Tail docking is the surgical removal of the majority of a puppy's tail. The procedure is usually done by a veterinarian. Like ear cropping, tail docking is often a controversial subject. Many people disagree with the practice as they view removing part of a puppy's tail for aesthetic purposes to be unnecessary. However, tail docking for many dog breeds came about as a method of avoiding serious tail and spinal injuries. Certain breeds of dogs, including Doberman Pinschers, and Great Danes, have problems with recurrent tail injuries throughout their lives. For this reason, the American Kennel Club has made docked tails part of many breed standards so as to encourage injury prevention.
The tail docking procedure is usually done within the first two to five days of life. Pups are immediately returned to the litter, where they feel most safe and comfortable. For these very young pups, puppy housetraining usually does not begin until well after their tails have healed. However, there are many reasons that tail docking might be put off until 10 to 12 weeks. In these cases, puppy housetraining is usually already beginning. As the tails need time to heal, and are near the waste elimination organs, there are a few differences in puppy housetraining pups with newly docked tails.
These sorts of incidents often occur during puppy crate training, when the puppy is not yet used to holding its bladder. Urinating on bedding placed inside a crate, such as a dog pillow, then lying on the pillow introduces bacteria to the healing tail dock site. In order to avoid contamination of the area, offering a puppy training pad in the crate when the pup will crated for more than an hour can help keep the surgical site clean. Puppy training pads soak up urine and lock it away, which minimizes mess and the chance that the pup will become covered in it.
It is important that veterinarian recommendations are followed closely in order to ensure that the surgical site will heal properly and quickly. Puppy housetraining can be made a bit more complicated by a puppy tail dock that was performed when the pup was several weeks old, instead of only a couple days old. A small bit of extra attention to ensuring that puppy accidents are cleaned up quickly can help minimize the chance that bacteria will enter the surgical site, creating infections and prolonging the healing process.
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