Jan 10 2009
To dock or not to dock?
Recently, I came across a blog that I quite enjoyed dealing with whether or not to dock a dog’s tail. Now, it particularly interested me because the dog that the author was talking about was, you guessed it, the great poodle. I knew that poodles are born with a curly, long tail. I also knew that most breeders, at least in the U.S., dock their poodles’ tails soon after they are born. But, what I didn’t know was that the question of whether or not to dock a dog’s tail is a rather controversial one. Apparently, there are quite a few people who feel very passionately for both sides.
I have been toying around with the idea of leaving our poodle pup’s tail long. The idea first came to me when I viewed a couple of youtube videos where the standard poodles’ tails were left long. I think both of the videos I saw were from breeders in Europe, so I assume this is more customary there then it is here. I thought the long tail looked rather elegant, especially on the standard poodles with their long legs. It reminded me of an Afghan hound’s tail, sort of long and curly with longish hair on it. Although I think the long tail would be unique, I also quite like the short poof look of the docked tail. I’m thinking that since it is so customary here to dock the tail when the pups are only a few days old, it might just be easier to go this route. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have to make special arrangements with the breeder, and I’m not sure she would be willing to do it.
There are also people who are very anti-tail docking because they feel that it is cruel to the dog. I can understand this too. However, I think if the dog is young enough, it probably isn’t quite cognizant of what is going on. As long as it is safe and healthy, and done by a professional, I guess I don’t have too much of a problem with it.
