Improper Tail Docking

[Chloesmom]

Hi, my Chloe girl is 13 weeks old and we "rescued" her from a backyard breeder who had no intention of bringing the pups to the vet. When we got her, her tail was a white speck with no problems. Unfortunately, she developed an infection which caused her tail to get irritated and black on the end. Treating it with an ointment helped for a while but the infection is back. The vet said she might have a lingering problem that requires surgery. Has anyone dealt with a problem like this before in a young pup? She is big enough now where she can lick her tail and she licks the medicine off as fast as I can put it on. Any advice would be wonderful. Thanks.

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Annette

[Nancy Estes]

There are all sorts of products that will discourage licking or chewing but you need to find something that will not interfere with the ointment from the vet. (I assume it's an antibiotic.) I've had very good luck with Olbas salve (you can get this at health food stores) but, again, I don't know if this will interfere with the ointment. You'd have to check with your vet to make sure. It's been years since I've had a problem with puppies' tails and then it was with much younger puppies.

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net



[Note: This message has been edited by ~cosmo]

[MEDIC]

I had to have surgery on maxs tail everyone told me that it was a bad idea his tail was too long the vet fix it with no problems. It looks great.It did not hurt him like everyone said it would.

[Trish]

Annette,

One thing that will work is for you to get one of those plastic Cone shaped devices. They attatch to your pups collar and prevent the poochie from licking,or biting their feet, body or rear. I will tell you this though, she will cry and cry with it on at first and she will look as pitiful as never you have seen, you will feel so sorry for her, BUT until her tail heals it would have to be for her own good. Having her tail develope into a more serious condition or even gangrene is much worse than her being pitiful for a week or so. http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif You can get them at most larger pet stores or from your vet and they are not expensive, the one I have was a large and was 9.99. They come in all different sizes.

Hope that helps ya, and good luck with her.

Trish

Medic
My rottie also has a some what long docked tail and I have asked it we could have it docked more. The vet told me that it was not a good idea. I am not sure what the complications could be, but I think I will get a second opinion. Thanks

[Trish]

You can successfully re-dock the tail with the help of a good veterinarian of coarse.

There are alot of pros and cons about it.

First a re-dock is purely costmetic and many feel that putting the dog through unneccessary pain is unhumane. That is probably why your vet advised against it.
Also it is must more painful to re-dock as a adult than the original as three day old pups because the bones in the tail are fully developed. It is considered major surgery at that point.
It would definately not be good for a dog that has a low pain threshold..

The tail re-dock can be done with very good results though.

My Schatzie's tail was re-docked, she was spayed, and also had her rear dew claws removed in the same surgery. the spay and the dew claws were a must, as she was constantly getting hung up with the back dew claws, as well as the spay. I talked it over about the tail and thought about it for a long time before deciding to go ahead with the tail. She did great with the surgery, didnt slow her down a bit, shure she had a little pain, mostly from the dew claws. Tail didnt bother her, only when she bumped into something. Recovery was two weeks and had no problems at all. Vet did say she was one of the most resilient dogs he had ever seen. I actually had to crate her from time to time just to keep her from running around too much and bursting sutures. Other than that she was great.

Its really a matter of personal preference.

Two sides:

why cause the dog undue pain. Its cosmetic.
ect.

It can be done with great results. Makes the dog look much better and you feel better.
Also done in a sterile enviroment under anesthesia.

Trish

[Nancy Estes]

Just remember that a lot depends on the individual dog. There are dogs that will be bothered a lot by re-docking, will have pain and discomfort and continually try to lick or chew on it - which means a lot of work for you. And you are removing an actual bony joint - I've watched it done and there is no comparison to docking puppies' tails. Other dogs will have no problems at all. I'd take into consideration your dog's pain threshold and sensitivity before deciding to do it.

Nancy

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von Dorow Rottweilers
doggo1@apex2000.net

[AngelBunny]

If a longer tail is very bothersome to you, I very much agree with letting your dog's pain tolerance be the yardstick in helping you decide whether a tail should be redocked.

We have two bitches now. Since both their tails are OK, it's a moot point; however, our 7 yr old is a stoic dog, very tough in that she doesn't show pain. Our 2 yr old, on the other hand, is soft as butter. I'd never put Tula through surgery whose only benefit was cosmetic because of the the dog she is. (NB: Wouldn't do that to Riga, either!)

[CarolineS]

One thing that had never occurred to me, that my dog's breeder told me, is that when you dock at the normal age of a few days, the puppies aren't walking yet, are just crawling around. She said she had redocked the tail of an older pup once and she said he encountered such pain and discomfort when he tried to sit, that she'd never put another one through it.

[abelmanalo]

Chloesmom,
Yes, you can put on her one of those neck devices Trish suggested. It's called an Elizabethan collar and you can make it yourself by making a cone with a thin, flexible plastic sheet or cardboard and cutting a hole for the nech to fit,... you put it around your dogs head and trim it around so that you get rid of excess material : just leave enough for it to do it's job.
Your pup will look like a lampshade, but at least the medicine will keep on and help cure the infection.
Re-docking is quite a safe procedure and, yes, it may cause her pain, but if it's necessary to stop further rise of the infection (if it cannot be controlled anymore), it's worth it.

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Abel Manalo
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of the Philippines

[CarolineS]

Chloesmom,

I notice I wasn't very clear in my post as to who I was talking to. http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif It was in reply to the other discussion that broke out here about redocking for cosmetic reasons. It was not aimed at someone having to redock for medical reasons.

[Chloesmom]

Thanks everyone for the advice. The vet said to wait a bit, he thinks there is some residual feeling in the tail which irritates her. It definitely doesn't look right and she already sits funny--she holds her bum up a little so she doesn't sit on her tail. I like the idea of having it done when she's spayed which will be in January. Meanwhile I'll get the lampshade for our little "party animal!" http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif

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Annette


[This message has been edited by Chloesmom (edited October 06, 1999).]

[Trish]

Unless there is a risk of further infection. I agree to wait until you get her spayed.
It will be much easier for her. One surgery and one recovery and both of the procedures can very effectively be done at the same time. Also at 6 months of age she will be much more resilient than now and also will be better able to undergo the anethesia.

Good Luck,

Trish http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif

[SableMom]

I know I'm going to catch some slack for this but here goes. I adopted a doberman pup (Sampson) from our local shelter when he was 7 weeks old. He was neutered before I got him. He did not have his tail docked or his (rear) dew claws removed. I took him into the vet at 12 weeks and had everything done at once. (I had his ears cropped, rear dew claws removed and tail docked). He was sore the same day and the next but after that he was fine. I know the ear crop and tail dock were merely cosmetic -- BUT I'm glad I did it. (NO lasting effects and he is a real wimp when it comes to pain http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif).

[donna]

most vets' reason for not docking cosmetically too long tails in older dogs (> 1 week) is because as your dog grows so does his spinal cord. thus, the spinal cord is further down (more caudal) in the vertebral canal and there is a very real chance that there could be life long damage to the nerves or cord in that area. this could result in incontinence - fecal and/or urinary. most smart vets won't do it because they are worried they will be sued. those that do are willing to do the surgery are most likely just looking to make money (nothing wrong with that if the outcome is favorable and the owner is happy)and i would wonder how qualified they actually were. my rottie was rescued from an abusive breeder as well and his tail is about 5 in long - looks histerical but there is no way, as a board certified surgeon, that i would put him through a risky surgery just to make him look more cosmetically acceptable (not to mention the pain some of you guys were referring to). why care what their tail looks like, just love them.