The word docking comes from the part of the dog’s tail which is considered to be bony – the dock.
Docking of the tail is known to be a common procedure done by lots of dog owners these days. It is said that docking the tail of your dog helped against many different things such as rabies and it also plays a role in making your furry friend quicker and are less prone to have any form of injuries.
Upon owning a schnoodle you will find that they actually come with a tail that isn’t troubled in anyway. The thing is that these dog breeds are not purepred so whenever you see a schnoodle that has their tail docked is because their owners have done so early on in their life – roughly when they are one years old.
There are several countries where it is prohibited for you to docked your dog tail or ears cropped for cosmetic reasons. For example, the United Kingdom have banned this from happening in 2007. The only exception you will get is if there’s an injury to the dog tail or any form of medical reasons. However, if you live in the United State you will definitely have the option to docked your dog tail.
How to Docked Your Schnoodle Tail?
First let’s start by saying that the procedure usually take place little after birth. The reason for this is because puppies are actually too young to have anesthesia, so during the entire process they are awake and aware of what exactly is taking place.
When docking your dog tail, you will need to tie a piece of thread around their tail in order to stop blood flow causing the affected tail to fall off over few days. Another way to get the job done is just to use a scissors and cut it.
Does Tail Docking Cause Issues?
The best thing about tail docking is the fact that it is not painful to puppies and the reason for this is because their nerves aren’t fully developed as yet. However, their are many people who actually disagrees with this entirely. Base on studies, it is said that tail docking can cause long term chronic pain and a condition known as neuroma which causes abnormal growth at the affected area.
There are even theories that stated that removing a large part of a dog tail can severely affect their communication skills. However, none of these theory actually prevents people who enjoy docking their dog tail since it reduce the risk of injury to a working dog, but how beneficial is it to designer dogs? Well, it help keep the rear area free from all fecal matter which is a hygienic advantage. Whenever a dog tail is docked they are less likely to face situations where their tail becomes hurt.
Other Reasons For Tail Docking
As you can see, there are lots of dog owners who actually docked their Schnoodle tail just because of cosmetic reasons but there are other reasons why you might want to docked your Schnoodle tail.
Preventing injuries from happening is one of the main reason you might want to docked your Schnoodle tail. There are cases where a medical condition is the reason behind removing your dog tail and this is known as amputation. It might be that your dog tail have been trapped, bitten by another animal, or your it might be a case where your dog is suffering from an infection that result in them losing their tail.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are several advantage and disadvantages that comes with docking of the tail so before doing so you’ll need to take the pros and cons into consideration to see which works best for you.
With that said, in the US this still is a routine procedure that have been carried out on a regular basis, despite being banned in many other countries around the world.