it's NOT too late, i started this thread on friday & i'm amazed at the response, all acts passed by the parly get a probationary period,then they're reviewed, do'nt give up hope yet. and even after the review, and the act IS finalized, it's STILL not all over for dockers. lobby your MPs. they're looking to ammend the DDA, & that was passed in 1997.!!

My friend runs a working spaniel rescue and he's had an increase in working spaniels we think its due to people buying puppies that were docked before the ban. I docked my litter and I intend to continue to dock legally and just show at ones that dont charge an entry fee if that means no more Crufts, I'm not too bothered I'm more interested in the welfare of the puppies I Sell. Of the last litter three went to working homes.

I went to a new training class last night (I'm in "Improvers" - yay) and all the dog trainers said how nice it was to see a Boxer with a tail (including the ones who actually own Boxers)

I suspect that once there are no more docked puppies (i.e. not working dogs) available, a lot of the fuss will die down and seeing a Rottie, Boxer, Dobe, Spaniel with a tail will become the norm.

tails were also docked for tax reasons, I believe years ago dogs were taxed unless they were working dogs, hence all working dogs were docked, the above is also correct but not sure which came first, sure someone will know,

Why should I check your facts? Prove it.
Becky

Mahooli did`nt bring it up. A person making claims [ on any topic ], should be the one to provide the evidence, not leave it up to others to find

Panic buying is human nature and a very sad trait in this regard I have to say. People eh ?
That said, given the time frame, any ethical breeders would have had their pups pre-booked anyway. The unethical would have possibly deliberately tried to breed to beat the deadline and advertised as ` last chance, get your docked puppy here`.
Which makes them even more sad as well as utterly unscrupulous

I'm not going to say much more on this thread as i think it's been done to death.
Suffice to say, if the prodockers are holding out hope that the ban will be overturned, I think they are being somewhat overoptimistic. There is no chance.Time to move on I feel.

and love your dogs exactly as nature has provided.
Becky

Thats a new one on me :smt043

The earliest origins [ documented, research in print by Roger Tabor ], was Romans who believed eating a puppy tail cured worms, also a connection to a belief that it prevented rabies.

In hunting terms, it was done to avoid taxes levied on people with working dogs.

To Nero, guns invented in the 1400`s [ hundreds of years ago ], were extremely innacurate not to mention expensive. Shepherds in that era and for the next several hundred years would never have been able to afford one, as shepherds were not land owners, they were employees. Those employing a shepherd would not provide one for shepherds, a gun would hve been worth more to a shepherd to sell than he would likely earn over a long period of time.
Even if by some miracle a shepherd could afford one in earlier times, he would be more likely to kill off his own flock, the aim of the guns being so lousy, or killing himself as they were far from reliable when fired.

Guns associated with shooting wolves [ in terms of any accuracy of shot ], were in use almost exclusively in Italy and Sicily, [ called a Lupara Shotgun ], but that was not until the late 1800`s [ so just over a hundred years ago ], and early 1900`s but was more connected to being used by the Mafia and Costra Nostra.
I can find no connection at this time to docking with regard to the few shepherds who would have had access to one.

However, lets assume for moment that its not urban myth - it would back up the claim that docking was not done to protect dogs tails from damage of undergrowth etc so thats another reason to dismiss docking as a historical `kindly` tail damage preventative measure, [ which it certainly was`nt in relation to shepherding dogs anyway ], so cheers for that input :smt023