Cropping and Docking

[Juska]

Yikes... Yeah, I've heard in the larger breeds they'll smack their tails so hard they injure themselves. I mentioned dobermans often doing that above, but other breeds can certainly do that.

Small dogs are subject to this as well. Italian Greyhounds are almost notorious for breaking their tails. I think it's more that the dog's tail is thin and bony to begin with and not just how hard they wag/hit it against something.

[GitaBooks]

Speaking factually, I can say that there are both good reasons and poor reasons for docking/cropping. Good reasons for ear cropping are constant infections, issues with hematomas or similar issues. Tail docking for dogs that chase their tails or hit them against things makes sense as well. However, we have a dog at the shelter where I volunteer that had a home crop job of the ears and now has a chronic issue from it. It can also make it harder for dogs to read one anothers' behavior, since they rely on the ears and tail for that purpose.
Dogs in a good house hold rarely injure their tails from wagging, but it sure can hurt people's legs if they hit into you. We should know, we had a tail wagger of a dog who would smack you like a falling branch. He never got hurt, but we sure did. : )