J^—WHELFING OF PUPPIES 



who use their own teeth. This has a de- 

 cided advantage as the motion of the teeth 

 tends to pull the skin ends together over 

 the bitten part of the tail. 



In general, an instrument should be used, 

 A sharp strong pen knife, a razor blade, 

 or a pair of sharp heavy scissors can 

 be used. 



When the tail is being docked, the skin 

 should be pulled as far as possible from the 

 tip of the teil back toward the base of the 

 tail. This permits rebounding of the extra 

 skin over the cut end. But even this is not 

 entirely necessary. Some breeders never 

 do it and are satisfied with results. 



It is customary to state that vaseline or 

 balsam or some other salve or astringent 

 be applied to the cut end. One party that 

 disagrees with this method is the mother 

 for she immediately licks the end of the 

 tail clean. And this is well, for few medi- 

 cines have as great antiseptic and healing 

 power as the saliva of the bitch. 



The common practice is to have a flat 

 saucer containing diluted iodine handy. 

 The instant the end of the tail has been 

 snipped off, the puppy is lifted over the 

 saucer and the open end held in the iodine 

 for a second of time. 



It is better that two perform the details 

 of de-tailing. One can hold and the other 

 cut. When using knife or razor blade, the 

 tail should be held firmly on a level surface. 



All the puppies should be examined about 

 ten minutes after they have been placed 

 back in the nest to detect any excessive 

 bleeding. Tighten a rubber band or string 

 around the cut tail to stop the bleeding, 

 remove after an hour. 



The mother should be kept away and out 

 of hearing during the de-tailing. She'll be 

 back in a rush of worry and tail licking. 

 How Mach of the Tail 

 Should Be Removed? 



If the tail a^ppears thick and heavy, likely 

 it will not grow as long as the tail which is 

 inclined to be thin ; consequently not quite 

 as much should be removed from the thick 

 heavy tail. 



When in doubt, take off too much rather 

 than too little. A tail should never be so 

 long that it bores the spectators. 



It is interesting to note that a number of 

 the standards do not demand tail docking 

 altho the tail is always docked. 



Remove about two-fifths of the fox- 

 terrier tail. This can be reduced even to 

 one-third. 



Take off two-thirds of the tail of the 

 Brussels griffon. This fraction also applies 

 to Yorkshire terriers and English toy 

 spaniels. 



Miniature pinscher — see dobe. Toy poodle 

 — see poodle. 



All spaniels except Irish water spaniels, 

 which are not docked, and the English toy 

 spaniels, should have a full three-fifths 

 removed. But take off two-third's of the 

 cocker spaniel's tail. 



Brittany spaniel — not cut as it naturally 

 grows about four inches long. 



A scant three-fifths or little more than 

 one-half should be removed for airedales, 

 Welsh and Irish terriers. 



Lakeland, Norwich — three-fifths off. 



For the German short-haired pointer, 

 take off two-thirds. 



Sealyhams and kerries tell the same story 



DOG TAIL5 jfH^y 



ston I) 



as foxterriers and a full one-third should 

 be removed. 



While practically all terriers are docked, 

 not one of the terriers of Scotland is 

 docked ; these include Scottish terrier prop- 

 er. West Highland white, skye, and cairn. 



Wirehaired griffon — take off two-thirds. 

 Weimaraner, leave on 1% in. Bouvier, 

 leave on 4 in. Old English sheepdog, leave 

 on one joint. 



Dobe and rottweiler, take off all except 

 first or first two joints (we recommend 

 leaving two joints on). Schnauzer, all 

 three breeds, leave three joints on. 



Poodle, all three varieties — take off ap- 

 proximately one-half. 



Schipperke — take of all except one joint. 



AP PEND IX 



PUPPY WEIGHTS 



(Similar weights can be implied for 



other breeds of approximately 



same size) 



Springer spaniel (matures 47 lbs. males, 



43 lbs. bitches)— 10 oz. at birth; 1 wk., 1 



lb. 4 oz. ; 2 wks., 2 lbs. 4 oz. ; 3 wks., 3 



lbs. 4 oz. ; 4 wks., 4 lbs. 12 oz. ; 5 wks., 



6 lbs. : 8 wks., 10 lbs. 8 oz. ; 3 mos., 20 

 lbs. ; 4 mos., 25 lbs. ; 5 mos., 31 lbs. ; 6 

 mos., 33 lbs. 8 oz. 



Cocker spaniel (average adult wt. 25 lbs.) 

 —at birth 9 oz. ; 1 wk., 1 lb. ; 2 wks., 1 lb. 



7 oz. ; 3 wks., 2 lbs. 1 oz. ; 4 wks., 2 lbs. 

 10 oz. ; 5 wks., 3J4 lbs. ; 8 wks., 6 lbs. ; 

 10 wks., 8 lbs. 



Pomeranian (matured 3^4 to 7 lbs.) — at 

 birth .3 oz. ; 1 wk., 6 oz. ; 2 wks., 8 oz. ; 

 3 wks., 11 oz. ; 4 wks., 14 oz. ; 6 wks., 1 lb. 



2 oz. ; 2 mos., 1 lb. 8 oz. ; 3 mos., 2 lbs. 



3 oz. ; 4 mos. 2 lbs. 14 oz. ; 5 mos., 3 lbs. 

 6 oz. ; 6 mos., 4 lbs. 



Great Dane (120 to 160 lbs.)— at birth 

 1% lbs. ; 3 mos., 38 lbs. ; 6 mos., 80 lbs. 



CASE STUDY 



The following notes are excepted from 

 the author's series of articles in Dog World 

 Magazine (1939), describing the day-to-day 



