This is how I undertstand it also. Ridiculous rule as there's no way in hell you can tell which ones will be good workers at 3 days old!

Oscar (HWV) was left with a full tail, however there is a real possibility he will have to undergo an operation to have his tail amputated as he's forever splitting it open, poor boy. I'm quickly tiring of clean blood off the walls too.

The certificate that is completed by the breeder & the vet can be viewed here

Removal of front or rear dew claws before the age of five days by a lay person is still permitted

A little off topic maybe, but we have one docked dog and one undocked, when the law regarding docking was first introduced I admit that I never thought I would ever get used to seeing my breed with their tail. However, three years on I now love to see them with a tail and am glad that that the docking law was introduced.

What does annoy me though is that there are still people out there that, even though they have no intention of ever working their dogs, believe they should still be docked because they are in the 'working group' As such dogs were I know recently still being legally docked in Ireland to supply these muppets with their 'docked' dog.
As for the dew claws, yep its legal and imo the earlier they are removed the better!
DT

See I also have I Weimaraner (can never spell it sorry ) that comes in regularly, he is just over 1 year old and is also docked. The owners again have no intention whatsoever of working him or showing him. Same with the GSP.

I just wonder why someone would fabricate their pups going to working homes just to have the tail docked when they surely aren't going to have that much contact with the dog afterwards...

I did see on a lovely 'pet homing' website a litter of working cockers, all docked and they were being advertised to either working or pet homes...
Jamie is having a tail amputation for medical reasons and I know any dog can have their dew claws removed, as our last setter nearly had that done as she kept catching them.

When you dock a litter of puppies, there is no way on this earth at that age you can tell which will make a working dog and which wont. When they are 7/8 weeks their conformation and character will have developed enough for the breeder to make a choice. Thats why the whole litter is docked.

Just me view! but there are those who seem to think there is a kudos attached to having something that is now 'difficult' to obtain.


M eldest is nine years old, he is docked, but badly so in so much that he does have difficulty sitting directly on the floor - he seems to squat! We also had a rescue a couple of years back who was docked terribly, My four year old (who died in 200 was nicely docked! But still I love my youngsters tail!!! That said it's like a whip and she has done a fair bit of damage to household contents with it, and you cannot leave a drink on a coffee table else it ends up on the floor!
DT

ps you spelt it right!!!

As others have said, there is no way at 3 days old you can tell which pups will be suitable for working and which are more suitable as pets. You will generally find that a breeder who works the dam will normally wish for their pups to go to working homes so the whole litter will be docked. They wont normally leave a tail on unless somebody specifically requests it and pays at least a deposit upfront (and picks their pup of course).

Me personally, I wouldn't look at a traditionally docked gundog with a tail left on. I also believe that for those docked dogs who genuinely work, the law should be revised so that they can be shown. There are dual purpose kennels out there so what do they do? Leave tails on and the dog suffers in the field or take the tail off and a pup with show quality cannot be shown. It's a ridiculous law IMO.

I think that's a really good point. Why shouldn't you be able to show a dog that is worked and docked for that purpose? It does seem daft.

With regard to dewclaws, I see no reason to routinely remove them. My Estrelas have rear dewclaws also and I like them. They never cause any problems or get caught on anything and they are very active dogs.

Although I totally agree with this, you tend to find you can show a docked dog at most shows these days as most of them have put the entrance fee, if it was applicable, onto the car park instead. Meaning docked dogs can be legally shown.