Tail docking

I've just been looking at Woo's Jack Russell - Penny on another thread and noticed her long tail.

While parked up in my car today I saw two 'Jack's' with docked tails and thought to myself, they look to young to have docked tails as it was introduced in 2006. I've never been sure whether it was legal here or not on the island and having checked it out, yes it is still legal for all breeds. They apparently can't be shown at dog competitions on the mainland though.

 

Hi Sheal

Depends on the vet , the vets that are more rural still dock to this day , but jack russels cant be shown but "Parsons Jack Russels" can be shown at KC shows

The docking of dogs' tails was banned in England from 6 April 2007 and in Wales from 28 March 2007 but with exemptions from the ban for certain working dogs, and for medical treatment. A total ban in Scotland took effect 30 April 2007

There is also a ban on the showing of docked dogs (all dogs docked after the commencement date of 6 April/28 March) at events to which members of the public are admitted on payment of a fee. However, this ban does not apply to dogs shown for the purpose of demonstrating their working ability.

The exemption for working dogs allows a dog that is likely to perform certain specified types of work to have its tail docked by a veterinary surgeon. The dog will have to be less than 5 days old and the veterinary surgeon will have to certify that he or she has seen specified evidence that the dog is likely to work in specified areas. Puppies being docked must be microchipped, either at the time of docking or when the vet considers they are old enough. The types of dog that are allowed to be docked and the types of evidence needed.

Puppies from certain working dogs may be docked if evidence is provided to the vet that it is likely to be worked in connection with law enforcement, activities of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, emergency rescue, lawful pest control, or the lawful shooting of animals. It is accepted that in a litter, not all puppies docked will be found suitable for work.

I remember at the vets when I took my 5 cocker pups at 3 days old , how traumatic that was .... never again I told myself .

Spruce

 

As we're considering getting either a Working Cocker or Sprocker as a replacement dog next spring, this is something of interest to us (as we want a dog with a proper tail).

 

I have seen what happens when working dogs tails are left on not nice when caught on barbded wire but depending on the breed cocker spaniels tails are not that big but a lady by me has a doberman and it just looks silly with a massive tail on such sleek lines , its nearly the full length of the dog curved over its back and the lady told me in the house it knocks the tail on the furniture and its always bleeding and then the blood gets flicked all over the place

 

I prefer to see a Boxer dog (or similar breeds) with their tails docked.

 

Thought this thread was going to be about the International Space Station

Wouldn't like the end of my spine cut off

 

I personally don't like tail docking esp in domestic pets

I can understand the reasons behind doing it for working dogs tho but still dont like it

 

I agree with Spruce about the docking of working dogs tails and I think certain breeds look better with docked tails although I don't necessarily agree with it. There are those that have to be docked for their own well being too, like my son's dog below. He is an Australian Shepherd dog and their tails are automatically docked at birth because the bone structure is weak and the tails tend to break.

Below you can see how short his tail is here as a pup.

 

Never liked the idea of cutting off dogs tails for no good reason.
If a breed is being born with weak tails that need to be cut off, then there is obviously something wrong with the breeding, nobody should breed from dogs with this genetic defect.

|As to working dogs, maybe they shouldn't be sent into brambles and barb wire.

We could also cut off their ears, if the excuse is all about stopping the dog from getting impaled in barb wire.

I see it as a dog owners "thing", it looks good, or so they think.
But who has the right to say mutilation looks good?

 

I agree with you Pete that nobody should breed from dogs with genetic issues and these occur because of inter-breeding and weakening the strain, particularly in the case of dogs being bred for showing. It's not just about the docking of tails though, there's hip-scoring of larger breeds and you could also bring into the discussion neutering for convenience. All these issues should be looked into.

Many years ago I had a West Highland terrier that was born with a dreadful genetic disease because of inter breeding, she was eight weeks old when I got her and I was unaware of it until a few weeks later when she started to become ill. Luckily I had the sense to get her to my wonderful vet and he recognised it straight away, she then spent the next nine months of her life on steroids which cured her but left her with a weakness for the rest of her life. The problem is a lot of these problems go unreported to stop the breeders in their tracks. I had the sense to report it to the Kennel Club and they took it up with the breeder.

I wouldn't say the dogs are sent into brambles etc. as many of them work by their own initiative and once on the scent of something will forget about their own well being, causing damage.

 

These are surely, the so-called working dogs, basically used for "sport", I believe ?

 

Not necessarily sport, farmers are known to keep terriers for driving rabbits out from underground for example.

 

My first dog was a border collie, rescued from a farmer who intended to dispose of her because she hadn't made it as a sheep dog. It took me six months to earn that dog's trust and convince her that I didn't intend to hurt her, and even years later, right up to the end, you couldn't stand right behind her without her panicking.

 

Friends of ours in our village had a Weimaraner bought with a docked tail as a pup many years ago.Lovely dog as well and good temperament and was a great pet dog.Sadly though it developed Cancer in the bit of tail that was left and the cancer got so bad the dog was riddled with it in the end (scuse pun)and sadly had to be put down

 

thousand off lambs tails get a elastic band around them to stop the blood supply to make them drop off , stops the flies and maggots.