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Originally Posted by Britster  What I don't get about this mindset is... if tails were such a HUGE problem in general, why don't we cut ALL dogs tails off? It just doesn't make sense. Golden Retrievers have long fluffy tails that often get poop/debris/etc stuck in them, so let's just start cutting off their tails...
Legs and toes can be broken off too. But you don't see people cutting a dogs leg off because he keeps hurting it. |
Early breeders learned which breeds' tails were susceptible and decided to crop the tail. Apparently, it wasn't an issue with the Golden Retrievers and their tail wasn't vulnerable to being broken often enough to necessitate cropping. The tail is much more painful and difficult to mend than a finger or toe because dogs are constantly wagging their tails. Results on a broken tail are not that good and many times the tail has to be completely amputated, including butt muscle. I guess this would be more like someone who had a family history of breast cancer removing their breasts. That's probably more extreme, but the idea is to prevent something much worse.
By the way, I totally disagree with the idea that it was done to be aesthetically pleasing, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it often has more to do with what were use to or our own personal ideas. I've never cared for the way a docked tails looked, I've gotten use to it on Yorkies, and now I think it's cute, but on my own dogs I grow their hair out so that it looks like a long tail.