# Looking for Vizla with no Crop tail or declaw



## chadh2021 (Apr 22, 2021)

My wife and I are in Love with the Vizla, however in Europe where she is from it is illegal to crop and declaw and we both feel strongly about it also. He would not be used for hunting or work with concerns of him damaging the tail or claw. He would be a family dog. Is there a breeder out there who would be willing to hold a male pup without the modifications? We would be willing to put a full non refundable payment down to do so. We live in Florida. Willing to travel out of state.


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## [email protected] (Feb 24, 2020)

Hi there! I don't have an input regarding breeders in Florida, but just wanted to make a point regarding the tail. We were also against cropped tail, so our pup has the whole "50 cm whip". Perhaps you considered the points below, but I did not before having a Vizsla. 

The problem is that his wagging is so violent, that he's having the tip injured quite often. So bad that blood is coming from his tail - and all that blood is on our walls. He does not seem to care what he is banging his tail against (furniture, walls, doors, trees, me etc.), but I am sure that those injuries are somewhat painful. Also, it will be painful for you as well - I actually had a swollen eye from his tail and my thighs are constantly bruised. When he is awake, he is wagging his tail, and he is doing it violently. 

His pain is one point, another point is that depending on the level of crazy of your Vizsla, there will be accidents - glasses will fly around and pretty much anything you have on a coffee table. If you will have a tall pup, you will never be able to place anything at the edge of a table - it will fly around sooner or later. And they may get injured from breaking a glass. 

Looking back, I now understand why some breeders dock the tails. I still think it is inhuman, but also I dread seeing him with his tail hurt all the time, and I know that sometimes he is in pain. To be honest, if I would take another puppy and he would have the tail docked at 1/3 (just the tip, not like you see in some GSPs with the whole tail taken away), I would not be against it. 

I am thinking that I would have spared him of a life of tail injuries, had I accepted his tail to be docked. Every time he hurts his tail I think that it is my fault and this could have been avoided.


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## Vizslaz (Nov 14, 2020)

Go to a Canadian breeder. They aren’t allowed to dock or take the dew claws off. Also you benefit from the currency difference.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Most breeders will not accommodate this type of request. Puppies tails are docked between 3 and 5 days old. They can not evaluate structure and temperament at the age. Essentially they would have no way of knowing at that age, what puppy in the litter would be the correct fit for your family. 
While not easy in the US, you are going to have better luck going with a breeder that does not dock.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

[email protected] said:


> [snip]
> Looking back, I now understand why some breeders dock the tails. I still think it is inhuman, but also I dread seeing him with his tail hurt all the time, and I know that sometimes he is in pain. ...
> 
> I am thinking that I would have spared him of a life of tail injuries, had I accepted his tail to be docked. Every time he hurts his tail I think that it is my fault and this could have been avoided.


It's not too late - you can have his tail docked humanely (under anesthesia or with local anesthetic) and spare him a lifetime of injury & pain. And have blood free walls. It has to be the most simplistic and risk-free of surgeries.


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## [email protected] (Feb 24, 2020)

Bob Engelhardt said:


> It's not too late - you can have his tail docked humanely (under anesthesia or with local anesthetic) and spare him a lifetime of injury & pain. And have blood free walls. It has to be the most simplistic and risk-free of surgeries.


I knew it was possible, but for emergencies. Our vet was reluctant when I asked about this (maybe some 7-8 months ago). They argued that the procedure requires general anesthesia and the healing process is difficult and that it would be very unpleasant and somewhat risky due to full development of his tail. Perhaps they have changed their mind given the numerous times we went in with tail injuries, but they never proposed the procedure and I felt like a bad "dog mother" for asking about it in the first place. I will ask again, perhaps they will give me more details and explain the risks vs. the benefits.


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## organicthoughts (Oct 9, 2012)

Vizslaz said:


> Go to a Canadian breeder. They aren’t allowed to dock or take the dew claws off. Also you benefit from the currency difference.


This is only in some provinces


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## chadh2021 (Apr 22, 2021)

Are there any successful stories out there with leaving the tail intact as is? Just seems like this would be the case for all medium to large dogs, including labs, but you don't see labrador's tail being cropped.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Tail thickness, and amount of hair to protect it, is not the same in all breeds.
With all the undocked tails in different countries, there would/should be a lot of success stories. I'm not sure if that matters to owners, if it's their dog having the problem.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Tail thickness and hair coverage definitely factor in, and so does the super sonic speed Vizslas are able to reach in wagging. Other breeds are amateur tail waggers; Vizslas are professionals. I don't think I have any friends or family members who have not been assailed by the tail. Other animals we've lived with preemptively wince or turn away their heads to no avail. The Vizsla is oblivious to our pain. 

Docking is lumped together with cosmetic alterations like ear cropping and presumably that's why it's banned in some countries and why you, two compassionate people, are concerned. In the case of these high energy working breeds, it really is a protective procedure. My dog is from Hungary and though she has only injured her tail once in her 8 years it did take a long time to heal and a lot of work in terms of cleaning and bandaging the wound. She's not a working dog and she hurt her tail indoors. I would totally get another undocked dog if it met my requirements for breeding quality, temperament, and health clearances, but I might _slightly_ prefer getting one that has been docked.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

The tail is their fun meter.
You can tell by the blurry tail, Shine's having tons of fun. LOL


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## esslevy (Mar 23, 2013)

[email protected] said:


> Hi there! I don't have an input regarding breeders in Florida, but just wanted to make a point regarding the tail. We were also against cropped tail, so our pup has the whole "50 cm whip". Perhaps you considered the points below, but I did not before having a Vizsla.
> 
> The problem is that his wagging is so violent, that he's having the tip injured quite often. So bad that blood is coming from his tail - and all that blood is on our walls. He does not seem to care what he is banging his tail against (furniture, walls, doors, trees, me etc.), but I am sure that those injuries are somewhat painful. Also, it will be painful for you as well - I actually had a swollen eye from his tail and my thighs are constantly bruised. When he is awake, he is wagging his tail, and he is doing it violently.
> 
> ...


We also have a GSP-mix with a natural tail (and dew claws). We adopted her from a rescue as a young adult, but OMG has that tail been a menace since. We can tolerate the pain of being whacked with it, but she frequently nicks the tip of it on cabinets, furniture, walls and then we have sprays of blood on our walls. It takes forever to heal as she re-injures it so easily and she can reach the tip of her tail to lick/bite, even with an E-collar on. Additionally, she fractured her tail once when she caught the middle of it with a wag too close to cabinet edge (conveniently did that on Thanksgiving while we were out of town, so had to find emergency vet on a holiday). We're reluctant to crop her tail at this stage, but any pointers we get in the future, I'll opt for the cropped tail.


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## uniquemoniker (Jul 18, 2019)

My wirehaired vizsla girl is from a breeder in Kentucky that I can't say enough good things about. She gets most of her dogs from Europe and decided to not crop tails or remove dewclaws after becoming familiarized with the way they handle their dogs over there. 

Her website is: http://www.gowirehaired.com/
I've included a pic of my girl, she'll be 2 in May.


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