To dock or not to dock? Your opinions on tail docking?

that is indeed the question...

Now i used to be set against docking, i still am in a way, but i do feel it is a good idea for dogs that actually work in the fields, not breeds that 'can' work, but dont, and are just pets.

what do you think?

Yonks ago our Dobe had his tail docked. But I don't think it's actually 'needed'...

working dogs work just as well with tail on, docking is more of another man made cosmetic decision,,,DEFO AGAINST
kinzy

I have 6 working gundogs. Three of those are pointers who aren't docked, one gwp who is docked, one spaniel who is docked and one who isn't. After the experiences of my undocked spaniel, I am definitely FOR docking.

Helen

Personally I prefer the look of dogs with natural tails - in my mind they look more balanced and a lot more attractive.

I've had a dog who regularly split her tail and covered herself, and the walls, in blood, but it was easily healed using a solution of alum, so my personal view is that many tail injuries are not serious enough to warrant docking in the first place.

Perhaps if dog-docking was subject to the same regulations as lamb-docking (all tails must be left long enough to cover the anus in males and the vulva in females) then perhaps it would be more acceptable to many?

And despite years of questioning, I still haven't had an answer to the question of why working spaniels (who are more likely to damage their tails) have a longer dock than show/pet spaniels?

I think the same question applies to the length of their ears.

Helen

Heidi was our first docked spaniel, and it was a bit strange at first, she's a 2/3 dock at the request of her breeder because of problems the breeder had in the past with the longer tails.
If you could stop a spaniel wagging its tail when its got its nose down and in the briar, then you wouldn't need to dock, even when they've ripped their tail it still wags, and they look terrible with blood sprayed up both flanks, not to mention the infection risk and difficulty in getting the tail to heal.

I've no idea why they have long ears, all they do is pick up burrs and grass seeds,, good for de-stressing after a hard day when you comb them out though

I was referring to the lenght of the show springers ears. Sorry I didn't make myself clearer.

Helen

Just like my dalmatian who did this - her flanks would be scarlet with blood. But, for all she was a big sissy, it never bothered her, only us, and with alum it would be completely healed within 2 days, with hair grown back over the inch-long wound in a week.

Friends who have spaniels for shooting tell me that they wouldn't consider using a dog for shooting that had more than a third of its tail removed.

As for the length of ears - that's purely genetic - show spaniels can get away with longer ears because they are less likely to go into undergrowth and damage them. Which makes it even more curious as to why they are docked so short!

Spaniel ear length is purely cosmetic, not genetic JG. The length is mostly just hair length, the actual ear leather is no longer than say a Setter ear. I have both Irish Setters and American Cockers.

Someone has suggested working spaniels have less ear hair because they have more need to root about in the undergrowth. I wish someone would tell my lot that. They are show spaniels and they pick up every twig and grass cutting.