Anti-Docking Campaing

Blondie

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#1
I have so many stories about Blondie's tail. Some people have praised us because we didn't have him docked, and others tell us he looks horrible with it. Our opinion? We all love his tail, he was born with it and it's a wonderful part of him. So I was surfing the net the other day and found this website, and I thought it was so very interesting! So I joined, and am supporting their campaign. Maybe some of you would like to take a look. And today, Blondie's gracing their front page! They put up the picture of my baby :D We're so happy.
 
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#2
i dont think it is wrong to dock some dogs look better and some dogs dont. they dont really use it beside wagging it but?????? so..................... thats what i think
 

joce

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#3
I don't see much wrong with docking . Dobes look stupid(I can say that I have one and love him:) with a tail. The ears I can see why people get upset but I still think its something that needs to have the option of getting done or not. I just think its stupid when people want the tail cut when the dog is way too old to get it done. Someone brought a dog into the vets when I was there and its tail was all broken and bloody. THe people said they had no clue what happened that they came home and it was like that! I don't know if they got it cut after that or not.

Some of those dogs are cute with tails though! I just think it should be a personel choice. If my dobe had a tail I don't think it would have lasted very long! He wips his butt all over the place running around.
 

Saje

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#4
I think docking is horrible. They use it to express themselves and it's a part of them. My dog came docked from the shelter and I'm sure he has a phantom tail just like war amputees and other's who have lost a limb. He's always licking the stump even though it looks like it was docked a long time ago.

How can that be right? Cutting off an apendage because it's annoying. :( I really don't agree with it. From what I understand the whole trend started to make tough breeds look tougher. if you cut off the things that they use to show when they are happy they will look tougher. So a dog may run up and greet a non-dog person and really be friendly but this tough looking dog is now a threat.

I don't love it if I could go back in time and give Mikey his tail back. I'm sure he had a cute tail. Poor baby.

Saje
 

Blondie

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#5
I agree with Saje, because tails are a part of them. A very important one, I might add, as they use it for expressing themselves (when they're happy, alert, afraid, etc). And in fact, docked dogs are really amputees, because a part of them was removed, most of the time, for no particular reason just to look "good" according to humans.

Recent research has also shown that neonates are HYPERsensitive rather than HYPOsensitive as has been widely believed. It has also shown that the memory of neonatal pain can affect the animal in its adult life. Symptoms could include decreased pain threshold, anxiety, social disorders and aggression.

Saje, I wish you could go back in time and give Mikey his tail back, because I adore Blondie's and I'm so happy we made the decision not to dock him when he first got him.
 

Saje

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#6
Yeah, I picture what his tail most have looked like. Sometimes I ponder making a fake one and taping it on, just to see how he'd like it. :) I really hope that it was done safely and with pain killers. Poor baby.

Maverick has a huge tail. Being a Newfie he really needs it for swimming. They use it as a rutter - for steering. So his tail is really strong and he's broken quite a few things. I love his tail. :) I love my babies.
 
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#7
I'm all in favor of tails on dogs! I can't imagine my girls without tails - they are sinuous and move just like cats' tails - very strange indeed! And Bimmer's tail is just glorious! My poor Buffy was always so jealous of Bimmer's tail. It just irked her that hers was like a whip and he had that big, thick sweeping appendage. He used to wave it in her face routinely when he wanted her to chase him.
 

dawnell

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#8
I hate tail docking and ear cutting. Too much like human cosmetic surgery for me. Modifying an animal to please our eyes. Sick. I too have a dog (an australian shepherd) who had her tail docked. It was before she was six weeks old. The family who I got her from started breeding their aussies and this was their first litter. The father had never docked tails before and the children told horror stories of the dad 'chopping the tails" and then realising that they weren't short enough so he had to chop them again. They said the puppies screamed out in pain. I think Maiven can still remember that.

It's a conditioned way of seeing to view dobermans as "stupid looking" with tails. Sad too.

I wish more than anything that I could've seen my pup with her full tail and often too what her tail would've looked like.

