[macksmom]

Hi, my husband and I rescued a puppy from a shelter. They had no clue what breed he was or how old he was. The vet agreed with me and thought he was way too young to be away from his mother... but he was from a rescued litter so there really was no choice. So anyway I think he is about 6 months old now. He looks like he is definitely mixed with "weiner' dog (and the vet and everyone who sees him agrees), and to me he looks lab. He is muscular, and stocky, but has very short legs and a long body. He has black short hair, like the coat of a lab.

What I am wondering... his tail has grown about the length of his body. It stands straight up all the time, and curls (like a pigs tail) and curls in a circle and the bottom/end basically lays on his back.

Should I have had his tail docked? Is he too old? What is the purpose for docking, show only? Is it okay if I don't have it docked (assuming some breed in him is to have it docked)?

I've been wondering this for awhile, so thought I would ask :)

Thanks!

[froggy7]

Medically, the only need to dock a tail is in dogs that get "happy tail". This is where you have a strong thin whiplike tail that the dog wags with such force that it actually breaks the skin when it hits walls or furniture. This causes blood loss, can get infected, and is constantly repeated whenever the dog gets excited. There are probably some other cases where it is medically necessary to dock the tail.

But no, in the general run of things, there is no need to do so. Several breeds are supposed to have tails like your dog's, so he should be fine.

[imissyou]

Hi, my husband and I rescued a puppy from a shelter. They had no clue what breed he was or how old he was. The vet agreed with me and thought he was way too young to be away from his mother...but he was from a rescued litter so there really was no choice. So anyways I think he is about 6 months old now. He looks like he is definitely mixed with "weiner' dog (and the vet and everyone who sees him agrees), and to me he looks lab. He is muscular, and stocky, but has very short legs and a long body. He has black short hair, like the coat of a lab.

What I am wondering....his tail has grown about the length of his body. It stands straight up all the time, and curls (like a pigs tail) and curls in a circle and the bottom/end basically lays on his back.

Should I have had his tail docked? Is he too old? What is the purpose for docking, show only? Is it okay if I don't have it docked (assuming some breed in him is to have it docked)?

I've been wondering this for awhile, so thought I would ask :)

Thanks!

You SHOULD NOT get your dog's tail docked. Its painfull and cruel. I personally like dogs with curly tails.

[bushg]

Pugs have the curly tail that you are describing maybe he is mixed with one. I agree with the others,Please don't get his tail docked, unless there is a medical reason for it. I was on a website a couple of weeks ago and they were taking up money for a boxer puppy that had spinal damage due to tail docking.

[macksmom]

No, I wasn't going to get it docked if I didn't have to... I just didn't know the reason for docking tails, and if there was some medical reason I should get it docked.

I personally think its cute. :)

[RubyPitbull]

By "show standards" he is too old to have his tail docked. Aside from show and the medical reason froggy points out, there isn't any good reason to dock a tail. Even with those points, I have my own doubts about it. I think it is very inhumane and I would never, ever do it even if someone told me that it is the norm for a breed of dog I owned. It is very painful to the dog, and it is one of those concepts that was entirely created by humans.

[katieperez]

Everyone's right, he is far too old to have his tail docked. Tail docking is done within the first few days of a pup being born so it heals pretty quickly. Many, many years ago, there were legitimate reasons for docking a dogs tail, depending on the breed and when it originated. One reason was to avoid a 'tail tax'. This was mainly for herding and working dogs, as farmers would often put their dogs in the same wagon as their cattle (or whatnot) and they were taxed per cow and the tails were counted through the wagon instead of taking them all out to determine the amount to be paid. Another reason is that a lot of times dogs' tails would get stepped on by the cattle and end up getting broken and/or infected, or they would get caked up with dirt and things. Another interesting reason, as with the Doberman, was to avoid having anything extra for an attacker to grab on to, since Dobermans were specifically bred to be a protection dog. Hence the reason for the cropped ears also. The man who created the breed was a tax collector and often was attacked by upset citizens so he created a personal protection dog. Anyhow, that was back then when cropping and docking served a purpose. Nowadays, it's purely for show, since we no longer have tail taxes and tax collectors don't go door to door anymore:) You pretty much don't have a choice on whether or not you want your dogs tail docked since it's done so early by the breeder. My newest addition, Brandy, a 5 month old female rottie, got hers docked but it wasn't done according to the standard for rottweilers. So hers is pretty goofy looking and people often asked me what happened to her since it's pretty long for a rottweiler:) It looks more like a dobes tail! And my 6 month old male Abram, well his is far too short! He barley has a nub! He wiggles his whole butt to 'wag'. But I don't care what their tails looks like, and it sounds like you don't care what your pups looks like either. It's the puppy that counts!

[RubyPitbull]

Sorry Katie, have to "spread it." Just wanted to let you know that your post was a very interesting read. I have never heard about the "tail tax". Good stuff. :)

[macksmom]

Thanks for the posts :) I was curious as to why people dock tails... I knew a lot was for show, but wasn't sure if there was a medical reason that would put my little boy Lennox at risk :) The information was great, and now I don't have to worry :)

[froggy7]

As another interesting side note, several of the hunting dogs traditionally had their tails docked because they would otherwise get badly banged up in the brush.

And now that people are moving away from docking, the breeders are being faced with a whole new set of issues. If you decide to allow undocked dogs in the show ring, what should their tails look like? People have never bred for tails, so there can apparently be a lot of differences in tail appearance within a docked breed. It'll be interesting to see what gets settled on for some of the breeds.