nightgrace6

couldnt have said it better myself poodlemum and exactly the reason why

well anne you obviously have no respect.. good on ya

im sorry Anne but i asked for owners/breeders because i only wanted opinions of people it directly impacts and i believe this is what crisovar is referring too. i can see ive sparked yet another debate so i will be leaving this thread, thanks for all the answers and opinions guys.

I just dont think it serves as much purpose as say a human arm.. which is *why* I chucked that question in my answer and alas whilst it serves some purpose (thanks for letting me know) it does not in any way serve dogs to the extent that an arm does for a human..

dogs communicate by barking too.. is debarking still legal? I can read my dobes mood by her tail, as short as it is..

Balance. Fair enough.. although I have never seen a docked dog that is unbalanced.

Because I wanted this thread to be only the thoughts of docked breed owners or breeders because I did not want outside opinions of people that it has not effected directly.

Missing an arm is NOT like missing a tail.... [How do you know?] Are you serious............. we use both arms for nearly all our daily activities as humans, what do dogs use their tails for? how is it even similar?

Missing an arm is NOT like missing a tail....

I prefer the way dogs look without them, I think most people for that have said that so I dont understand what you are getting at? Bisart.. will you still be breeding? Horses die on the racetrack and have we stopped horse jumping.. no.. owners get a dog and surrender them all the time and have we put restrictions on who can buy a dog.. no.. but we have put restrictions on breeders who have been docking dogs humanely for a long time, these pups are like babies and if parents can decide whether their boy gets circumsized then why can breeders not decide what happens to their "babies".

amputation is painful fullstop no matter what body part but it can be prevented in the tail.. thats not my argument for docking at all really, but I will agree with docking to prevent injury of working gundogs etc

If the argument that is going to be used is that docking is preventing injuries then why not remove their legs too now thats just ridiculous, what do they NEED their tails for? clearly they need legs to walk

adult amputation is very painful and it depends on your vet.. my legally docked dobe puppy was redocked and she was fine but I do think as an adult it is supposed to be very painful and seeing as the dogs are used to their tails they get a bit "lost". I also have a legally docked dobe puppy and I get a whole world of pain from the public but luckily my vet is for it and so are all my friends.

Lets try and keep the debating to a minimal (I am sure there are other threads for debating the subject) and please only post if you are a breeder/owner. I am simply gathering opinions from both parties and I am thankful for the replies so far!

Do you have the link for that register? Is it available online? I think showing depends on the judge not sure?

I'm kinda surprised about austria and germany seeing as they invented quite a few of the docked breeds themselves..

I asked for owners/breeders of docked breeds only because I know its such a sensitive topic and I didn't want anyone elses opinion because it doesn't effect them. Anyhoo,. Love the posts! Love that people that like tails aren't opposing people that still wished docks were around.. Its the history of the breed and everyone differs! Happy that there are people that oppose and people that like it WITHOUT getting nasty! Thanks all

Don't be offended dobesrock they are still the best breed ever.. I just think that after owning four dobes without tails I'm used to it.. I saw a baby puppy at a show today she bet the docked puppy boy hands down.. I think its hard to adjust to something new. Sending bitches that have been mated to NZ I understand its stressful but doesn't it depend on when? If you have connections in NZ that will look after the bitch for the whole gestation period is that more humane?

I have seen some rotts with tails I really like, don't like them on dobes though.. Probably because everyone now mistakes them for skinny labs

I'm glad my breeder and lots of others in the breed are sending litters to NZ I think it will preserve interest in my breed. I have my first show tomorrow and I think all the other baby puppies have tails it will be interesting to see if this hinders their performance in the ring or whether my docked puppy will be inhibited.

its a huge debate and everyone feels differently, I have been debated with and screamed at and at the end of the day it ruffles my feathers especially when its half the friggen office I work with! I am getting tired of people preaching to me and I am open to a civil conversation about what people think but I would love for people to just accept my point of view and agree to disagree. I have partly blamed the rspca for the backlash...

Thanks for the replies... I have had 3/4 of the people I have seen since I've had my pup call me cruel and disgusting..I am sick to death of it. I too prefer my breed without a tail but wouldn't hesitate to get one with a tail because its still the same breed.

How do you like your breed with a tail? Are you still breeding? Do you prefer it with a tail? What do you say to people that think its cruel?

that is horrible.. RIP where is the owner?

Yep my pup was born in new zealand I'm sure it was a tiny part of the cost and whilst I would get a dobermann with a tail in a heartbeat I wanted this particular breeder and that's what she is doing (along with a few others I might add) from now on with the tails.