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I have a litter coming up athat I have unfortunately decided to dock. I like the look of the docked Rottweiler but laso like the tails too. I need to know how to band puppy tails...anyone out there can tell me how? I want to band them due to it being less invasive than having them cut and then the bitch always pulls the stitches out, in my experience.

there is a description in Muriel freemans Rottweiler book

BUT

you really MUST have an IN PERSON mentor to show you how to do it

If the tails are not tied tight enough they take longer to drop off and smell. Even if you think they are tight enough sometimes they are not and they take longer to drop off and smell

I shave the tails of 2-3 day old pups, betadine scrub them, betadine soak the bands and under ideal circumstances the tails loosen/drop after 3 days but once in a while even then a few take longer

The pups must be kept meticulously clean and their tails must be cleaned daily ESPECIALLY after the tails come off til they heal up

Done right and well the tails come off fast with only slight musty smell and no infection. Done wrong and the tails can take 7-10 days to come off and smell very musty and at worse they can get an infection.

I can not stress enough that you must have an in person mentor/instructor

Then again the same thing can happen with a vet dock. They can do it poorly or the bitch takes out the stitches

I personally had bad luck with vet docks and that is why I now band. Gretchen has a vet who does a fabulous job

I don't care what people prefer- docked or natural- as long as everyone is allowed to make their own choices. My choice is to dock my pups-and I always will- but it's also the least favorite time for me

But vet dock or banding (and even spays/neuters) care still needs to be taken and you can't just view it as an ho hum project

Thanks for the info Diane! Can you pm me and tell me what you use as far as bands to dock? what bands from where and how tight you get them? Thanks so much. I don't want to vet dock due to how bad it is with the bitch taking out the stitches and that area is so very sore too.