[ak_platypus]

My friend has an Am Staff that has a killer tail. She is 2.5 and has sprained her tail 7 times and broken it three, not to mention the multiple times that she has cut it open. Half the time it happens when they are not there. The vet said that they could dock her tail. Is that okay. It makes me really nervous and it's not even my dog. What do you guys think?

 

[mjh68]

I have read numerous posts here that say you shouldn't dock a puppies tail after the first week or so . Because after that the blood vessels get established and the bone starts to fuse to the spine .

 

[MrsCooper]

You can dock the tail on an adult dog, just a much bigger deal than on a puppy. Probably better than the dog being in discomfort all the time.
A friend of mine had it done, unfortunately it got infected and they almost lost the dog, but I'm sure that's not that common. But since I'm so paranoid, I would make sure to leave it long enough so if it does get infected you can cut it some more. Like the look of a dog with a handle better anyway.

 

[ak_platypus]

I think they would leave a little tail, I hope so. Poor thing, I just feel so bad for her. Not only does it hurt her, but if you get hit with that thing you get some nasty bruises. How do they cut it off?

 

[bodazafa]

My Mags has massive happy tail syndrome - my apartment regularly looks like a CSI crime scene with blood spattered walls. I had a really really hard time getting it to stop - the vet ended up wrapping it and I kept it bandaged for about a month and a half for it to heal completely - then she actually BROKE her tail. My vet said that he has had to dock multiple adult dogs - especially bullies- because their tails are so exposed with such short hair - the problem is that once the tail breaks open once it keeps doing it and can become infected and then the tail has to be docked. If it is a continuing problem it seems to me it would be best to just dock it to prevent further pain and aggravation. He said they dock is similar to what a boxer's tail looks like - so there is a stump to wiggle! LOL - Champandjas's dog Champ was hit by a car and had his tail docked off when he was around 6 months I think - so its certainly something that does get done often enough for various reasons. I would NEVER dock an adult dog unless it was for medical reasons such as this though.