killadoe

I have some puppies that are a week and 2 days old and am planning on docking their tails, tell me how long to leave it and anything else I may need to know.. Thanks..

coolbrze0

On an adult hound, it takes about 2 1/2 weeks. I've done about a dozen beagle tails before. We do them b/c they get raw from the briars and the dogs can get weak, pass out, become anemic from loss of blood if it comes to that. I band about 2" from the tip of the tail using an elastrator and castration bands. If you don't have an elastrator, you can use a piece of PVC or pipe, just so long as the band fits over it and it fits over the dogs tail. I usually shave a small area on the tail between 2 joints/bones then put the band there. It will fall off on it's own after a few weeks.

idunno

The guy who I got my feist from uses kitchen shears on his pups when they are only 4 or 5 days old. He used to put a solution of some sort on the tail, but mother dog would just lick it off. He goes between the 4th and 5th bone in the tail. That's a little long, but the feists that are naturally born with short tails are about that length. It really depends on what kind of dog it is as to how long you want to leave it. Hope this helps.

huntnma

my lil rottie pups tail is too long, he's 5.5 months old now, we're going to have him fixed here in a couple of weeks and i was wondering if i could get the vet to cut it to half of it's length that it is now.....is he too old ? it's not a big deal, he just looks funny, lol...

Fowlmood

Here's a link that should tell ya' everything ya' need to know to do it yourself:

http://www.raevon.net/BANDING.html

madvilledoc

This is something you probably don't want to hear but I'll say it anyway. Tail docking has the potential to result in alot of problems if done incorrectly. Because of this, it really should not be done by a lay person. Most vets charge around $10 a pup (at least in my area) for the procedure and have the experience and the necessary tools to do it correctly. For puppies that are eventually going to be sold for a few hundred dollars or more, it is downright silly (or stupid) to pinch pennies, if you know what I mean.

If you are still going to do it yourself, at least do it correctly. First, pups should NEVER be docked after 5 days of age (larger breeds after 3 days). If they are older than 5 days, the procedure can be done when the dog is older under general anesthesia. I personally prefer it done within the first 48 hours. By 5 days of age the puppies' circulatory and neurologic system has developed to the point that the procedure becomes very painful and unnecessarily bloody. Imagine taking your 6 month old son or daughter outside and cutting their leg off, and I think you will get the picture. After 5 days of age, there is also an increase in the risk of problems such as horrible scaring, infection, and possibly shock and death. In many states it may also be considered cruelity to animals.

The tail should be docked by using a sharp pair of scissors. There are also commercial tools that will do the same thing, but I personally don't like these as well (just personal preference their). After cutting the tail off, the opening should be sealed with a stitch or some type of tissue glue (although a drop of super glue can also be used).

I personally don't recommend banding as mentioned above. The potential for problems is great with banding. What is basically happening is that the band is cutting off circulation to the end of the tail which causes the tissue to die and rot off. If you are lucky, the tail will fall off. If you are not, infection and gangreen can result. Last year, our local state police arrested a breeder for using this exact method. The breeder sold the pup to the new owner with the band still on and told them it would fall off shortly. When infection develop the pup brought to me. What a horrible mess. In order to save the pup, the remaining stump had to be removed. The pup was in bad shape and nearly died. The new owners were angry and got the police involved. Banding is definitely not the way this should be done, and in my opinion, the mark of a poor breeder.