Did you not even ask your vet about the procedure before you had your pups done.

wonder why the vet was the 'ignorant' one

I had a litter banded at 24 hours old and they slept through it. I hate dew claw removal but its neccesary as I always have rear ones and they snag on everthing and bleed.
The last litter I had a pup had to have a GA after a tail injury that wouldnt heal.

Well, sorry, then you will just have to resent away.

If I cut you with a sharp pair of scissors - never mind cutting off an appendage - but just cut you, do you not think that you would exclaim in pain?

With my puppies, it was not a question of holding down screaming puppies - they were only a few days old, could not see or walk properly yet - they had no idea what was in store for them, so there was no "holding down" - the vet's wife, who was his veterinary nurse, just picked each puppy up, pulled the skin down a bit, cut and then dipped the stump in what looked like iron filings.

Sorry - edited to add: yes, I am against dew claw removal unless there is a very good reason for it. All my dogs have their dew claws, including my daughter's chi, and not one has ever had a problem.

Well, just continue living in ignorance then, thinking that e collars cause electrocution. Do you actually know anything about electricity?

No Shocking, I know, but I am talking about more than 30 years ago. It was a completely different world then really. We knew nothing about the origins of dogs, this was decades before DNA, pre-internet of course, we never questioned our vets or our doctors. They were God-like creatures who knew everything! The vet just said to me you must have the puppies docked - GSPs are always docked, and I just said OK. I assumed that they would at the very least be given a painkilling injection, or maybe they put an elastic band on them like with lambs. When the vet's wife picked up the first puppy and cut it's tail off, I was absolutely appalled and horrified, but she assured me that it didn't hurt them. "But they're screaming their heads off!" O, they always do that, it really doesn't hurt them she said, and like the stupid, ignorant person that I was, I let her carry on. I should have let Lizzie out of the stable and let her tear the horrible woman limb from limb. I am totally ashamed that I allowed her to butcher my poor puppies, and I will never allow any dog of mine to have bits chopped off it unless absolutely necessary, and then it would be done under anaesthetic.

You don't need to rub it in Heather, I am ashamed of myself enough as it is

OMG you and OH use an electric for two weeks and all of a sudden you are an electrician.

You do make me laugh Gnasher

Electric collars hurt or they wouldnt work, they have to to be felt over the excitement and adrenalin that is occuring. Nothing short of a lighning bolt would stop my boy when he goes. Luckily I catch him before he does this (mostly) so I have never felt the need to inflict pain on him when he is doing what he has been genetically designed to do.

Do you?

rune

No, I am not an electrician, but my husband studied electronics in his job as a medical scientist to degree level, although he doesn't have an actual degree in electronics. He has spent several very patient hours trying to explain to me the difference between voltage, amps, watts - I still don't get it - but when he presented me with the analogy of my Slendertone machine, then I began to understand how an e collar works - and it most certainly does not work via electrocution, else Ben would be well and truly dead, having been zapped twice

Pain is not the right word to use at - I would use the word discomfort and surprise. Ben has no idea that when OH presses a button on the controller, it causes his neck to vibrate - we have no need to "stim" him any more, we only use the pager on him, and that extremely rarely. The reason a dog yelps when he gets a high level "stim" is because he has no idea why his neck has suddenly, and admittedly quite violently, spasmed. It must be alarming to say the least, which is why Ben stopped very quickly running away. He is an exceptionally intelligent dog, and learns quickly. Two "stims" were enough, and now he no longer runs through the wood and out the other side onto the road, or down into the EMPTY sheep fields. Nor does he slip through holes in fences and enters people's gardens, totally ignoring us.

Nor does he need to be confined to a lead, which would be our next step had the e collar failed.

Probably not a lot more, but OH does - see other post!