Dog tail clipping is quite popular and has become a trend in the community of dog owners.
However, not everyone understands this trick’s impact on the pet’s health and what to do with docking puppy tails at 8 weeks.
Let us help you answer this question. Please scroll down and get it.
Should You Dock A Puppy’s Tail?
Docking is the practice of removing the tail of an animal. It is impossible to make an exact statement about whether you should cut your dog’s tail because it has advantages and disadvantages.
In the past, people often used some dog breeds, such as Doberman, Pitbull, Rottweiler, etc., to do jobs like shepherding, hunting, racing dogs, or doing business.
The dogs will perform these tasks easily and better with a short tail instead of long tail.
They are constantly entangled in traps, bushes, and thorns. This makes the owners come up with the idea of cutting their tails to prevent accidents. Incidentally, the rear also helps them run faster.
The appearance of dogs with cute, funny tails has created a new trend in dog breeding. More and more owners want to take cosmetic tail docking for their dogs.
This is not bad at all, but it still causes your dog a certain amount of pain. Docking puppy tails at home the wrong way can cause the wound to become infected and have many dangerous consequences.
That’s why you should decide before you decide and make sure tail docking of dogs in your country is legal.
How Do Docking Puppy Tails At 8 Weeks?
There are many methods of clipping a puppy’s tail, with elastic bands or scissors being the most common. Immediately after the puppy is born, prepare the rubber bands right away.
We will begin by identifying the segment of the caudal vertebra that borders their coccyx and retain a caudal terminal part.
Here we fasten the tail with an elastic band. This might make your little friend squeal with peace of mind; they’ll be fine. To fix it like that, from 3 to 5 days, the tail that needs to be cut will fall off by itself.
The wound on the tail will heal on its own; you do not need to use any other procedures.
To shorten the time, we can directly cut the tail with scissors. Prepare enough alcohol, scissors, and tongs.
After determining the last caudal segment as above, use a ball to clamp the inner part of the previous caudal segment.
Use sharp scissors to cut off the remaining tail and apply alcohol immediately to the wound. Leave for about 1 minute, then release the puppy.
Keep the wound clean and disinfected regularly until it is completely healed.
How Old Can You Dock A Dog’s Tail?
It is best to cut the puppy’s tail from birth to less than 8 weeks of age, equivalent to 2 months, to avoid causing the dog to feel chronic pain.
Because the skeletal system, blood circulation, and nervous system of puppies in the early stages of life are not fully developed.
This physiological feature makes it easier to amputate the tail, resulting in less acute pain, less blood loss, and less septicemia.
In addition, cutting the tail of puppies under 10 days of age is safer, but this is also when the dogs can heal faster. If you intend to trim your dog’s tail, take advantage of it immediately.
Tail clipping with adult dogs is not recommended unless it is imperative. The systems have developed and are closely linked throughout the body.
If surgery is performed, there is likely to be a risk of tail injury and mental health for the dog.
Is Dock Tails On Puppies Expensive?
In general, the tail docking of dogs is not very complicated and is not too expensive. Depending on each veterinary facility, this surgical amputation usually ranges from 10 – 20 dollars a time.
However, the procedure before and after the surgery also costs you a certain amount, so the total cost can be around $100.
This price may be higher depending on the size and age of the dog because the older the dog, the more complicated the surgery will be. Large dogs need general anesthesia before the procedure.
For this reason, the cost can increase to 200 – 500 dollars.
How To Recover In Dogs After Tail Docking?
When docking a tail on a puppy under five days of age, post-operative care may not be necessary or too serious. For larger dogs, you need to pay close attention to this issue.
Their bodies may still be tired from the anesthesia. This is the time when you need the most attention.
Please do not touch or cuddle, but let them lie quietly; you should keep the pet’s temperature between 23 and 26 degrees for the first 48 hours.
Avoid the temperature lower because that will be a favorable environment for bacteria. Don’t let them run around much, especially when it’s cold.
If they are not eating, keep a bowl of sugar water next to them and give them a drink to prevent hypothermia.
Pay special attention to your pet two days after the doctors perform certain procedures. Note their reactions, and monitor their eating, actions, and sleep.
If other animals are in the house, this time should be isolated to avoid colliding and scratching each other when the body has not yet recovered.
Take them to the vet if your pet is lethargic, refuses to eat, or behaves strangely.
FAQs
Is Tail Docking Puppy Legal?
My friend has a 8-weeks-old puppy, she asked me “can i dock my puppy s tail at 8 weeks? Is it legal in the US?”. Yes, docking tail is not prohibited in the US by law.
With the above benefits, dog tail cutting is becoming increasingly popular nowadays; even many people think that long-tailed dogs are not breed standards.
Along with that, many countries have had to enact laws to ban dog tail cutting because they think this is an unnecessary, brutal behavior and causes a lot of harm to animals.
Many European countries, like England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, etc., signed the Animal Law Enforcement to prevent this behavior, even cutting off dogs’ ears. Violators can be fined or even jailed.
However, in countries where this is illegal, there are certain exceptions, such as when it is proven to be a working dog, there is a recommendation from a veterinary surgeon for medical reasons.
Does Clipping A Dog’s Tail Hurt?
Sure, tail clipping hurts adult dogs and puppies whose bones aren’t fully developed yet.
Cutting muscles, skin, nerves, and bones is not easy, even if your puppy is only 2 days old. Adult dogs will experience more chronic pain if the anesthetic is not careful.
After 7 days, the tailbone will change from cartilage to hard bone, so the wound will take longer to heal.
In unfortunate cases, it can lead to an infection that takes longer to heal. More severe can cause the dog to develop osteoarthritis, affecting the psychology of fear and the dog’s life.
Do Puppies Die From Tail Clipping?
It is not natural that many countries ban this surgical removal or recommend that dogs should not be cut off when not necessary.
Mistakes in the implementation process can lead to complications for the dog growing up, such as osteoarthritis, urinary problems, nerve damage, and psychological damage.
The wrong procedure can lead to risk factors such as septic shock, cardiac arrest, and even death.
Conclusion
Above is the information about methods of docking puppy tails at 8 weeks. To ensure the health of your little ones, make a good decision before doing this real trick, and do it safely.
Thanks for reading, and see you in other posts.
