I've never liked having to alter a dog's appearance for the sake of following standards. In the first place, is it even right to place standards on the physical appearance of a dog for it to be qualified in dog shows?
It's not that I think it's cruelty as I'm sure owners have placed their best effort to keep this altercations as comfortable and painless as possible but why does it have to be necessary for breed competitions?
Haopee, Misha came to me with a docked tail. If it had been my choice, I would have left her tail alone. Jack Russell's have fine tails just the way they are.
I do think it's a bit cruel and I'll tell you why. There is pain involved especially when the ears are done because it's a long healing process. I have seen two examples of when they go awry.
In the first example, my brother had his Doberman's tail docked. The person who did it, who was known to them through the breeder, cut it too short. Part of the bone was visible. The skin was not long enough to be stitched over to seal it. It didn't heal correctly. They ended up having to take the dog to the veterinarian for a procedure to fix it. It took quite some time to heal.
In the second example, it was the ears of my brother's Mini Pinscher. People don't realize when this is done that there is a lot of work to be done by the owner. Once the ears are cut, the dog must where a special cone that the ears are taped to. They wear one thing for several days and then there is a H shaped thing they wear after that to keep the ears up. The ears are bandaged heavily, too. The ears must be cleaned every day for several weeks. My brother's dog got an infection which was painful. Even though they cleaned them and rebandaged them an infection still formed.
Just seeing two dogs go through those painful experiences is enough for me to never want to put a dog through it ever again. And, I agree. We do these things for us, not for the dog. It adds nothing to their enjoyment of life.
This is something that cannot be just dismissed with one sweeping statement.
Take the example of the Dobermann. There is a reason for the tail to be docked and the ears to be cropped. First, the main purpose of a Dobermann is to be a personal bodyguard. So it's bred specifically for that purpose. The tail is docked to prevent someone grabbing its tail. I have not really seen anyone stopping a dog by grabbing its tail but it's possible that at the time the Dobermann was bred, grabbing a dog's tail is a standard way of controlling a dog. The ears are docked to improved its hearing. This is quite obvious. The Dobermann, naturally, has very large and very floppy ears.
As to the pain and suffering caused by docking and cropping, this is a question of choosing the right person to do it. And doing it at the right time. Tails can be docked not long after birth. Ear docking is definitely a much more tricky operation. However, if your life depends on your Dobermann being able to detect even the slightest sound, then it's worth it.
Having said that, I am totally against tail docking and ear cropping for show purposes. Yes, I know that some people pierce their own ears and noses and ears to look different but that's their personal choice. I am very sure that if the dogs were given a choice, they would prefer their tails and ears as nature meant them to be.
I disagree with both tail docking and ear cropping, it's not even a question in my mind. How we think we have the right to do something like this to a dog is beyond me. I wish people wouldn't do things like this to their dogs, but I guess people do a lot of horrible things to dogs, and nobody really cares.
Gigi also came to me with a docked tail. I, too, would have left it alone had it not been docked. I know for poodles it is customary to dock their tails, but I've seen more and more poodles on the poodle forum I frequent with undocked tails. And they are simply stunning. Hopefully, this practice will be against the law soon.
It really bugs me when dogs have chopped tails. I have actually never noticed it with their ears and really did not even know that they did that. If it were my choice, I wouldn't do that to any dog. I feel that dogs were born to look like that so why chance their appearance. I also think it looks better to keep their tails alone as well. Having shorter tails just makes them look less elegant in my opinion.
To me, getting your dog's tail docked and ears cropped is like getting plastic surgery for your child so they can compete in beauty pageants. I don't know how you can do that to an animal that is basically a family member. Maybe the owners just see them as show dogs and not pets.
The winning show dog should just be the best example of what that breed of dog looks like naturally. I don't know if I explained that right. Whatever the dog looks like without the surgeries, pick the best one of those as the winner.