To tell you the truth, tail docking was not on my radar screen at the time I got Edie (5 years ago). I admit that I did not do all the research I should have done before I got Edie---but I did a lot after I got her. Fortunately, we were lucky, she is healthy, and we did a lot of things right without even knowing it. I would have done it differently now. by doing all the research beforehand.
I have to disagree with you...the breed standard is based on cosmetics.... So the tail docking is a breed standard AND it is cosmetic. The Australian Kennel Club is now allowing undocked tails in competitions, and many undocked dogs are WINNING in the UK and AUS.
The British Veterinary Association, the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) and the RCVS are all opposed to the docking of puppies’ tails. Veterinary bodies and welfare organisations such as Dogs Trust believe that puppies are caused unnecessary pain as a result of docking and are deprived of a vital form of canine expression.
Tail docking began hundreds of years ago when people had a very different attitude to dogs and ’animal welfare’ was unheard of. Docking is thought to have been (mostly mistakenly) used for the following reasons; to increase a dog’s speed, prevention of damage in dog fights, prevention of back injury, rabies prevention and even tax evasion!
These days, the main reasons given for keeping docking are:
To avoid tail damage
Reasons of hygiene
To maintain breed standards
To maintain breed standards? This is docking for cosmetic reasons and that is just not good enough! The Kennel Club (in the UK) changed the breed standards so that previously docked breeds could now be shown with tails, so there’s really no excuse. The pain and disadvantages associated with docking cannot be allowed just so that a dog will look a certain way. Dogs are born with tails for a reason – if they didn’t need them, evolution would have made them smaller or got rid of them altogether by now!
Check this out...
http://www.anti-dockingalliance.co.uk/