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 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 ...

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 ...

Canada’s province of Quebec recently passed an animal welfare and safety act that will ban some cosmetic surgeries on dogs and cats. Effective Feb. 10, 2024, non-essential cosmetic procedures — ...

Q: Our Rottweiler has a docked tail, as do many dogs in the U.S. While watching a British dog show on television, I noticed that all the show dogs had natural, undocked tails. Why? A: Many countries ...