My husband wants to put a rubberband on the tail of our 4 week old pitbull puppy, is that o.k.?

Question

shes 4 weeks old, her mom stopped feeding her

Answer 1

No Not OK. First of all he's getting the idea from rodeo bulls way back in the day they did this to agravate the bulls so they were more agressive when the cowboys rode them. Do you really want an agrivated animal in your house?? It obviously has been abandoned by the mother what it needs is nurturing and care. This dog if left in tact and really is a female will protect you to the death and never allow anyone suspicious near you if you become it's surrogate mother and you family becomes it's pack.

Answer 2

No, no, no.

Your husband appears to be trying to dock the tail of the dog. This can be done when the puppy is 4 DAYS old with no more than momentary discomfort to the dog. Many breeds have their tails docked this way and has been so since time immemorial.

At four weeks, tail removal can _only_ be done under anesthesia by a licensed vet. Otherwise, it would probably constitute animal cruelty.

Anything over 8 weeks old, and it probably shouldn't be done at all.

Answer 3

Tail-docking is done when the puppy is only a few days old, before the bones fuse together... At this age, you would have to take it to the vet and have it amputated. It isn't needed, unless the dog's rear end's appearance is that important to you and your husband. Please don't do this with a rubber band at this age!

Edit: And a puppy should *not* leave the mother and/or the breeder's home until it is 8 weeks of age. Even if the mother *did* stop feeding her...

Answer 4

Tell him in no way should he torture this poor animal this way-how would he like you putting a rubberband on his winkie-thats what I would like to do to him. That is about the amount of pain you will cause the puppy! What the F*** is wrong with taking him to the vet to humanely have him docked-if he is too cheap to do that he is too cheap to have the dog and also a vet should check the dog to see if he still needs puppy milk or special food and vitamins he is no longer getting from the mother. WOULD HE TREAT A HUMAN CHILD THIS WAY??? Sorry but I would take a closer look at who or what you married and even more so if you have or are planning on having kids with this man-scary!

Answer 5

No, don't band the tail. It will just cause pain in the pup and she could bleed to death, she is to old to have her tail docked now. That should be done before the pup is 3 days old. I don't know of anyone that docks the tails of pits anyway. If she is just 4 weeks old, make sure that she can eat solid puppy food. You might need to soften it so that she can chew it. She should be okay with out milk as long as she knows how to eat solid food and drink from a bowl. Good luck with her and DON'T dock her tail

Answer 6

No It will not! It won't even be weaned. Puppies wean between 4-5 weeks, so should be nursing from their mother until at least 5 weeks old. After that, they are completely weaned, but they still need to be with their mother and litter for another 3 weeks. The weeks between 5 weeks old and 8 weeks old, the puppy needs to be with his mother for the MENTAL stimulation. This is the time when they learn a LOT about their surroundings, and appropriate behaviors from their mothers. If you take a dog away at 3-4 weeks, for one, it won't be weaned and has a high chance of dieing and for two it will have severe learning handicaps from not being around it mother long enough. Wait at LEAST 8 weeks!

Answer 7

Why don't you try an experiment. Put a rubberband around your finger and leave it for awhile. See how long you could endure it. Then, ask yourself if its right to do it to a puppy. I can assure you, the puppy will feel it and suffer from it. Take a stand for what is right, protect the pup.
PS - Find another husband because this one can't tell the difference between cruelty and kindness. He may decide someday to alter your appearance.

Answer 8

Please don't do this. I'm a vet. tech and I know it has been done and some people will tell you it's ok., but there are so many things that can go wrong. The rubber band can damage a nerve and cause infection, It can actually grow into the skin and tissue and really cause problems. I don't know where you live by in my state it is not expensive to have a puppy tail docked. please think about this seriously before you do this. call a vet and get advice and an estimate.

Answer 9

He's just looking for a way to clip the dogs tail without paying for it. Its very dangerous to do it with a rubber band as it can lead to infection. The best way to do it is to take the dog to the vet where they can do it right and also give you antibiotics to help fight infection. The dog is of the right age to have it's tail clipped at four weeks. It really has no use for a tail and when it grew up it would damage the tail with its powerful wag. It also looks cleaner with a clipped tail, but again, please go to the vet to do this.

Answer 10

No, it is too late for banding. gangrene and blood poisoning will set in. Pit bulls are to be shown with natural tails.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/americanpitbull.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Pit_Bull_Terrier
http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/americanpitbullterrier.html
http://www.apbtconformation.com/ukcstandard.htm

This is from the UKC breed standard:
The tail is set on as a natural extension of the topline, and tapers to a point. When the dog is relaxed, the tail is carried low and extends approximately to the hock. When the dog is moving, the tail is carried level with the backline. When the dog is excited, the tail may be carried in a raised, upright position (challenge tail), but never curled over the back (gay tail).

Fault: Long tail (tail tip passes beyond point of hock).

Serious faults: Gay tail (not to be confused with challenge tail); kinked tail.

Disqualification: Bobbed tail.
http://www.apbtconformation.com/ukcstandard.htm