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THE CROPPING-DOCKING DEBATEby Sherry L Shivley, 2014 Journalist Award Winner Hobby Horse Ranch Paints and Boxers
That age old debate is between cropped ears, docked tails, or go natural. You are a barbarian with no feelings if you crop/dock or, you don’t know what you are talking about if you don’t crop/dock.
The other advantage of cropping heavy drop ears is less frequent infections and ear hematomas from head shaking. Imagine if you will, whacking yourself in the ear with a hammer. This was the description one veterinarian used for the pain dogs feel when the tissues separate in their ears. Once this separation happens it is hard to heal. The ear must be drained of blood, then stitched together using pieces of tubing. At one time they used buttons to hold the ear tissue together!
For the dog’s sake, ear cropping discourages ear infections. As for “cruelty”, the cropping is done under anesthetic (no pain) and puppies are ready to run and play the same day. Of course the cropped ear requires some attention until it stands upright but the puppies love that extra individual attention! See Video Theater below.
Now, let’s watch your dogs tail-if you have a docked dog that does a lot of wagging and wiggling, imagine if that dog had a tail-nothing would be safe! They would leave devastation in their wake with Boxer happiness! Hound and Sporting dog owners will be the first to say “keep valuables off of the coffee table!” And toddlers have been knocked down by happy long tails.
When you have a tail-wagging large breed of dog, dock the tail when they are tiny so their systems aren’t always sending pain messages out to the brain.
They also have very little bleeding because at that time they just aren’t pumping a lot of blood to that tail. Some dock using thread, some use a scalpel and then glue to seal the end. Many Toy dog breeders use surgical scissors and Quick Stop to immediately stop any bit of bleeding. I still prefer to have the Vet dock the tails and remove dewclaws while checking them over.
Many Vet Teaching Hospitals aren’t teaching ear cropping to their students which is a shame. It is still something that is very much needed and wanted. Older veterinarians that have done excellent ear crops are retiring with no one to take their place.
It’s very much a health issue. Docked, cropped or natural, I hope to see you all ringside! Copyright © NetPlaces Network 1491581511 http://www.thedogplace.org/ShowPlace/Cropping-Docking-Debate_Shivley-149.asp
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