Docking/ ear cropping your views?

[ineedsomeinspiration]

My cousin has moved to America and has posted on facebook a pic of two dobbies saying she is getting one of their puppies.
Now I know I shouldn't have said anything but I hate the way Americans crop their dogs ears so I asked whether she would be able to get a puppy without their ears cropped. She replied no she likes it and thinks it looks nice.
Her husband who is American replied that the dogs look Awesome with cropped ears and docked tails and that it prevents future injury.
I have taken myself away now as don't want to upset anyone but do people still think it's ok to do this to Dogs purely because it looks awesome?

I think the future injury thing is crap. How many dobies do you know who lose their tails due to excessive wagging? It' seems accepted over there. I wouldn't want one.
Who'd have a baby then say "it'd look awesome if I chopped off the end of its ears!?"
It's horrid!

I think the future injury argument is used by those who haven't got the balls to turn round and say I'm doing it because I think it looks good and I don't care if it hurts my Puppy.
I worked in a Vets for 7 years and only saw two tail injuries. One was from a car accident, the other was a cat with behaviour problems that kept biting the end off.

Future injuries?? SO what happens to all the breeds that don't get docked?

Is dobbie a Doberman?i don't know much about them, but I do know that working gun dogs like spaniels can get injured running through hedges etc.
I don't condone docking btw, I can just understand the idea of doing to prevent injury to someone who takes working their dogs seriously.

Future injuries...yeah I might injure my foot so to avoid that I'll chop it off! I feel a little sad about a happy dog who can't wag.

I dont have a massive issue with docking, ear cropping is pretty awful though.

As an aside, my mums dog often splits her tail open wagging too much. I have heard of a quite few other dogs doing this too.

Tail-docking may be legitimate for working gundogs. Ear cropping is mutilation. It is banned in Europe and most civilized countries (see here. That link also explains its origins in fighting dogs - its a hangover from a barbaric past. 'Awesome'?

Yes sorry Doberman, so originally breed as a guarding breed.
Yes dogs do get tail injuries from wagging and you've just made me remember a Dalmatian you did this not a traditionally docked breed at all. So therefore we should dock all breeds who may wag there tail tail too much and be daft enough to not notice they are injuring their tail.

Tail docking does hurt puppies and if not done properly can cause future problems.

I don't see why docking a puppy is seen as preferable to amputating as an adult IF (and it is a big if) it is needed. I don't buy that they don't feel it as puppies.

Also as an adult in would be done under GA and they would be given pain meds.

I hate this. Docking puppies tails is done when they are very little. There is no pain relief, they are literally just cut off. It's horrible. My DF is a retired vet and I watched him doing this. He hated it too, but he said that he had refused to do it in the past and the people went away, did it themselves and did a terrible job, and the puppies must have suffered more. It's mainly fashion. It might be necessary for some working dogs, but mostly people want their dogs to look a certain way.

Its vile imo. Obv if a dog repeatedly injures their tail in later life it can be properly amputated, but for a pet dog as 'prevention'? And ear cropping is just nasty

Docking is justifiable in working dogs who can suffer bad tail injuries working in heavy cover or in kennel environments. Tail injuries are intensely painful and challenging to treat, and very common.

Cropping is inexcusable.

Tail docking has been banned in the UK since 2007 with a few exemptions for working dogs.

Ear docking is barbaric and there is no reason as to why it should ever been done.

Docking for working dogs I do agree with, my cockers are docked, my old labs were forever spraining their tales whilst working and my friends lab has just had half his tail amputated due to a working accident. Cropping of ears though, just no.

It's mutilation for mutilations sake.

Vile and stupid. Your bil is a cunt

How awful. I hate docking.

My ancient next door neighbour told me that I should have docked my Border Terriers (already short) tail as he does work a bit. I can't imagine why that was necessary as it helps me pull him out of holes when he refuses to listen like a furry handle.

Don't the Americans also declaw cats and debark dogs? Both are illegal in this country

They debark dogs?? WTF, why is this a thing? Why get a dog if you don't want it to bark, FFS!!

Ear docking and declawing (especially declawing) are barbaric enough but... I just have no words. Will probably end up hiding this thread later as it's just going to upset me.

intheround - yes to both.

Debark dogs!? That's horrendous :(

Never heard of that how absolutely bloody ridiculous.
Its not my bil, its my cousin new husband. They have just moved to America so won't have to see him ever.
I was just shocked really that cousin thought this was ok and that she likes them with ears like that. Someone else who is English commented that there friends doberman hadn't been docked and it looked weird and her old docked dog looked nicer.
I was a bit surprised I suppose to find that this level of niavity still exists.

All of those alterations are horrible, imo.

I admit I don't know a thing about working dogs (not even sure what work they do unless we are talking about seeing eye dogs) so maybe an exception should be made there, but I'm still uncomfortable with it.

We have an undocked Springer who never injures his tail (about the only bloody thing he doesn't) and picked up a working cocker puppy yesterday. He's docked. The breeder has a number of working cockers and is a game keeper, the dogs do beating so always in the undergrowth.

It's not fully docked to a stump though, apparently they don't do this now? We may actually work him and the springer so will be interesting.

Docking I can deal with if they work, not sure about anything else, sounds awful.

We have a friend with a Vizsla, not worked, but constantly injuring her tail, blood trails everywhere as she ferrets about in the undergrowth, but I haven't seen any other dogs with this propensity to injure their tails.

You notice the wagging a lot with a docked tail, the puppy's little tail goes ten to the dozen all the time!!