Heres my little Irish Stafford Cassy with a home cropping job I did.



Couldn’t resist that lol. For anybody who thinks I am serious and is dialling the no of the SSPCA her ears were folded back in the pic lol. She still has both intact as below lol.



On a serious note , I have nothing against cropping/docking. In my view having these procedures done doesn’t impair the dog or alter is quality of life so what is the problem, at the end of the day it’s a personal thing I suppose and what works for one wont always work for another. As long as it is done professionally and carefully then I for one cant see a problem. I am 100% with Corso Girls statement about their being no consistency either in breeds that were predominantley docked then left natural. Yes it is down to personal reasons also. There was a theory that working pit dogs had ears cropped to minimise damage done in the pit, this however seems a myth to me as some of the best ever pit dogs had natural ears.

Laura

She's beautiful! I'm with you, leave it to each his own.

Thanks Barbara

Well said girl!!!!! :smt023 nice pictures

My personal view is that nothing should be done that isn't of positive benefit to the animal, rather than 'not doing any harm'.

A subtle difference, but an important one, I feel.

I personally think dogs look better with their tails. My mate has a working dog and his ears are always getting damaged in the undergrowth - along with the top of his head - but he's never considered having them chopped off

IF the dog is definitly going to be used for hunting, then dock if you want, but think of this. How many breeds of hunting dogs are there? How many breeds ore docked? Retrivers and Setters are never docked but how many problems do they have?

But the thing is, most breeds custumarily docked will never even see a hunting field, much less hunt in one. I am totally against docking and cropping, it is totally uneeded.

I have a Swedish Vallhund, a breed that is often docked. He has a long tail and I wouldn't have it any other way.


Kate

Beautiful girl :smt049

I think it's interesting that noone has mentionned the behaviour aspect. A dog's tail is one of it's primary forms of communication. I have a docked Boxer (rescued, so not on my conscience) and it definitely affects her and how she is perceived by other dogs. I am completely against cosmetic docking. IMO (and I'm not meaning to offend), a dog should only be docked if it has repeated or severe injury to it's tail. In my experience, the breed most likely to suffer tail damage out of all breeds is the racing greyhound, due to it's thin, whiplike tail (miles thinner than a boxer's) and being kennelled in confined spaces. I have seen numerous cases of greyhounds having to have partial amputation, but it is not done as standard. What I'm trying to say is that I feel it's wrong to dock as a just in case measure as the benefits of having a full tail outweigh the minor risk. You wouldn't cut off your child's tongue in case they bite it accidentally. Or chop off their hands in case they scrape them when theyre playing.

This is just my personal opinion.

I prefer some breeds docked - BUT, if I bred them, personally, I wouldn't dock them. Does that make sense?

Its a conflict of interest, and one that makes me feel hypocritical. For example, I prefer the look of a Rottie with a docked tail, but I would never be able to bring myself to take the pups to the vets for it to be done.

I attended a dew claw session once and the squealing from the pups was upsetting.

And as for ear cropping - thats absolutely disgusting.