Getting Publicly Shamed for Ear Cropping :/

It
I agree with the function of the tail just from watching my cat running - she uses it a lot and she is just a tiny 7 lb cat, so imagine what difference it would make for a big dog.

I have wondered if all Doberman tails are really so thin and delicate. My euro male has a thick nub and I noticed our local American Dobermans had thinner ones, but those tails were docked, so I could only judge based on the thickness of the nub. I think if Kaiser had a full tail, I would imagine it to be pretty sturdy. That said, for how much he smashes his nub into walls and doorways, would it be injury prone, who knows.
Probably makes a difference with the dog. I would say also that the start of the tail is probably much thicken than the end. My observation is the it narrows quite a bit in most Dobermans.

I would say that it would basically depend on the dog and the situation. I don't think the tail is too thin, but is is smaller than many dogs that I have seen.
 

Attachments

  • Dobe tail.jpg
    Dobe tail.jpg
    9.1 KB · Views: 8
I have wondered if all Doberman tails are really so thin and delicate. My euro male has a thick nub and I noticed our local American Dobermans had thinner ones, but those tails were docked, so I could only judge based on the thickness of the nub. I think if Kaiser had a full tail, I would imagine it to be pretty sturdy. That said, for how much he smashes his nub into walls and doorways, would it be injury prone, who knows.
I've thought about this a lot. To me, the thickness of the tail is indicative of the heaviness of bone in the body as a whole.
 
Oh ya, I had not noticed how much shorter the tail appears, especially in that pic.

I hadn't considered that, but it makes sense.
I think it tapers down quite a bit. Maybe that's why it curls. I think it is funny how the tail curls like that!
 
My feeling is it depends on the dog and owner. The tail is probably better docked if the dog is doing things that could leave it injured, but otherwise could be left normal. Dobermans seem to have a very thin tail. Also, I know from experience that the tail is a handle that people can grab unto. Here an interesting side-line: I had a macaw for about three years, and I probably saved his life several times by grabbing his tail when he started to fly into the road(after being spooked). Sadly, he was with my dad and flew into the road and was killed instantly. Even with our dogs, if there is an emergency and the dog must be stopped, the tail is handy. I would be scared, though, to do it on a more delicate tail. Our GSDs have thick and luxurious tails.

I agree on the tail dock. Docking is for usefulness, not show. What is the point of docking if you leave it that long. To say nothing about the way they crop the Cane Corso's ears. They take them almost all the way off. It's a little humorous that they do the same thing with the Dogo Argentino's ears, but they leave the tail.

I wonder how they got this picture but it is interesting. I still think that the Doberman has a somewhat delicate tail, and that that should be taken into consideration.
Oh yes, the tail can be a handle, and that's the key reason for docking this bodyguard breed (though there are many guardian breeds that go undocked).

I can tell you that my previous Dobe had a dock that was longer than ideal. I was not happy, and I questioned the breeder about it, and that's the first time I heard the notion that it is hard to determine and execute an ideal dock because of how young and undeveloped the pups are at a few days old. At any rate, I used to pick his back end up by the tail to clear the leash when it got under him.

One curiosity I have: I believe I read in a book some time ago that the Doberman tail should not be curled and not be carried over the back. Has that ideal fallen from favor?
 
Oh yes, the tail can be a handle, and that's the key reason for docking this bodyguard breed (though there are many guardian breeds that go undocked).

I can tell you that my previous Dobe had a dock that was longer than ideal. I was not happy, and I questioned the breeder about it, and that's the first time I heard the notion that it is hard to determine and execute an ideal dock because of how young and undeveloped the pups are at a few days old. At any rate, I used to pick his back end up by the tail to clear the leash when it got under him.

One curiosity I have: I believe I read in a book some time ago that the Doberman tail should not be curled and not be carried over the back. Has that ideal fallen from favor?
I totally agree on that! Although German Shepherd don't get their tails docked, I know that it is hard to tell what size they'll be as adults.

I don't know about the tail, but the way the 'fads' change for dogs, it wouldn't surprise if the complete tail that curls has become as much a 'look' as the docked.
 
I heard the notion that it is hard to determine and execute an ideal dock because of how young and undeveloped the pups are at a few days old.
One more reason this should be left to experienced vets or vet techs! If I remember right, Doberman standard is 2 joints from the base & other breeds differ. Some are 1 joint, some are 4 - 5. It IS hard to count joints in a 3 day old puppy but the vet I worked for in the '80's was awesome at it, plus he folded the skin over & stitched it perfectly and never had scars show. I assisted many times and watched him feeing the joints to count them. He also loved doing ears of any breeds and was known for the best ear cropping in the area.
 
One more reason this should be left to experienced vets or vet techs! If I remember right, Doberman standard is 2 joints from the base & other breeds differ. Some are 1 joint, some are 4 - 5. It IS hard to count joints in a 3 day old puppy but the vet I worked for in the '80's was awesome at it, plus he folded the skin over & stitched it perfectly and never had scars show. I assisted many times and watched him feeing the joints to count them. He also loved doing ears of any breeds and was known for the best ear cropping in the area.
That's very cool, your experience with helping with docking and cropping Dobermans! Yeah, that breeder of my previous Dobe is a veterinarian and they still claimed that difficulty in finding a good crop point.

Oji's litter actually had the banding method utilized. I'm not sure why his breeder did it that way – just more convenient or less expensive that having them cut? Don't worry they are a good breeder, believe me.

Oji's dock was in fact botched somehow and there wasn't enough skin to repair it during ear cropping. He has an unsightly bald grey nub, and actually, one of those tails that tapers toward the end of the nub. I wonder if banding produces tapered nubs??
 
That's very cool, your experience with helping with docking and cropping Dobermans! Yeah, that breeder of my previous Dobe is a veterinarian and they still claimed that difficulty in finding a good crop point.

Oji's litter actually had the banding method utilized. I'm not sure why his breeder did it that way – just more convenient or less expensive that having them cut? Don't worry they are a good breeder, believe me.

Oji's dock was in fact botched somehow and there wasn't enough skin to repair it during ear cropping. He has an unsightly bald grey nub, and actually, one of those tails that tapers toward the end of the nub. I wonder if banding produces tapered nubs??
That is an interesting idea. You would probably have to do a survey on how many people experienced that from the banding method!

What is the breeder's name?
 
That is an interesting idea. You would probably have to do a survey on how many people experienced that from the banding method!

What is the breeder's name?
While his breeder is good and ethical and researches and breeds for health, and personally works and titles their Dobes, I say enough bad things about Oji on here that I don't want to say the name of the breeder. :)
 

Back
Top