cocoa hasnt a tail but she was used for gunning, personally i think its a good idea and if they ban it at crufts then it would stop a large majourity. i think its cruel.

Dew claw removal is done around 2-5 days old. The bones are underdeveloped and soft at this stage, so they snip off easily with very little to no blood loss.

My Shar Pei had her dew claws removed before I got her, she had scars where they had been, about 1 and a half cm long and thick enough that they were noticeable, my 2 handsome boy's were thankfully born without any.

i think it depends, some welshies are born wiothout some are born with either just front or even back ones.
If they were removed there would be a very small bare patch on the side of the leg, in welshies its almost next to the stop pad.

Are you saying Welshies are sometimes born without front dewclaws?

Dew claws - well - Bo uses her front ones like thumbs when she is 'holding' whatever she is chewing.

I wouldn't dream of wanting her to be without them

She doesn't have any on the rear.

Im not for, or against docking, but....

Not just gun dogs run through plants/fences etc...so why would a non-working gun dog be more likely to hurt their tail than any other dog?

My dog certainly does, she adores chasing rabbits and squirrels in the woods/fields etc, but hasn't damaged her tail. (she's a Bullmastiff)

My BC and cross breed are the same. Thye like nothing better than leaping and bounding through thick grass and bracken, I also love to watch them do it. They both have a great deal of hair on their feathers and what feels like a quite fine tail bone underneath it all. They have never once damaged their tails. They do, well the Biffters at least, regulalryl have to have pieces of bracken and undergrowth remover from their fur though, not a problem,happy to do it for them.

As for dew claws (mine have theirs) I have read a bit on docking and the removal of dew claws. All the literature I've seen (both pro and anti) suggests that pups feel the removal of dew claws much more than the removal of their tails...

some welshies are born without dew claws I'm not sure why but it seems to depend on the lines there form.
Also you find thats its instict for some gundogs to go under thick gorse etc to flush game after all thats what they where originally breed for and it seems to be inherant even in my show dogs.
The problem is with a full tail it can become tangled and get cut and bleed.
The council of docked breeds has photos on there website and explain it much better than I can.