Tail docking and Ear cropping. Is it Cruelty?

A friend of mine is considering getting a Doberman. She wants to get his tail and ears “fixed”So I was just wondering – is Ear cropping and tail docking considered animal cruelty?Are the animals put to sleep during this procedure or not?

MIGHT AS WELL CUT THE DAMN DOGS LIPS TOO ...HELL YA ITS CRUEL

His tail should come "docked". If it doesn't, don't do it. It's inhumane to dock a pup's tail after 5 days old. Before then, it's actually doing the pup, and it's family a favor.As for the ears, I'm not so fond of that procedure.

Besides the fact that it does make the dogs look very distinctive..........I really dont think there is a valid reason to have it done. Yes they are put to sleep...............

it is not "considered" cruility but if it is NOT necessary to the dog then it is really mean and is cruel but legal nontheless. convince him not to it just mean to do that to a dog.

It is like circumcision, it isn't remembered when they are such tiny pups.

I think ear cropping and tail docking is animal cruelty to me!!! Tell your friend to not do it! If you love the dog you shouldn't have to fix him! They are put to slepp...but please try to stop your friend!

I can see why the tail is done, BUT only at a very early age (2 days old), but I cannot understand the ears. To me that's cruelty.

Tail docking has to be done within a few days of birth. Some vets use local anesthetic. Personally, I prefer a docked tail for practical reasons, but wouldn't choose a dog based on whether the tail was docked or not.Ear cropping is done much later and under sedation.Aside from the cruelty question, does your friend have any real concept of how much work it is to get cropped ears to stand correctly? Those ears have to be taped and braced and cleaned for months. I see a lot of Dobermans with jacked up ears because the owners either didn't know how to make them stand correctly or just gave up early. I think a natural ear looks so much better than the droopy cropped messes I see all the time. Tell your friend to talk to find a Doberman breed club and talk to some breeders and show people to learn what she'd be getting into.

i believe so.i mean, i see no point in it, unless its required if you're showing them or something.i think dogs look best by how they're naturally built.they're cute nevertheless.there's no point in putting your dog through surgery and make it be uncomfortable just because you think cropping his tails/ears would be 'nice' or whatever.and yes they're put to sleep.

Some vets will not do these procedures anymore. Tail docking is only considered tail docking if the puppies are under 3-4 days old. If it is performed after that it should be considered and amputation and be performed under anethsia. It is hard to find a vet anywhere that will do ear cropping any more. It is a unsafe procedure. The ears tend to get infected and have many problems. I would just leave the ears as they are.

No, it is not cruel, if done at birth, I dock my Schnauzers tails at 2 days old, there is no cartiliage in the tail at this point, they do not even make a sound or move when done, however like alot of people out there breeding and dont know how to take care of it the right way, waits till puppy is over a wk old, it is proven at 6 days old, the cartilage is foming in a dogs tail, then it is cruel, they can feel it all.Ear cropping, my dogs get their ears done at 8 days old, they have no formed cartilage once again at this age.....my vet does not stitch the ears, he is great and everyone in our dog club uses my vet, we have had him for over 19 yrs, he is fantastic with animals,,,,anyway he does not stitch the ears, no swelling, no bleeding, no scaring, no having pain of taking the stitches out, he ***SUPER GLUES THE TIPS*** yes and alot of vets in Oklahoma are doing the same thing....the super glue allows the ears underneath to heal at its own pace, and the super glue drys and falls off at about 16 wks, the puppies do not scratch their ears, no stitches to dry and irritate the skin....never one of my pups has ever gotten ear infection from cropping........and their ears are perfect, never any problems on any of them.....alot of people get puppies and do not want the tails or ears done when they buy the dog, then as on here, can I crop or cut my dogs tail off now, he is 2 yrs old...this is when it is cruel..if the dog feels it, or has pain, it is cruelty....and I say to them, dont do it.....due to infection in an adult dog, or the pain it will encounter...

You will get a whole lot of answers from people who have no idea what they are talking about.. They will try to compare cropping and docking to doing the same things to people.. The typical ' let's see you get your ears cut off ' You hear it all the time, they have never seen the ears done, never been around a dog after it has been done and they likely have never actually met a Doberman.Tails are done at 2-3 days of age.. Puppy has no clue what is going on if it's done right. Tail comes off and they go right back to mom and start to eat.Ears are done at 7-9 weeks of age. Puppies are put under like any other surgery. Approx 2/3 of the ear leather is cut off, edges stitched up and normally the ears are put up on foam or styrofoam cups til they are healed.. Stitches otu 7-10 days, and edges heal and you start to tape the ears.. If you do it right you can have the ears up quickly. You feel sorry and don't keep them taped, or you don't keep the ears clean and dry and they get infected, and it's going to take a whole lot longer.. The hardest part of the whole thing is the taping and keeping the ears clean. It is NOT cruelty, it is part of the breed standard...What is cruel is feeding crappy dog food. Leaving a dog to live outside, not training your dog, hitting your dog, tying your dog out, not providing proper vet care, allowing a dog to suffer, trying home remedies rather than treating things properly, People who breed their pets, rather than spaying and neutering, people who breed their pets too young, leaving your dog along for hours and hours every day.. Not including your dog as part of the family.. Not treating your dog like a dog.. There are far more things that people do daily, that are far more cruel than ear cropping and tail docking.. But these people who are against cropping ears are the very same people who leave their dogs tied in the back yard ... If you want the ears cropped, it's your right to have it done, don't listen to what others tell you. If you don't want to do the after care, don't think you can do it properly, then leave them natural.Add; Schnauzer Demon is not right about her breed, she cannot be getting her ears cropped at 8 days of age. The ears are not formed enough to be cropping them. . Miniature Schnauzer ears are done at 16 weeks, Standard Schnauzer ears are done at 9 weeks.

