Mods pull it if it's to controversial but how many on here think it's cruel to crop/dock a dog yet think having a dog's nads cut off is the right thing to do??
Just curious!

My feelings about docking are that working dogs, especially gun dogs, can often get tail injuries from working in the rough, spaniels come to mind, with the feathers getting tangled in briars and dense cover, that makes sense to me.

Traditional dogs that used to be docked in the UK were most of the bull breeds/guard breeds; our Boxer male had a bloody awful job done on his tail by a vet as a pup, and his stump bled every time he knocked it all through his life, poor old bugger, the female had a better dock and gave her no problems.

I think because there are still a few dogs with docks about, that were done before the law changed, it always looks aesthetically better than dogs like Dobes, Rotts Boxers etc, who just look odd to people of a certain age, when the often whippy tails just look strange; I can't see the problem at all with these breeds retaining their tails, though I have seen a lot of broken tails that when they DO have to be operated on after injury, have taken an age to heal and these ops are not without risk.

Cropped ears were, as I understand it, (and I may be wrong - I usually am!) were done to prevent guard dogs being grabbed by the ears by potential intruders, (though anyone getting close enough to a guard dog to grab their ears must have been very lucky!) but personally I hate seeing cropped ears because I just can't see the need to cut something as sensitive as the ears for aesthetic reasons, simply because a specific breed is traditionally cropped.

Nads off, or tubes tied for dogs that won't be bred, or shouldn't be bred has never been a concern for me, there are way too many unplanned and dumped pups, all my dogs have always been spayed/neutered, because the boys behaved like a horses arse with the humping/barking/scenting every time a bitch in the locale came into heat, and the females were spayed because I had no reason not to, and pyo and uterine cancer were something I have seen in my parents dogs, and I didn't want that even small risk when my girls got older.

Obviously, all of the above is purely a personal thing, and I have no doubt I will be proven wrong and corrected by the far wiser and more experienced folks than I, but the question was asked so thought I would participate!!

Personally, I like the look of the docked ears and tails on the breeds that have traditionally been done. I think, done properly, they are minimally invasive and see no reason the choice can't be as individual as the dog and preference of the owner.

My choice, which I suppose would be much like a decision to have plastic surgery on myself, would be to not do it. As much as I like a certain look for aesthetic reasons, I'm much more interested in what’s inside the package.

I've seen some odd looking representatives of certain breeds and really could care less what breed people choose to call them, it's what they bring to the table, long tail and floppy ears included that's more interesting/attractive to me.

As far as the nads, well pretty much the same applies. A huge set of berries dangling, especially off some of the less hairy breeds, (terriers, rotties, dobes, etc) and more specifically when they get older, is not as aesthetically pleasing, to me. But again, given a choice, I would not be altering simply based on that.

Cruel, not a chance, if done properly. I would just choose not to do it.

I am neutral to docking and croping.
I have had a dog with a tail and now 2 dock. I have to say that with my very fast happy boy I am queit happy that he has no tail to wack every one.

I do like also the look of the croped ears better but did not do it on Dexter. Yes we get a lot of questions on what breed or that he is a mix. And this is all personal and could be influence by my dogs personallity too. I find the natural ears to give a much softer expression to the dog. Again Dexter does not bark or run to the door and Harley will give a very good show at the door.

If I show pictures to non doggy person they all find the natural eared dog to be the nice one and the other one to look "agressive" and more impressive. So maybe the pointy ears are in part for intimidation of the potential human intruders.

I'm neutral to the idea of cropping and docking as well. I used to think both were cruel (particularly the ears) until I saw first hand what they were about. I think I read some study a couple of years ago that determined that dogs with upright ears have a wider range of hearing...never really noticed myself one way or the other. My involvement with Dobes meant cropping and docking. Everyone thinks it's cruel until they are buying a puppy and are given a choice; in my experience they choose cropped and docked every time.

Docking and dew-claw removal do both mess with me a little, but I've seen a dog rip off a dewclaw out in the field and it was MUCH worse than the removal would have been. Honestly, I'm glad my Dobe doesn't have a tail. He's already kind of an oaf.

I think spay/neuter is an individual thing, with many factors to consider. I think it's a bigger deal in terms of health than cropping and docking.

While I don't think that I'd crop/dock a dog for asthetic reasons, I'm pretty neutral on the issue.

I'd rather see a cropped dog than one that was miserable with allergies because it was being fed a crummy food.

I'd rather see a docked dog than one that was a nervous wreck due to lack of training or exercise.

As far as neutering, I'm neutral on that too (no pun intended ). My current dogs are spayed/neutered. Kenzi came that way and I had Kipp neutered at 2 when I decided to train him for SAR. Had I decided to train him for stockwork at that point instead, I probably would have left him intact.

Dogs that I have in the future (that I have any say over) will not be spayed/neutered until they are fully mature. And I might just leave males intact depending on my situation.

I support docking on some breeds and this is why.....

