Ear and tail docking involve surgically removing part of a dog’s ears or tail. This practice, which has been around for centuries, originally aimed to prevent injuries in hunting and working dogs.

Editor’s note: Dr. Lee Pickett has retired, but Creators continues to distribute columns from her archive. This one is from 2022. Q: Our Rottweiler has a docked tail, as do many dogs in the U.S. While ...

At one time, dogs weren’t pets. Instead, they had jobs and consequently had a docked tail. Dogs worked on farms and in the military and helped with hunting, fighting, ratting, and baiting. That’s not ...

I’m about to get a Doberman puppy. The breeder gave me some recommendations on ear cropping, but I’m worried about the cost. Is this medically necessary? Although some breeders recommend tail docking ...

Italian Spinoni, like Achilles, often have their tails docked as they are used as gun dogs in Italy, where they flush birds out of hedges A dog owner who adopted her pets from Italy via a rescue ...

Dogs that have undergone medical procedures to alter the shape of their ears or the length of their tails seem to acquire a certain combative appearance and there is some new data which suggests that ...

I am thinking about getting a schnauzer puppy. A friend of mine has one with a natural tail. Should I get one with a docked tail like in the dog-breed books? I can't make up my mind. Make us a ...

A new European Union regulation on the welfare and traceability of dogs and cats includes a provision that allows tail ...