rottweilers?

Question

My mom is adopting two dogs from the pound today. a wolfhound and a rottwiler. The rottwiler still has a long tail. Do people remove the tail for looks or health?

Answer 1

Rotties tails are docked for cosmetic reason only, it is also what the breed standard calls for. Many hunting dogs’ tails are docked to prevent them from becoming injured while running through thickets and briars while fetching hunters' prey. The few hunting breeds that are not docked, including English Pointers and the Setter breeds, may have chronic injuries to the tips of their tails. Such injuries cause continuing pain and discomfort and are at risk of infection throughout their lives Docking is usually done almost immediately after birth to ensure that the wound heals easily and properly. Today, many countries consider cropping, docking to be cruel, or mutilation and ban it entirely. This is not true in the United States, and the breed standards for many breeds registered with the AKC make undocked animals presumably ineligible for the conformation show ring. The AKC states that it has no rules that require docking or that make undocked animals ineligible for the show ring, but it also states that it defers to the individual breed clubs (who define the breed standards) to define the best standards for each breed.

Answer 2

It's mostly cosmetic. Though some dogs can break their tails by wagging them too hard, though I don't think it's a common thing. We used to dock our puppies tails around 2-3 days after birth. Assuming the Rottweiler is older you won't be able to dock it now. Rottweilers are awesome dogs. You're mom is a very lucky lady :)

Answer 3

Mostly for looks. I have a rottie mix who we decided to keep the tail on (he looks just like a rottie and the vet says his tail is all rottie) looking back I would have had his tail docked. He clears the table with a wag of his tail- and is constantly knocking things, people, and small children over.

Answer 4

I'll ditto what annestilchampeen said... and add "when you are wondering why a breed traditionally has a docked tail, please consider what the breed was originally designed for".

As for dogs tails as handles... I've thanked heavens more than once that a Samoyeds tail is so accessible. There's been more than one rescued Sam who I've grabbed by the tail as it attempted to duck out the door!

Answer 5

Mostly looks, but partly because the tails are like whips when they get excited.. (they can hurt).. but, there is no reason the tail needs to be docked..

Answer 6

It's a breed standard. It's done for cosmetic reasons, not for medical or health related reasons.

Answer 7

For looks. I used to work for a breeder where they'd crop the tails of rotties and crop the ears and tails of dobermans. I think it's terrible...especially when you witness the cropping... but it's all about the breed.

Answer 8

its for looks and its illegal to dock dogs tails now just thought I'd let you know, there is no health issues involved with docking any dogs tails its just done for looks or in some cases like working spaniels so they don't get caught in anything.

Answer 9

I don't know, but beware the rottwiler. I got bit my one when I was four for doing nothing but sitting on the floor! Yes, innocent little girl sitting on the floor in the living room nearly gets the side of her head bitten off by it! Seriously, beware...

Answer 10

for looks. it should only be done when they r little puppies a few days after they r born. no vet will do it after this point.