The standard for Spoos is two fifths off, three fifths on.
We do it ourselves. My biggest reason is it scares me half to death taking three day old pups to a vet clinic. They are tiny and vulnerable. You can take all the precautions with the babies, but Mama dog has to tag along, and she could bring anything home on her feet.
The second biggest reason is the mess most vets make of the length. They don't breed the breed, so have no clue what the ideal is. Even if you are there instructing them, it is too easy to make mistakes. I have seen way too many Spoos with tails that look like chicken nuggets, and you can fake a too long tail, but if it is too short, an otherwise perfect specimen can be ruined by endiing up with a bunny tail.
We use scissors, and have special notched dew claw scissors for that part of the job. We use silver nitrate sticks to cauterize everything and they go back to their box to nurse clean as a whistle and quite content. I have heard of some breeders and vets that use dog toe nail clippers for the tails, and that makes perfect sense to me.You would want to use only clippers that are new and have never been dulled by actually clipping of toe nails!! We may try this next time.
The dew claws are much easier than the tails, and if you don't dig and just do what you are supposed to do, there is never a scar. It is clean, quick, and the pups let out one quick squeak for each dew and the tail, then they go back in with Mom and the rest of their litter and in five minutes are happily nursing away.
I would challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference on the tails and dews that we have done as opposed to tails and dews a vet has done. It is vital though that everything is sterilized before you begin and between each puppy. We soak the equipment in alcohol between each one, and where we do it has been wiped down with Lysol wipes and misted with Lysol spray. We are very careful, and check everything for signs of infection three or four times a day. I have never had a pup lose weight, but rather gain on the day it is done, which is a good indicator that they have not been traumatized.
It is becoming illegal in some provinces and states for vets to do it, so more breeders are going to have to learn how. Until the CKC and AKC makes it the norm for Spoos to be shown with undocked tails as in Europe, some breeders will need to continue to do it, and they may have to begin doing it themselves.