  I had a proper vet come to my house to do the job, so it was done properly before anybody questions it.  New born pups can move their tails, therefore all nerves and muscles are working, so they can feel pain.

Dew claws are more likely to cause problems to a dog than their tail, they can grow back into the dogs foot, what harm does a lovely wagging tail do??

Hope this answers your question................and doesn't get locked now ;-)

Thanks, i was hoping I could pick something up if the debate didnt get heated. The vet I have watched didn't use anaesthetic cream on the dew claws, which probably accounts for our different perspective. :-)

I have had pups docked and dew-clawed, but have never bothered with the dew-clawing for labradors.

Having watched the process of docking I would say that it appears to cause some immediate discomfort, but no apparant lingering pain. (Purely based on the noise they make and how quickly they settle afterwards.)

From a purely personal perspective, I expect my dogs to go through a lot more physical stress when they are working, so I'm not going to get too sensitive about docking. However I can understand the feelings of the anti-dockers - particularly for pet and show dogs. 

My vet doesn't use anaesthetic cream on their dew claws either and the screams that they made having them done put me of doing it.  I must admit I still do have my dogs tails docked and I'm on the CDB membership.  I always found it strange how they made more noise having their claws done than their tails.