Tail Docking (clydesdales) In The Uk..?

[chev]

Jessey - my Jack Russell has a tail too Til you posted that pic I'd never seen another with a tail.

(She was about three months old and had just found her first frog... )

 

[teabiscuit]

never seen a JR tail-they look so much better on than off and i bet they wag like fury

 

[Wally]

Hmmmm, not sure about the benefits of docking a working dog.

I have had working collies for quite a while and no other dog takes his job (and that of any other working breed) as seriously as a collie.

When working sheep that tail is used as a counter balance, it's a huge benefit when cornering at speed.

Never have I ever known a collie to damage a tail during any kind of work or play....and they play as hard and mad as they work. We've had spilt paws, claws torn out, they hang themselves in the sheepnet or the top of a gate regularly.....but (touch wood) never a tail injury.

......could it be that Spangles tend to be owned by the shooting types, who tend to be....how do I put this delicately? .... from the upper classes. (I can afford a horse and go hunting, but to go shooting is MEGA pricey) One cannot be seen to have a common looking Spangle! maybe barking up the wrong tree here!

 

[poohsmate]

I can't comment on horses as I don't know anything about that I'm afriad but with regard to the docking of dogs tails - I know a little about this and in english law it is not illegal to dock a dog of any kind. However, it has to be done by a vet and done with so many days of the litter being born i think about 3-days (but I'm open to correction) I only know this as I got a lecture of the reception at my vets when I took in my docked Rottie for it's 1st jabs about how she was going to report me But I'd researched this prior to buying my dog and confirmed with vet that it wasn't illegal just a little frowned upon these days, silly woman

Thats really interesting bertie, because as i said earlier my vet got suspended for docking dogs tails in nov/dec 2006. and this link states that it is illegal unless they are working dogs or medical reasons. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4807372.stm

 

[gypsygold]

Ah how cute - he is very like my JR, except mines more brown than white.
He has a docked tail and i have to admit it wasnt something I never even thought of when I got him having always had breeds or x-breeds with tails.

I think it occured to me on about the 3rd day he didnt have a tail and I suddenly felt really sad that he had had his tail chopped off, like buying a new item and realising its blemished . Anyway it was a bit late by then and I love him to bits all the same

 

[Jessey]

We always had lots of Jacks (X's mum bred them) and they were always docked - aparently its so that when they are down a hole you have a hand length 'handle' to grab them back out with should the need arise. I have found with Dillon's curly long tail it can be more difficult to grab hold of without twisting/bending it and hurting him
Dillon's tail throws people as to his breed , bless him our vet acctually asked if he was crossed with a whipet last week he is a bit leggy for a jack, but honestly
Chev that pic is just so cute, we lost all of Dillon's baby pictures when our old lap top died

 

[ambatt]

Spaniels, JRs, Weimeraners, Dobermans, Rotties,Poodles, Boxers, German Pointers etc etc etc are all docked. Labradors are just as much a working breed as Spaniels and they are not docked, nor are collies, greyhounds, lurchers, whippets, in fact sighthounds NEED their tails for balance. - yet these are still working dogs.

There is no justification in my book that dogs should be docked at all unless it is for explicit medical reasons such as injury or necrosis. After all the tail is an extension of the spinal process.

To get back on topic, some heavy horses have the dock completely shaved which could make it look as though it was docked. Iberian youngstock are also treated in the same way, with mane and tails hair removed until they are 2 (and mares for life but the tail is allowed to grow).

Chev - i just love Jessey - she is absolutely adorable!

 

[gypsygold]

I think yes it is more the shooting types such as spaniels to prevent them getting caught in brambles etc whilst flushing, the types of dogs that have to work through thick cover.

Also guard breeds such as rottys and dobes were docked to make them look more aggresive. As a dog will wag its tail when it is apprehensive - however much it might be snarling at one end apparantly wagging its tail at the other end with apprehension made them look less fierce!

Also I know it is or was common practice to have dew claws removed on lurchers (perhaps greyhounds too?) because as they run and turn at speed they can get caught and torn. I queried this with the vet and he said he didnt feel it was neccessary so we left our lurcher alone but we did have a lot of dew claw injuries with her - and she isnt worked at all.

