The American Beagler Forum

I have a litter of puppies on the way and I would like to clip the tips of their tail. My male beagle has the tip of his tail clipped and I would like to do the same for the pups. How do you do it. I heard that there are rubber bands that are made to do this. Where can I get these rubber bands. The mother of the pups tail bleeds pretty good when she is out hunting and all of the hair on the tip is gone and the tail is raw and is pretty gross looking so I would guess that the pups will have the same problem so I want the clip the tips to prevent this. Here is a picture of the male dog that had his tail clipped.

Im not sure what they are called but you can get them at a farm store. They use them on cattle.

To dock the tail, you need to do it when the dogs are 1-3 days old. If you wait any later, it's considered an amputation and can be more traumatizing. Using a VERY sharp clipper (you can use HD nail clippers) snip off just the very tip being careful not to take off too much. You can use steptic powder or clotisol to stop the bleeding (which is not very much, but worrisome to the dam). I never dock the tails, but am very familiar with the procedure.

If they are not born yet, the best thing would be to dock them at 2 days old. Use regular dog toenail clippers with the loop blade. If you just want briar resistance with minimal cosmetic effect dock only about the very tip - like you were cutting the white tip off of a kitchen match. I personally would not go more that 1/8 inch max unless that pups are from a bloodline where rat tails are the norm. One drop of super glue does a good job of sealing the tip and protecting it until it heals.