EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Been thinkink about gettin a pup (catch dog prospect) ears clipped and tails docked its always seems like my catch dogs tails are always bleeding or the tip of the ears are cut and bleeding what are the pros and cons of the 2

Not for me. Tails help balance. Un cropped ears help prevent seeds from getting in ears. Ur dog ur choice but I don't really see the benefit.


Shotgun
Arkansas

 agree with shotgun except on the docking. I cant stand a tail, every dog born on my yard gets its tail docked 3-5 days after birth. tails being used for a balancing act, shouldn't matter is they don't learn to walk with a tail, but there is skeptics on both sides of the fence of tail docking. the ears though, I don't like to see cropped, bc of like what shotgun said, trash and debris from the woods falling into the ear and possibly getting infected, but again like shotgun said, your dog, your choice.

I'm a firm believer on cropped ears for a catch dog. I always get a crop between a short crap and a show crop so the dog can still fold it's ears back closing the ear canal. That way no twigs or such things can get in there. I hate dealing with ear cuts.

x2

When I was a kid my lab got hit by a truck and the only damage was to his tail.  The vet took the tail off and the dog had no problems.  I did notice his balance wasn't what it used to be though.

I dock all my pups tails at three days old and to date I haven't noticed any issues.  I think if you take the tail off before the dog is walking they never know the difference.

Cant stand listening to a tail bang around in the box.

How and where do you doc the tail? 

Lots of different ways to do it depends on how long you want the tail.  I usually do it before they are a week old though.