Breeds that are traditionally docked have not been bred for a tail that is of a reasonable length to avoid damage. While there are individuals within the breed that are perfectly fine there's also ones that have freakish long tails that get damaged easily and it's impossible to tell when they're puppies. For example, I've seen doberman's with tails that are WAY longer than any dog's tail should be (even "naturally"). The tails are long and slim, the break when the dog wags them, the dog has cold tail CONSTANTLY, they're generally miserable. There are people trying to "undo" this trait now leaving dogs natural and breeding only the ones with normal tail lengths but between now an the time a breed has a normal length tail consistantly again there will be a lot of really unhappy dogs, and amputating the tail later in life causes a lot of balance issues.

Cropping, I do like the way it looks on some breeds and in the case of dobies rescues have shown that cropping a dobie's ears gives it a much better chance of finding a home. My breeds of choice tend to have standing ears, I'd tape them if they didn't stand but wouldn't do anything surgical to make them stand if they didn't. If I got a doberman for example the breeders I'd been looking at all crop their puppies ears anyway....

Neutering, I do support neutering by the general pet owner at 6-7 months. Because the average pet owner is an idiot, they don't train, they don't contain, and if they wait they won't ever get it done.....if you're a responsible pet owner or recommend to a new pet owner who is "trying to do it right" and puts the effort in I'd recommend later but for the average idiot, neuter your damn dog. I personally will wait. I"m going to let Gambit stay intact until I want to kill him (I HATE urine licking....and he keeps having "very happy dreams" on his bedding) A neutered dog does come with less problems overall and makes training a house dog whole lot more enjoyable. Ryuk was done a bit over a year and half and it was just wonderful, no more urine licking his recall improved, he didn't stop eating everytime something went into heat, he wasn't a target for less than well behaved other dogs, he didn't have that "musk" smell to him, and I could bring him places (many hotels say "no" to intact males I've found -_-).

I think I made my point clear in the other post.

I am neutral. I have no problem with docking or cropping at all. I even prefer the look on breeds that have it traditionally done. But I imported a pup knowing full well that he would come with a tail, and have no problem with that either. I feel that it should be a breeders and buyers choice. For those that don't want to have a tail or a docked dog, get one from a breeder that offers those pups.

But as was alluded to in the other post, it drives me NUTS when people yell and scream about how cruel it is to crop or dock (and take away my right to dock/crop) when they opt to put their dog through a VERY invasive surgery to remove sex organs (which often has negative health ramifications) purely for the humans convenience. Hey, I get it. It is easier not to deal with heats (and pyro is the ONLY valid reason to me to spay an adult bitch) and there are a million dog owners out there that are irresponsible and allow oops litters, but the other reasons to alter are, to me, for our comfort only.

I have a teenaged boy and another who will be soon. Trust me, I would LOVE to neuter them and never have to worry about their horny-ness and them getting some girl pregnant. And if we had a girl, man. Lets get her fixed until she is 30!!! And hey! We'd never have to worry about her having ovarian or uterine cancer! But since this is a ludicrous thought, we teach our kids how to control themselves and what is acceptable behavior and what is not. And dogs are even easier since I can keep a leash on them and they don't leave the house without me at any time.

Docking at birth is simple and, with the underdeveloped nervous system, involves a minimum amount of pain that is forgotten in minutes. I liken it to a circumcision. They don't remember ANY of it. A spay on a puppy or adult dog is hugely invasive and involves full sedation, pain meds, stitches, and can take days for recovery in some cases. Even when done laprascopically (and having gone through an ectopic pregnancy recently and the resulting surgery I can speak to that personally). To say that a infantile dock is cruelty, but then to turn around and alter your own dog stinks of hypocracy to me.

I have owned/own intact animals of both sexes and have worked through all the intact dog issues from humping, marking, urine licking, aggression and distraction. All was handled with training. If you want to alter for your convenience, go for it, but don't condemn me for having having a docked or cropped animal.

And I have never had an issue staying in a hotel with an intact dog. I have run into size and breed restriction, but never sex or altered status restriction... And I travel A LOT!

Im neutral as well, My main concern is if the right to dock/crop as owner sees fit is taken away, that feels like a slippery slope. I am absolutly certain that there are certain cirmstances where its better and less painful for the dog if they are docked/cropped in the proper manner than to have their tail broken over and over again, or have their ears shredded.
would microchips fall under this category of possibly needless human imposed modifications?
My terrier had her dewclaws removed by her previous owner which puts her at a serious disadvantage when shes trying to chew a bone, and Im starting to think it may not be the nicest thing to breed dogs with legs so short they cant even scratch themselves! (thats from watching poor Foxy trying to scratch an itch, it was pitiful. but at least she has a handy human around to scratch for her)

Interesting discussion, I'd honestly never considered it that way.
I don't have a breed traditionally altered, so not an issue to me but I don't like neutering except in the case of pet dogs... I like floppy ears but not sure about the tail.

My male was neutered for medical reasons but prior to that did none of the normal male things because I trained him - ok his obedience suffered with a bitch in heat around but not to the point where he would go after the bitch.