Lucy has her tail long and to be honest we prefer it that way, I don't like to see dogs with docked tails I like to see long tails happy and wagging. We have Lucy's hair short and a travelling doggy hair dresser comes to bath and clip her every month and she makes sure all of the claws etc are ok so no worrying about the dewclaws either! I guess as long as the dog is happy and healthy then it doesn't matter, its personal preference!