I wish too that there would be a total ban on any animal 'modification'.
 
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#9
I have a Pembroke Welsh Crogi, as most of you know by now. Her tail is docked, I bought her that way. Chloe had puppies in October, and I did have their tails docked. I really struggled with that decision. The only reason that I did it, is because we were selling the puppies, and I know that most, if not all of the people who purchased a puppy would want it that way. I was afraid that if I didn't have it done when they were really little, that they would have it done at a later date, and that would be much harder on them.

Personally, I wish that I had not gotten it done. I also think it's cruel to do something like that to any animal.

I applaud the people who take a stand on this issue.
 

joce

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#10
It's a conditioned way of seeing to view dobermans as "stupid looking" with tails. Sad too

Why is it sad. If you don't crop and dock then its a completely different dog! Like I said before, the way my dobe whips around running full speed there is no way his tail would still be in one piece. Nor did you see the horrible ear infections he had untill he got his ears cropped. Our vet had us convinced it was a horrible thing to have done and we almost didn't untill gettting a second opinion about the ear infections. My dobe was miserable the whole time he had the infections and nothing was making them go away. I think its fine if you don't like it, but don't make it sound like people who want cropped and docked are bad! It's in no way conditioned-completely my decision, and I really do not think its sad. If I took in a rescue and it had a tail and no ear cropp then fine I would like it the same. I just would have preffered the ears done. I just think if it was made illegal here- what would i have done with my dobe and his ear infections?
 

tl_ashmore

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#11
Some dogs look better with cropped ears and tails. Some don't. I think it should just be left up to the owner. I have had pit bulls my whole life, and we have never cropped their ears. Yeah, pit bulls usually look really good with cropped ears. (The right way, not suicide cut) For those of you that don't know what "suicide cut" means, it's when you cut their ears almost completely off. People that fight their dogs have them suicide cut. Those are ugly. Sorry. I think Beulah would look really good with her ears cropped, but I personally think it's a waste of money. I wouldn't spend that kind of money getting my dogs ears or tails wacked on unless of course it was for health reasons. (ear infections...) But, I am certainly not against anyone that wants to do it to their dogs. I don't think it's that big of a deal.
 

dawnell

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#12
The animals are BORN with their tails and long ears for a reason. It's their natural genetic make-up.

Yes, you do have a different looking animals with all the modifying. The animal looks more menacing especially in the dobermans case-- why would someone want that? To reflect on the owner for protection? Helps give that breed a bad name--bad rep. Other cases just to make the animal more pleasing to look at.


As for worries about your dog hurting it's tail.... I'm sorry, I don't buy that. And that's just my opinion.

If you had NEVER seen a doberman with a cropped tail, ears--would you honestly think it was a stupid looking animal?


I also don't like to refer or hear anyone else refer to any animal as "stupid looking".
 

joce

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#13
If you had NEVER seen a doberman with a cropped tail, ears--would you honestly think it was a stupid looking animal?

Yes, I probally wouldn't liket hem then. I don't like hound looking dogs that much. THe crop is what defines the head and makes them look right. Should they have bred for a dog with ears that would naturally stand up? Of course but they didn't. If its your opinion fine. Don't crop your dog. It isn't to make them look like killers, its how they are supposed to look. They were bred for protection but with out the ears cropped they look like just another hound. I explained why I think it needs to be a choice. My dog was in less pain after the operation than from the ear infections. And definately in less pain than my females when they were fixed. I did the right thing. I really like the crop now, and it is part of the breeds history.
 

dawnell

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#14
joce said:
THe crop is what defines the head and makes them look right. Should they have bred for a dog with ears that would naturally stand up? Of course but they didn't..
Are you for real? I mean, it's to make the animals "look right" ??! According to whom? Are we God? the great spirit or whoever, whatever you believe in? I'm sorry, this animal doesn't "look right' let's cut off it's tail and reshape it's ears and maybe it will look more like it's supposed too. !!!! Modern time frankensteins.... scary stuff.

