New study says dogs with docked tails significantly less likely to sustain tail injuries says Veterinary Record Tail Docking - The Case for Tail Docking
I think I would much rather put a 3 day old puppy through a few minutes stress than having to deal with an adult dog having an amputation due to tail breakage.
Some studies are now finding that certain breeds of dogs in particular, are having larger and larger numbers of adult amputations, which are more traumatic and painful for the dog due to tail breakage, particularly dogs with thin whippy tails. I do look at them with somewhat of a skeptical eye, because I do not know of any that do not have an agenda.
And what about dewclaws. Yes, they are there for a reason, but most breeders remove them for a reason as well, and that being to reduce the likelihood of the dews getting ripped off, which I have seen on more than one occasion.
What's the difference between getting the dews done and the tail?
Not only that, but I resent the anti-docking agenda which is being funded and propagating in large part by the animal rights extremists.
It completely boggles my mind that docking a tail at 3 days old equals cruelty in some minds, yet sterilizing an animal is completely acceptable, and even expected, and no one sees how much more damaging THAT is.
Is the US behind on some things? Yes, I think it is. I believe that ALL cropped and docks breeds should have the option to show uncropped and undocked. The Beauceron standard, for example, allows for cropped and natural, with definitions for what the natural ear should look like.
Beauceron breeds have a CHOICE in what they can do with their dogs, and BOTH ear types are (or should be) judged equally.
The same should be done in all breeds for tails and ears. Right now, docked breeds in Europe have tails all over the place. They have high carriage, low carriage, fringe and feathers, thick and otter like and thin and whippy. In yorkies, there are some that have very thin feathering on the tail, making the tail look unappealing, because we have not had anything in the standard that says what the yorkie tail should look like, and the look of the yorkie tail has not been bred into the breed in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the breed. Now we're supposed to know what a yorkie's tail should look like?
Have you SEEN what the UK has as an accepted look for the yorkie tail? Have you SEEN what they have now added to the yorkie standard as what the correct and proper yorkie tail, (that no one in the history of the breed has ever seen) should look like?
Have a look at their picture.
The Kennel Club]
And the standard description?
Previously customarily docked
Docked: Medium length with plenty of hair, darker blue in colour than rest of body, especially at end of tail. Carried a little higher than level of back.
Undocked: Plenty of hair, darker blue in colour than rest of body, especially at end of tail. Carried a little higher than level of back. As straight as possible. Length to give a well balanced appearance.
Sounds like an Irish setter tail to me. And they look all over the place, as this gallery of winners show.. when you can find a tail, since most of the pics, the handler is clearly hiding the back end for some reason.
Limit Show Jan 2013
The nicest tail in my opinion is that of the number 5 dog. But here on this forum, most people seem to have dogs with tails that curl over their backs.
You have low swooping tails, you have tails being held high like a field bred setter, you have tails held out, then dropping down... Even on dogs that looked to me to be young dogs, so they should have had their tails, there was a lack of evidence of tails visible.
Northern Counties Yorkshire Terrier Club
I see two tails. The first picture seems to have a dog with a natural tail, but if you LOOK at the picture, that's not a tail, it's the bottom opening of the handler's blazer. But if you go all the way to the bottom right picture there is a visible tail. Standing straight up like a flag pole.
Last of all, in the US there is this VERY important thing to consider. Backyard breeders rarely dock tails. When they do, it's a piss poor job. If you know what a good docked tail is, you can tell by the length of the tail, and the look of the tail, (as in if the tip is bald) if the dog came from someone halfway decent. This is because backyard breeders dock too short, usually, and they often will do something as barbaric as rubber banding the tail, which leaves a bald spot, OR when they DO cut the tail, they usually don't pull the skin back, cut the tail, and then stitch the top skin flap over the bottom, making an aesthetically pleasing dock.
Because of that, I'm glad that docking is still required, though as I have said, I would much rather it be a choice that breeders can utilize, and be acceptable in the show ring.