Well, let's see...chopping off the dog's ears for HUMAN VANITY reasons....YEP, sounds like cruelty to me!And,chopping off the dog's tails for HUMAN VANITY reasons...YEP AGAIN, sounds a lot like cruelty!!Ear cropping serves no purpose.Tail cropping serves no purpose.Except for of course, human vanity and cosmetic appeal. Mutilating our beloved dogs for our own visual pleasure is absolutely dispicable and should be considered an act of animal cruelty.But as long as we have the wonderful "AKC" these "rights" will be protected. Too bad for the dogs who did nothing to deserve such pain and mutilation.Both of these procedures are indeed painful for the dogs to go through, regardless of what the breeders, who want to proctect this horrific practice, will tell you. Of course the breeders who practice this say there is nothing wrong with it, because of course they care nothing for the dog's pain, only their pocketbooks. Selling a dog with natural tails is of course risky, because people then think it "does not look like the breed". And God forbid then the breeder would not be able to register with the lovely AKC!!!I find this disgusting because it just goes to show how humans can go and ruin a lovely breed, such as one of my favorites, Australian Shepherds.I am against tail docking, ear cropping, de-barking, and any other physical mutilation of dogs. What ever did they do to us that we are so quick to chop off vital parts of their bodies??ETA: Of course the poster above would defend such a disgusting practice...just look at how they mutilated their own dog! That poor dog, too bad s/he did not have a more compassionate owner...tsk, tsk.Most of us DO know all about the procedures, and that is where I for myself draw my own conclusions. But then again, I am all about not putting my dogs through unnecessary, disgusting pain to serve my OWN needs!And I love the "those against ear cropping are the same people who leave their dogs tied outside all day", or whatever.Actually, my dogs are all indoor dogs, with a full-access doggie door, they eat a gourmet cooked diet of organic meats and veggies, they get one on one training time each day, they are ALL altered, they all have over two hundred dog toys to share and play with, five out of seven of them are rescued from death row, and guess what, they ALL have their lovely ears and natural tails. Why? Because I am not cruel to my babies, my dogs. Those who do CHOP off their dog's ears and tails, ARE cruel, plain and simpleJust admit it, you do it to conform to your own visual preferences. What other reason is there?ETA2: Nice personal attacking there, DP. Just keep trying to make yourself feel better about chopping off your dog's body parts. Beware, people, of "self-righteous""right-protecting" dog nazis like these types, all they care about is protecting their rights to destroy their dogs. You are not making yourself look any better by defending your actions and then going off on someone else like myself, who is only trying to stop creeps like you from mutilating dogs for your own pleasure.You hear someone like myself cursing these practices and then you claim I have no clue what is going on, what the AKC is all about, what a breed standard entails, and that I am some sort of PETA nutcase going around making hell about everything. Maybe you are just too low to admit that one does not have to agree with PETA's protocals to know that being against dog mutilation is better than being responsible for chopping off your own dog's body parts. Whether you like it or not, whether you can admit it or not, tail docking and ear cropping, the physical cutting of a dog's body part, IS indeed animal cruelty. It is inflicting pain upon an innocent being without their consent. And if you have done this to your dog, you are guilty of a heinous crime.

It certainly is cruel and I couldn't give a damn about no breed standard. Chopping up your dog for looks to suit some breed standard is absolutly pathetic as breeding designer dogs.It is illegal in Australia Proud to be an Aussie just for that reason.

I worked at a vet and they had some very young puppies that came in for a tail docking. The only reason to get that done is for breed standards. It's not necessary. I think it's cruel, but some people like the look and don't mind the pain the dogs have to deal with. I know I heard those puppies cry and they were not sedated when the tails were docked. I don't know if they got any local anestesia though. As far as the ear cropping goes...yeah it gives them their characteristic look, but I've seen quite a few dogs come in that have gotten bad ear cropping done from other places. I don't really agree with either process, but it's up to the breeder. Just make sure the processes are done when the pups are young because the older they get the harder itis to do the procedure and cause as little pain as possible. When they get their tails docked the bones aren't as strong and it's easier to doc them then. Hope this helps!

I 100% agree with DP's answer!

It is not... it is done under anethesia and is done when a pup is small... It is the breed standard for many dogs, including most larger working dogs like rottwieler and boerboel.People who dont know dogs and dog standards (like the crazy Australian guy above me) dont realize that there exist purebred dogs who preserve the lineage of great breeds of old... and that to best preserve these breeds, you want them to conform to breed standards that they have always had.... A large working dog with a full tail is dangerous around small children and coffee tables.... docking it is a simple way to fix this.

By laws its not consider animal cruelty. But personally i think it is. I've had many discussions on the topic in my vet class and from them I consider it cruel. Unless the dog is being shown there is no reason for there tails to be docked. As for ears, unless they have major problems again its not necessary. After talking to many vets that all have said that the puppies make a scream sound when it happens. So how is that not consider cruelty? i have no idea. Yes dogs aren't like humans but that doesn't mean that don't feel teh pain. They just have a better way of hidingFor teh docking, make sure its done within the first few day after it is born..most vets won't do it after they are 5 days old...As for ears, some vets do it some vets won't and some only do it if its for medical reasons.Add: they aren't always put to sleep for docking...since they are soo young alot of places don't put them to sleep b/c the anesthetic can do alot of harm to them this early on.

In my personal opinion...yes I think it's cruel!