No, most breeders do NOT clip their own pups tails. That is ridiculous. You have to seal the wound or the pup will continue to bleed. They may have done this in the "old" days but 9 out of 10 breeders today do not do this on their own. It only cost $2 a pup..why would they take the risk on a dog they are going to sell for $500? Maybe a "backyard" or "puppy mill" breeder might..but you shouldn't be buying dogs from those type operations anyways.
(hunting dogs actually need long floppy ears most times...it helps to trap scent so they can track (most hunting dogs have hard flat ears instead of soft, so they do not get so damaged while running through a thicket. Although if you look closely at a working hunting dog (like a search and rescue dog)..say a BloodHound...you will see tons of scars where they have been caught on briars.)..they usually benefit from a docked tail..so it does not get caught in briars and ripped and torn)
In regards to tail and dewclaw removal...
If you take your pups to a vet that does NOT provide the pups with a localized injection of lidocain they will feel pain, and they will yelp out (generally special surgical shears are used to clip the tail then surgical superlgue is used to seal the edges).....BUT even if they do not use the lidocaine the pup quickly forgets after you put it back with the mother. (the same as a baby that has just been circumcised. Yes it hurts, but babies have short attention spans..and when presented with food at this young age..pain is quickly subsided by the presence of something greater)
They do it at 1-3 days before the bone hardens in the tail, while it is still soft..like cartilidge. What they experience is no more then you cutting your finger. It hurts, then it's over just as quickly.
Yes, it is debatable for people to use the "ear infections", "broken tail", or "dewclaws can cut" excuses. But those situations CAN happen, do, and have happened....but that's not me saying that it definately will happen.
8 times out of 10 if a dog ever developes an ear infection they will recurr over and over again. This costs the owner tons of money in vet bills...plus the dog constantly has to be treated (which most dogs despise...being held down and having medicines put in their ears).
Then you have dogs like great danes and other short haired breeds that naturally have long tails. Sure some are left long...you should go ask your vets how often they treat broken tails. You might be surprised at just how many they'll tell you. Having a dog that wags their tails hard and fast, that are quite aloof and clumsy, and sport an unprotected tail (unlike a lab who has a more bushy tail)...is dangerous for the dog (it's somewhat like you taking your fingers, opening your hand loosely..and whacking your fingers as hard as you can on the edge of a door facing...you should give it try sometime..must feel great)...and can consequently cause the owner even more in vet bills (and we all just love spending hundreds of dollars on unnecessary treatments at the vet don't we?) Ever seen an adult dog that has had to have it's tail amputated? It's a sad sad sight. They have to put the dog under anethesia, cut through bone, stitch the dog up, then put one of those Elizabethan style collars on the dog so they can't chew the stitches out when they start to itch..when the wound starts to heal. Amputating the tail of an adult dog is like having your arm cut off..it is quite painful for the dog after the bone has hardened. Not to mention the chance of infection..as cutting bone itself is a risky procedure as bone becomes easily infected; and the tail is placed on the ground where bacteria has a better chance of attaching itself..and they have no anteseptic tongue of a mother dog to wash their tail several times a day to stave off infection..like a pup does. Not to mention the tail is the absolute hardest place to get to heal..as the area is constantly moving..from the dog wagging it's tail..the wound take longer to heal because the wagging and moving keeps the wound area opened up. This procedure can also run you anywhere from $200-$500 depending on the severity of the damage..this includes nerve damage that the tail could sustain. And often times the dog is left with a handicap. They learn to use their tail as a center for balance...once they have grown up that way and you remove the tail..it leaves them at a disadvatage for quite a while until they re-learn how to operate without it; the tail will also remain hairless on the end..leaving it susceptable to a wide variety of injuries (this is not the case of dogs that have them removed at 1-3 days).
Then you have the dewclaws (these are removed at 1-3 days of age, at the same time as the tails. They are removed with a scapel then surgical superglue is used to seal the edges). Ever been jumped on by a dog that still has it's dewclaws? These are the 5th toe that resides further up the leg of a dog..a claw that serves no purpose what so-ever. They can cut you like a razor blade if they hit you at the proper angle. How bad would you feel, if your dog knocked down or jumped on a child and caught that dewclaw on her arm or possibly her face? The dog doesn't have to be being aggressive, or be trying to hurt someone, to hurt them with these "claws"...all they have to do is be playing and slide that claw across your soft, human flesh..and it will cut you ..sometimes very deeply.
Which is why I said these procedures should be viewed as prevenative maintance,
regardless of if the person having it done is thinking of it that way or not. It's like using dental floss to prevent cavities. You might not ever get one..but you improve your chances by flossing and keeping your teeth extra clean..even though it is very uncomfortable while you do it. It's like giving children their vaccinations as babies. They probably won't ever get measles or polio...but they could. So you give them vaccinations to reduce the risks...even though it hurts them at the time you give them the shots (babies most often have extreme soreness at the injection site and will have a fever for 1-3 days afterward. And they will cry ALOT after getting a vaccination..because they don't feel good).
Prevenative maintance is not always pleasant or pain free...but it's the end result that is worthwhile.
All that being said, I am quite aware that this argument will never be settled. Because the people who disagree with the procedures only view their uses as "cosmetic" and refuse to the see the actual benefit from them (and I'm not saying that no one ever has these procedures done purely for cosmetic reasons..I know they do...I'm saying regardless of that fact...the procedures STILL have a logical/legitimate basis for being performed). I think it's sad though, that they cannot see that what might cause a little discomfort/pain now...can keep great pain from happening later...and instead choose to argue about it in such a hostile/bitter mannor (even though hostility seems to be what they are trying to avoid).
Why do you think there are Dobermans, Briards, Min Pins, etc. etc.? Those dogs all have medical problems inherent to their breeds due to the fact that humans literally molded them into what they wanted them to be. I think selective breeding of traits such as "teacup" dogs or dogs that are so huge that they only live a few years is monumentally worse than cropping ears or docking tails.
It looks so funny. 
/www.outlawdanes.com/ears.html
