Dal & Mad's Mom Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 (edited) I'm really annoyed looking at this poor puppy I'm taking care of. She has had an attempted home tail dog. I'm guessing with rubber bands. The poor baby has a ridge in her tail and its missing hair. Where do people get the idea that the tail will just fall off like that? We get pups a few times a year with these marks and hair loss. One poor baby we thought would have to have her tail amputated but, it eventually looked like living tissue. Edited December 20, 2008 by Dal & Mad's Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4ever Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Ignorance invades every aspect of our lives. This is just one more example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 I'm guessing with rubber bands. The poor baby has a ridge in her tail and its missing hair. Where do people get the idea that the tail will just fall off like that? I'm not condoning the practice since I personally think it's pointless mutilation, but from a farmer's perspective, with the appropriate type of band, applied correctly, the tail *will* just fall off. But then the bands we use for castrating and tail docking lambs are more like tiny rubber bands on major steroids (that is, you won't stretch them without the aid of the proper tool).... Anyway, just saying the idea isn't all that farfetched, but agree that people are stupid if they think they can dock a tail with regular old rubber bands. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaderBug Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 I heard once that if you have to amputate a dog's tail later in life than a few days old that the dog usually ends up being put to sleep because it gets too depressed. Is that true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrayburn Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 I heard once that if you have to amputate a dog's tail later in life than a few days old that the dog usually ends up being put to sleep because it gets too depressed. Is that true? I would imagine that this is a misconception. I knew a dog that had it's tail amputated after an injury as an adult - he adjusted just fine. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doggietrio Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 I heard once that if you have to amputate a dog's tail later in life than a few days old that the dog usually ends up being put to sleep because it gets too depressed. Is that true? Nope, not true. As a puppy (about 3-4 weeks old), my bc puppy grabbed her littermate by the tail, and started to drag her around. Apparently, this became a habit, and one time, the other puppy tried to go the opposite direction and the tail suffered nerve damage. It never worked after that (she couldn't hold it up, wag her tail, etc), but she didn't appear painful, either. The breeder/new owner figured they would have it docked when they had her spayed. Well, apparently, she had other ideas and tried to chew it off when she was about 4 or 5 months old (the breeder thought maybe she had some tingling feeling coming back?). They docked her (at the vets) then. She has adjusted and is a happy healthy border collie, who happens to get mistaken for an Aussie (she's a black tri without a tail!)...even though she's slight and looks like a BC. Poor Kalla! Maybe *that's* what they mean by depressed - the BCs get mistaken for Aussies! Seriously, though...many dogs suffer tail damage and have to be docked as adults and they are fine and go on to live otherwise normal lives. Jennifer Akins Trowbridge, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Actually rubber band docking is quite common with small breeds and Corgis. It's effective and safe. Most dogs I see who have tail injuries as puppies are the result of unattended children and rubber bands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 It depends on the dog and the location of the break. The worst I've seen was a good working dog who had her tail broken and amputated at the base. She couldn't turn or run properly after, her balance was off. This affected her working obviously, and as it never improved she was not able to do that at all. She couldn't run, turn fast, or work....yes, depressed just about covered it. I heard once that if you have to amputate a dog's tail later in life than a few days old that the dog usually ends up being put to sleep because it gets too depressed. Is that true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dal & Mad's Mom Posted December 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Actually rubber band docking is quite common with small breeds and Corgis. It's effective and safe. Most dogs I see who have tail injuries as puppies are the result of unattended children and rubber bands. Yes but, that would be in the hands of experienced breeders. This is deliberate trust me. We see it with lots of small breeds in pups from WV and KY. The pup I have here is yorkie mix basically(mom looks like a tiny benji) and I'm sure no child did it. They would have crushed this pup instead. She may be 2lbs right now. She's the size of a small guinea pig at 9 weeks. It could be they thought the could pass her as a broken coat JR. She looks similar right now. The last pups we had they thought they were cockers but, they were golden retriever mix. The ones before were cattle dog something (puggle?). The poor pup who finally grew hair back was black and her tail looked like a rat tail. As soon as I find my camera cables I'll post a pic. Of course that may mean I have to go buy a card reader. You can never tell what a foster puppy may have chewed up that fell on the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pammyd Posted December 16, 2008 Report Share Posted December 16, 2008 Does that not hurt loads as the blood is cut off?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted December 17, 2008 Report Share Posted December 17, 2008 Does that not hurt loads as the blood is cut off?? no. If the animal is young as it's supposed to be, the pain in minimal and not of issue. By behavior is probably less than an infant circumsician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4pack Posted December 18, 2008 Report Share Posted December 18, 2008 It depends on the dog and the location of the break... Some working K9s have had to have tails docked because of beating the tips raw on a continual basis... with no ill after effect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dal & Mad's Mom Posted December 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 20, 2008 Here is my little munchkin she has taken the hair off her tail now it was patchy with circle ridges before Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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