I'm not saying that docking is definately neccessary but just that maybe it should be researched in a non- biased manner - maybe it has been I dont know.

I think we've gone off original topic a bit

 

[Trewsers]

RE Blackbeauty. I cannot read that book without crying. My mum first read me the story when I was very young and I've read it several times over. Such a very sad story.​

My mum tried to make me read it as a child (I was always rebelling and refused). It wasn't until I was about 24 years old I sat on the settee with OH and watched the film - and we both cried. Can't think about it now without filling up - its such a sad story.

 

[buttons]

I hate to be controversial, but there are some working dogs that really ned to be docked. Our gun dogs would come back in a dreadful state if they did'nt have docked tails.

They would be full of gorse needles and that really is agony for a working dog. Collies are really different 'cos they dont have "hard" tails like springers.

 

[chev]

buttons; my parents bred working gun dogs for years. Mainly English Setters but also spaniels. Our were not docked, and never had a single tail injury.

Bearing in mind that springers are docked 'long' a lot of the time (rather than the very short tails you see on Rotties etc), and that English Setters have *traditionally* undocked long feathery tails, I find the working dog argument hard to swallow. Why would two breeds of gun dog who do very similar jobs in very similar ground be treated so differently? Setters (English, Irish, or Gordon) have never been docked, working or otherwise. Nor have labs.

 

[Bertie]

I can't comment on horses as I don't know anything about that I'm afriad but with regard to the docking of dogs tails - I know a little about this and in english law it is not illegal to dock a dog of any kind. However, it has to be done by a vet and done with so many days of the litter being born i think about 3-days (but I'm open to correction) I only know this as I got a lecture of the reception at my vets when I took in my docked Rottie for it's 1st jabs about how she was going to report me But I'd researched this prior to buying my dog and confirmed with vet that it wasn't illegal just a little frowned upon these days, silly woman

Thats really interesting bertie, because as i said earlier my vet got suspended for docking dogs tails in nov/dec 2006. and this link states that it is illegal unless they are working dogs or medical reasons. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4807372.stm

That's really interesting Pooh's mate maybe the law has changed since I got my Rottie which was back in 2003, I'm going to read that article

With regard to the reasoning behind docking, I believe that the reasons back in day for doing it was to prove that your dog was a working dog and therefore you exempt from paying tax on the animal - I think that's right anyway but it's definitely something to do with proving it works for a living and avoiding tax back in probably the victorian, edwardian periods or even before and it's a tradition like many that has continued

 

[Wally]

I have seen many a sheep dog, fully equipped with a tail, pouncing on sheep in goarse and thick cover. Getting up close and personal with them too, which a gun dog never has to do, being savaged by a phesant does spring to mind, but I'm not sure the Phesant would inflict much damage.

I like the tax, theory, you din't need a licence for a working dog either, ....but that doens't explain why some dogs are docked traditionally, and some are not. If I know old farmers they'd be the first out with the garden shears to the collies if they could pay less money to the government.

 

[hackedoff]

Docking horses is as everyone has said is illegal, so is de-clawing a cat and de-barking a dog, which I am given to understand still goes on in US...? Or am I wrong?

 

[Wally]

A lot of Army dogs were hobdayes so they didn't give themselves away by barking at the enemy before they tore them to bits! Mwa ha ha!

 

[Glynis Ruby]

Hi all,

I'm trying to find information on whether tail docking of Clydesdale horses is banned or illegal in the UK.

Is this true? Is this actually in the law books? I seem to remember reading somewhere that tail docking of draft breeds (Clydes, Shires, Belgians, etc) was banned (and it is now illegal to do so) - but I'm not 100% sure.

Can someone confirm (rulebook, or web site where this is written down, etc)

Thanks for any and all help.

~app

I have always thought that docking of hirses tails, or all animals tails was against the law.
However too many Clydesdales and Shire horses are shown on the Internet pages and in magazines with their tails docked.

It's so sad to see.