I TOTALLY agree with William S. Burroughs when he said, 'Man is a BAD animal"...
 

joce

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#15
Are you for real? I mean, it's to make the animals "look right" ??! According to whom? Are we God? the great spirit or whoever, whatever you believe in? I'm sorry, this animal doesn't "look right' let's cut off it's tail and reshape it's ears and maybe it will look more like it's supposed too. !!!! Modern time frankensteins.... scary stuff.

I TOTALLY agree with William S. Burroughs when he said, 'Man is a BAD animal"...

Do you know anything about dobes? They have had crop and docks since the breed was created and yes, no matter what your opinion is, thats what they were bred to look like. They didn't worry about the ears because they were going to be cropped anyway. I believie that i bought a purebred dog and I cropped it how its original breeders intended. I don't see how that makes me frankenstein. If I picked up a mutt off the street I wouldn't think of cropping or docking. Look up the history of the breed before running your mouth. I'm not claiming to be god, I'm someone who loves the breed and wants it to continue. That includes the HISTORIC crop and dock.
 

dawnell

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#16
[/QUOTE]
They have had crop and docks since the breed was created .[/QUOTE]

Dogs have evolved into what they are now, not "created". People have tried to fine-tune the breeds by selective breeding and in a lot of cases, inbreeding, which in turn has brought on a whole realm of chronic health problems. Ever wonder why no matter how many times you breed two dogs with cropped ears or a docked tails and STILL come up with puppies with their natural appendages, natural floppy ears?

If you truly loved the breed, you wouldn't try to change it.

..that's all i'm going to write on this issue.
 
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#17
It seems like it would hurt to much. To me its like taking a part of the dog away. I love watching my Golden Retreivers big floppy tail go left and right. I guess if theres a good reason for it, like medically. If you just want the dog to look better than I think its stupid.
 

Blondie

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#18
Take a look. I don't think these doggies are stupid looking. They look wonderful and very happy to me. And not like any other hound.​
I respect other people's opinions, but I think docking when it's just something to please people's eyes, is horrible and doesn't make us better dog owners. And of course it also depends on the way you see your dog.​

Blondie's a cocker spaniel. Does he look "stupid" with a tail? We do get that a lot. But to me, he looks wonderful. I personally LOVE his tail, it's a very important part of him and I'm SO happy the breeder didn't decide to dock the puppies. Denaluvscorgis, that's exactly what the anti-docking campaign is all about. Breeders shouldn't have puppies docked, because it's cruel! And they surely feel the pain :( so, when they're older, some of the future owners can still have them docked, but maybe some others won't, and it'll be better for the pups to grow old with a tail. We wish we could eliminate that practice, and that's just the start of it all.​
 

joce

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#19
when they're older, some of the future owners can still have them docked

That is cruel. It is done at such a young age so it isn't done when they are older. Personally I don't really like how those dobes look. Though I will admitt those are not that bad looking. Any other breed of dog, like yours, I wouldn't care less if they are docked or not because I am not concerned as much with that breed nor do I know much about them. Cockers probally do look fine with a tail. If a dock is done after so many days then it will be painfull and traumatic for the dog. I think your taking the stupid thing a little far too. I wouldn't say someone elses dog looks stupid. Let me replace it with a better word- more undobermanish. I would never buy from a breeder that didn't dock as early as possible because that leaves the dog open for getting it done later on. I don't think my corgi had to be docked. I'm not really sure though, i didn't get her straight from the breeder. Some are born with more of a tail than others. Their tail doesn't concern me as much as others though because even if it is there its to short to get in the way of anything. Go talk to a vet about the dock. Even the first vet I took my dobe to doesn't have anything bad to say about docking.
This is all I'm going to add to this because I still think it is a personel choice. But you can't make that choice after you buy the dog. My dog has no adverse effects. If I wasn't all about the dog being how it was meant to be and didn't care about show dogs or bloodlines then I probally wouldn't care eitheir. My corgi is from show lines and so is my dobe. I don't show them but I think their breeders would be kinda upset if they were not always looking their best. The dobes breeder was kinda poed that we wern't going to get him cropped in the begining.
 

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