tail docking

mischasmomma · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject: tail docking

My weim's tail is about 1 inch longer than the "normal" docking size... I have not shown her but was thinking of it and was wondering what people see in regards of tail length in the show ring... Do you think the judges will scrutinize her for this? Does anybody show their weim undocked? Thanks!

PamK · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject:

Are you in the US?

Here is a link to the standard. It says undocked tail should be penalized. I've never seen an undocked tail in the show ring.

http://www.weimclubamerica.org/weimaraners/standard.html

CherrystoneWeims · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:23 pm Post subject:

One inch will be fine. I have seen dogs with shorter tails (one of my litters ended up shorter because most of them got infections from Mamma licking them too much) and I have seen dogs with longer tails.

weimgal · Puppy Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 22

I would love to leave my next weim undocked and show it in the breed ring, but I just don't have the guts to do it.

With all the undocked dogs in Europe, I won't be surprised to see the AKC penalty being revised in the future.

CherrystoneWeims · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 1:33 pm Post subject:

weimgal · Puppy Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 22

I respectfully disagree. English pointers aren't docked. I hunt a field bred English Setter with no problem. An English Setter that runs with a cracked tail has more problems than the issue of the amount of hair on the tail. It's how their tail moves when they run that causes the problem. The majority of the weims that I have seen in field trials and hunt tests don't run with tail in a cracked manner (you would be able to see the cracked motion even if it was docked).

I would be interested to hear from any people in Europe that hunt behind undocked weims to see if they have any trouble. I don't see any evidence in any of the European field pictures that I've seen. All the reading I've done has indicated that tails are important for canine communication and balance.

As an aside, people from Europe increasingly want to purchase weims from the States. Having to decide which pups don't get docked at 3 days is a very difficult decision. It would be nice if the Weim Club of America would remove the penalization of an undocked tail from the standard. In that way, if you want to dock it would be fine and if you did not want to dock, that would be fine also.

CherrystoneWeims · Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 8:44 am Post subject:

SparkyTansy · Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:02 am Post subject:

I show an undocked bitch and even though the docking laws have been in place for sometime in australia, I feel that up against the older, docked dogs, Ari's tail is very noticable and not in a good way. she has correct tail set, however due to her confident tail carriage, her tail appears to be carried over her back which I think affects the look of her overall...

I do not disagree with tail docking, I think it should be a breeders choice. The same way dogs should not be penalised in Australia for having docked or undocked tails, the same should be the case in the US.

As for the setters having to be tipped, I have never heard of this, however I have noticed that many of the field bred setters in the US have a higher tail set (to allow for the 12 o'clock tail?) which perhaps in some way causes more injuries? the original setters and pointers have their tails level with their topline. There should also be enough coat on the ES tails to help prevent injury. Perhaps over the years the setters carrying less coat have a higher incidence of injury? (feel free to correct me if i am wrong I do not know a lot about the Field type ES but I am always keen to learn more)

SparkyTansy · Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:05 am Post subject:

P.S those pointers appear to have a regular length tail for a pointer and they do not look tipped... the second ES looks to have a normal length tail too for an ES but the pic is quite small so i could be mistaken...

SparkyTansy · Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 1:10 am Post subject:

finally...
photo of a "tipped" weimaraner...

weimgal · Puppy Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 22

I have a new litter of pups and one is going to Europe. I have to decide today which one is going to keep her long tail. I still wish it would not be a penalty to have an undocked tail per the WCA standard. I am really stressing out trying to make sure I'm making the correct choice at this early stage. I do my own tails and dewclaws since I've not had good success over the years with vets.

I have seen more tail injuries due to docking than if they were left long and hunted. Before I did my own tails, every litter would have one pup that the mom would pick at the stitches and cause infection or a too short tail. In other cases the tail was way too long and needed to be re-docked at a later date. IMHO, docking all the tails is overkill for the few injuries that might happen in hunting. I say remove the penalty for tail docking and leave it optional. This is the only man-made penalty in our standard.

Time to get off my soapbox and dock tails, followed by a glass of wine!