As a breeder, would you dock tails yourself?

[excellrott]

I have a friend with whom I am having an ongoing dicussion about tails. How many of the breeders on this forum have cut the tails on their own puppies? And do you do as good of a job as a vet? I say is that this procedure takes a certain amount of apprenticeship & I would be hesitant to do it even if it was easy. What do you guys say?
And while we're on the subject; How is it done?

[brunie's mom]

Many breeder do dock their own pups tails....but I'm sure they had someone teach them how. This is not something you can learn out of a book...but something you must watch and have an experienced pair of hands right beside you. Not something to learn from a book.

Some breeders band the pups...put a tight band on, and the tails just fall off in a week or so. This also must be done by someone experienced and the breeder must learn.

I know that many breeders are reluctant to take a load full of newborn puppies to the vet's office to have the tails and dewclaws done...so many chances of them getting parvo or some disease.

Through the years they learn how to do their own pups.

Something that you must have a mentor to teach you.

Gina

[Judi W]

The neonate Rottweiler has a very large tail! If cut it always requires stitches. Not exactly a job for a layperson.

[TrishB]

I know of breeders who band and do a lovely job. I also know of vets who do a lovely job.

Then again, I've also seen vets who agree to it and do a horrible job, leaving the tails way too long (they worry about the risk of rectal prolapse). If they're worried, then I'd wonder why they agreed to dock a puppy where the standard calls for a dock 'close to the body' if they weren't comfortable doing just that.

Personally, unless you've seen the vet do docks before and you're happy with their work, I wouldn't let them dock my puppies tails. It's not like you're going to do it again with someone else. Docking once is enough for any pup at 4 days of age.

So simply, if your mentor bands and does a good job, yes I agree with it. Learn from your mentor and go from there. If you don't have a mentor, I'd question why you're breeding.... But if there's no mentor - then no, you have no business attempting to dock. Go to a recommended vet who has docking experience.

[HUGGYBEAR]

As trish b stated There are vets who do horrible jobs, if taking the pups to a vet, which you should unless you know an experienced breeder who can do it for you ~ you need to make sure that the vet knows how to do them properly, the standard now calls for 1 -2 vertebrae left I think; and If a vet only does corgi docks and schnauzer docks, then he is not the one for you. Just as the breeder should be experienced before they attempt to do it on their own the vet must have experience with doing rottie tails and doing them properly, I too have see a vet do a complete hack job on a rottie pup tail ( im talkin the woman had a surgery cloth full of blood and took her over 10 minutes to do it). Just the same with ears being cut; Yeah all vets can do it but all vets are not good at it; you know?
Don't have rottweilers running around here with weimeriener tails
-Either find a experienced mentor or an experienced vet......

[excellrott]

Thank you very, very much for the imput....now I have a little more to add to the dicussion.

[BrandiJ]

yeah, definitely take everybody's advice, and be really careful about the decision you make. My first rottie had the "weimaraner" tail as someone called it, and I loved that boy, but he sure looked awkward!

[targonrotts]

i do my own...i band them.
i learned from a breeder judge.helped do a few litters before i did it on my own.
takes about 3 days to fall off.
but i highly recommend you learn from experience and be comfortable with it...if not, leave it to the vets.
tails should be done between 2-4 days of age.

[Mick Trainer]

I band all my dogs pups tails. I was taught from a very experienced person and feel very confident doing it. I wouldn't truly "dock" on my own though.

Mick.

[excellrott]

I'm surprised, Mick. Having been an avid follower of your posts, I would have thought you were a 'chopper'. Thank you very much for your reply.

[Liz]

I docked my own puppies up until the last litter - I don't dock any more. I was taught by another breeder. I never used stitches, never had any problems with the tails, I just didn't like doing it.

Liz