Why are some dogs' tails docked?

Answer 1

It's part of their breed standard.

The tails are done at 2-3 days of age. The puppies don't even stop nursing from mom, they don't squeak or squeal, they don't even realize that it's happening.
I think that people can't judge or make decisions on something, or call it ' surgery ' if they don't know how it's done, or what happens thru the entire procedure. I have been there, done the tails.. It does NOT hurt the puppies at all, not one bit. I would be the first one to stop the tails being done if I thought that it hurt them at all.
It's not ' cosmetic surgery ' it is done to the breed standard. The Doberman has a very long and curved tail if left natural. It can be broke easily, and since it is a 'working breed ' the tail is removed to avoid being able to be grabbed easily.

PLUS there is NOTHING cuter than the wiggle of the butt of a Doberman with his docked tail!

Answer 2

some dogs tails are docked because of the work that breed did or still does. for example some hunting dogs had docked tails because their long tails would get hurt running through the bush or by wild animals. it was an apendage that could interfera with their job. others because estically someone believed it looked better like a hair cut or boob job. Not necissary but could improve a certain look that one wanted to achieve. Some are docked due to medical reasons, and some just because thats whats always been done.

Answer 3

Tail docking is a very controversial surgery that is performed on certain breeds of dogs, some of which include poodles, boxers, and various types of hunting breeds. Tail docking is usually performed when a puppy is only a few days old, and generally they are not administered any anesthetic. Dogs are classified in the Nesthockern group (Fritsch 1). “Animals in the Nesthockern group are born relatively immature, completely naked, blind, deaf, and very immobile and helpless. Their nervous systems at birth are not even fully developed” (Fritsch 1). Fritsch wrote that Volkhov determined animals in the Nesthockern group, at their infantile period of life, had very little feeling of pain, and that the conscious feeling of pain is not very likely at only a few days old (1-2). Tail docking is performed in order to prevent later injuries, which occur in breeds that have long, thin, weak, and sparsely coated tails (Fritsch 2). Amy Broughton reported that supporters of tail docking point to the facts in Sweden, which state that the number of tail injuries amongst previously docked breeds rose from thirty-eight percent to fifty-one percent since docking was banned in 1989 (2). Fritsch, along with many other supporters of tail docking, agrees that docking is beneficial to animals in order to prevent painful injuries; therefore, it is performed in the interest of the prevention of cruelty to animals (2). Dogs’ tails are in constant danger of being injured, and injuries on the tip of the tail do not heal well due to poor blood circulation in that part of the tail (Fritsch 2). Fritsch adds, “By licking and chewing, the dog makes the condition worse and the skin and tissue will die” (2-3). If the tissue dies, there would be no other option than to amputate the remainder of the tail. Amputating the tail on adult dogs is obviously going to be more traumatizing than what it would have been for a puppy. Tail docking is performed to keep an animal safe and happy, which is the basis on which the veterinarians carry out the procedure.

Answer 4

It's to obtain a certain look; it usually goes with ear cropping to sort of make the dog look fiercer. Some dogs had their tails docked a while ago because it made them harder to latch on to when fighting with other dogs, or because it made their jobs easier for them since their tails couldn't get caught anywhere, and some people just like that look. I'm personally against any animal cosmetic surgery.

Answer 5

Dogs tails are docked because sometimes breeders need them like that for dog shows.

Answer 6

To comply w/the BREED STANDARD!!!
Original breeds docked for varying reasons.

MY breed is docked to provide a sturdy handle for removing the dog from earth. I USE that handle DAILY!
The parent club recently TURNED DOWN a motion from the cry-baby AR/humaniac/peta-NUTZ & KEPT that "medium dock" in the standard-bless em.

It is NOT "mean" or "cruel" or any other buzz-word LIE the humanaics spew!

Answer 7

It's cosmetic.

In fighting breeds, you can make a case for saying that it leaves less for someone to grab, but really, it's just cosmetic. Considering it cuts off one of a dog's major ways to communicate with other dogs (just watch dogs in a dog park react to a tailless dog - it's like meeting a mute, for them, and the dog most likely to be misread by other dogs and attacked will be tailless), it's clearly for the human's whim and not the dog's welfare.

Answer 8

9 out of 10 times it's because their owners are retarted and think it looks cool and since they are so BAD A$$ they amputate a piece of th dogs body... see

I am in NC. What is the oldest a puppy can be to get it's tail bobbed?

question asked about 10 minutes ago!!!

Answer 9

People have decided that some breeds of dogs should have a certain look because its "cool" (retards they are). But that is just stupid and just like humans to screw everything in nature up.

Answer 10

I have a hard time with this question. I know it is done for looks to define the breed but it seems like an awful thing to have done to you at such a tender age.