What are your views on cropping and docking?

[golden&hovawart]

Love the look of a cropped and docked breed and use to own 4 PyrSheps that were done.
Today,cropping is not done anymore where I live and docking is becoming rarer cos you can't show them,outside of Fr.
I love natural ears but prefer docked tails.
MOA,on whippy tails like pointers, Dobies and Boxers.

[Red.Apricot]

I am not in favor of legislation getting rid of cropping and docking, but I don't really like the practices. I prefer all the parts on my dog--I like her tail, I like her ears, and she uses her dewclaws all the time. But, her dews are tightly attached and useful, so I might feel differently if she were injuring those parts constantly.

I don't care all that much what other people do, but I am glad she has a tail. It's fun to play with.

[*blackrose]

Other than having to clip them - I'm curious what the issue with dew claws is. I've heard people say they get caught on things. For those who have dogs with them, is that frequent for you?

I have never had an issue with any of my dog's front dewclaws. And I honestly don't know why people remove them.

That being said, BACK dewclaws are another story. My sister's puppy, Wayne, has back dewclaws (along with front dewclaws) and they are super loose and flappy. I'm just waiting for the day they get snagged on something and get ripped off. She's going to have the removed when he's neutered.

[yoko]

I'm against it personally but I wouldn't care too much if someone wanted to crop or dock their dog.

Yoshi has her dew claws and has never had any issue with them. If I didn't take care of them I guess I could see issues but I usually just keep them clipped like her other nails and they've never been torn/ripped/caught on things

She also was her normal hyper self the day after getting spayed. Even the day it was done she was groggy from being put under but the spay itself didn't seem to bug her.

Originally Posted by milos_mommy

I've never heard anyone want to declaw their cats because it's preventative of an injury to the cat.

My friend actually declawed her cat because of that. It was a polydactyl and on one paw the 'extra' thumb and two 'finger's' were 'stuck' so the claws were always out and the other paw all of the claws were extended all the time. They tried to keep them clipped but she still got caught on things. She'd never injured herself but to keep her from accidentally hurting herself while they were at work they got her front paws declawed.

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by milos_mommy

Devocalization is drastically altering a dog's ability to communicate and express themselves, with other dogs and people. Aside from the fact that any debarking I've ever seen was done on an older puppy or dog (except for mass puppy mill debarkings). Imagine being stuck somewhere, separated from your family, or confronted by a big scary dog, and being unable to vocally defend yourself or ask for help. That's how I see debarking. It's the difference between piercing your child's ears without their permission, and severing their vocal cords without permission.

I know of some dogs whose lives have been saved by being debarked. For that reason I strongly believe it should be legal and be able to be used as a last option for people.

Originally Posted by Michiyo-Fir

Just adding that in terms of dew claws, I actually strongly prefer them removed. Nia doesn't have them, not by my choice as a lot of Papillon breeders remove them but our other 2 have them. They catch on shirts, the nail grows weirdly, is difficult to clip, etc. Plus I prefer the look without.

All of our papillons except Nard have dewclaws. I know Summer's breeder has started removing them with Nard's litter but all her dogs prior to that litter weren't done. Mia's breeder does not remove them. You can't even see a papillon's dewclaws. My dogs have such hair legs and the dews are really tight. They use them all the time. They're easy to keep down if you trim your dog's nails. Beau has ripped his once but he's also ripped out some other nails too. He's just kind of crazy.

I do always forget that Nard has no dews when I am doing all their nails. I always search for it for a while before realizing his are missing.

[PWCorgi]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

I know of some dogs whose lives have been saved by being debarked. For that reason I strongly believe it should be legal and be able to be used as a last option for people.

This about debarking.

If it came down to it, I would have Frodo debarked as a last ditch effort before putting him to sleep. And for a while I honestly thought that was what it might come to when he was barking in our apartment so much.

Do I think it should be done willy nilly? No, but I think it's better than death!

[Laurelin]

Originally Posted by PWCorgi

This about debarking.

If it came down to it, I would have Frodo debarked as a last ditch effort before putting him to sleep. And for a while I honestly thought that was what it might come to when he was barking in our apartment so much.

Do I think it should be done willy nilly? No, but I think it's better than death!

Yeah SA is horrible to live with. With Summer, me and my roomies had staggered schedules and she wasn't ever alone more than 5 or so hours a day TOTAL. She still barked the entire 5 hours though. I am lucky we never got a complaint.

Most the time it's not a case of people being out 14+ hours all the time. It's also (imo) silly to think everyone can afford a dog walker or dog daycare. Around here it's $20 a day for a 30 minute walk. If people are out working then that's 5 days a week. $400 a month isn't something everyone can afford. Even if I had hired a dog walker, Summer would have barked the entire time, just 30 mins less a day.

I am very glad having Mia has stopped Summer's SA. I can even leave Summer 100% alone now because with Mia around it's broken the amount of panic enough that she's readjusted to being in her pen as a good thing. Before though, there was no way she would have not panicked enough to ever 'fix' it. And it was not feasible for me to not be gone part of the day. It is such a frustrating situation.

[PWCorgi]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

Yeah SA is horrible to live with. With Summer, me and my roomies had staggered schedules and she wasn't ever alone more than 5 or so hours a day TOTAL. She still barked the entire 5 hours though. I am lucky we never got a complaint.

Most the time it's not a case of people being out 14+ hours all the time. It's also (imo) silly to think everyone can afford a dog walker or dog daycare. Around here it's $20 a day for a 30 minute walk. If people are out working then that's 5 days a week. $400 a month isn't something everyone can afford. Even if I had hired a dog walker, Summer would have barked the entire time, just 30 mins less a day.

I am very glad having Mia has stopped Summer's SA. I can even leave Summer 100% alone now because with Mia around it's broken the amount of panic enough that she's readjusted to being in her pen as a good thing. Before though, there was no way she would have not panicked enough to ever 'fix' it. And it was not feasible for me to not be gone part of the day. It is such a frustrating situation.

Even if I could afford daycare or a walker, Frodo isn't really daycare or walker friendly

For Frodo it doesn't matter how long we are gone anyway, it's the actual leaving that stressed him out. Thankfully we have it under control 99% of the time now!

[Laurelin]

In my experience SA has nothing to do with the time spent away from the dog or the amount of exercise the dog is getting. Neither of those mattered at all with Summer. It was just the leaving that was the problem.

I'm glad you're doing better with Frodo. I'm so happy I'm doing better with Summer. But looking back on it... I can see why people feel like they have no choice but debark.

[Keechak]

I should also add, to my last post on page 8, that rear dews MUST be removed in my breed and I would want them removed on any dog I owned. Rear dews are nothing like front dews and have no use and are at high risk of causing injury, I have seen dogs injure the rear dews myself.

Tho I am aware that some breeds require rear dews per the breed standard, because it's a trademark of the breed.