Why do people cut their dogs tails off?

Question

It looks weird, but I'm sure there is a reason.

Declawing kittens? What kind of sick person are you?

Yes it does look weird.

My brother's pitty had his tail left long, and it was no problem...he looked cute.

My golden had a huge heavy long tail that would really hurt when it hit you (to the point of severe bruising), knock things over and leave dents in things. However we didn't cut it. And we survived.

Answer 1

Docking tails has to do with the breeds original purpse. For instance, a fox terrier's tail would be docked to help pull it out of a fox hole. Some people continue the practice today, on non-show dogs, for cosmetic purposes.

Answer 2

It's called docking and it's a very traditional procedure with many breeds such as Rottweilers, Weimeraners (sp?) and Australian Shepards. They were originally cut off to keep them out of the way and to prevent them from hindering the animal's performance. In the present century though most breeders dock their puppies tails when they are going to be shown or bred. I've also heard that when a breed of dog with docked tails is bred, it may throw a puppy without a tail.

Answer 3

Some breeds of dogs look strange with a tail. Take a rotwieler. A bure bred rotweiler is born with a tain but is cut off right after it's born. Could you imagine a long tailed rotweiler! Also, they can hurt themselves buy wiggling that heavy, strong tail around when there excited. Thay can give you bruzis and can fracture or break their own tail!

Answer 4

it is the breed. i dont know but i will tell you what! i have a purebred rottweiler and chose not to lob her tail. it is now a weapon for her to use when she is excited i have bruises on my legs from her wagging that huge heavy tail when she is around me. and it really hurts getting whacked by her tail. i think that it also has something to do with the job that the animal had, wether or not the tail would help or hinder in the job.

Answer 5

The practice of docking dogs originates in the old Roman empire when the worm-like muscles in the tail of the dog were thought to cause rabies, leading to the tradition of cutting off the tail as a preventive measure.[citation needed]

For dogs who worked in fields, such as some hunting dogs and some herding dogs, tails could collect burrs and foxtails, causing pain and infection; tails with long fur could collect faeces and become a cleanliness problem; and particularly for herding dogs, longer tails could be caught in gates behind livestock. These arguments are often used to justify docking tails for certain breeds, although the same rationale is not applied to all herding or to all hunting dogs with long or feathered tails.

Many hunting dogs’ tails are docked to prevent them from becoming injured while running through thickets and briars while fetching hunters' prey. The few hunting breeds that are not docked, including English Pointers and the Setter breeds, may have chronic injuries to the tips of their tails. Such injuries cause continuing pain and discomfort and are at risk of infection throughout their lives.


Boxers with natural and docked ears and docked tailsIn working dogs used for guarding property (such as Dobermans or Boxers), cropped ears often make the breed appear more formidable; hanging ears could be reminiscent of the juvenile flop ears of puppies. In working dogs used for ridding vermin, such as rats, the dogs’ ears are cropped to make smaller targets for infectious vermin bites, which could lead to serious systemic infection.

In many breeds whose tails (or whose ancestors' tails) have been docked over centuries, such as Australian Shepherds, no attention was paid to selectively breeding animals whose natural tail was attractive or healthy—or, in some cases, dogs with naturally short (or bob) tails were selectively bred, but inconsistently (since docking was done as a matter of course, a natural bob did not have an extremely high value). As a result, in many of these breeds, naturally, short tails can occur, but medium-length and long tails also occur. Occasionally, tails have developed with physical problems or deformities because the genetic appearance was never visible or because of the inconsistent emphasis on natural bobs. Breeders often consider many of the resulting tails to be ugly or unhealthy and so continue to dock all tails for the breed.

Answer 6

It depends on what breed you are referring to.
I know with the australian shepherds-the farmers strarted doing that years ago because the aussie is a herding dog,and it went into alot of thick brush,and tended to get bird ox and burrs caught in the tail.This was very hard to get out,and the farmer didnt have time to get the prickers out.
Another reason I hear is because the aussie looks alot like the border collie and this distinguishes the two.

Answer 7

Well did you know that their tail is atually part of their spaine so it is like cutting off part of their spine!???? POOR PUPPYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, i have a boxer and we DID NOT cut of her tail :) :) :) :)!!!
But when ever we get home she wags her tail so hard and it whacks us so hard, and IT HURTS A LOT!!!!!!!!! I don't know for sure, but this might be one of the reasons. Plus, you notice that usually big strong dogs (that will have a very powerful tail) like boxers and rotwiellers have their tails cut off, not small dogs (if the wag it won't hurt) have there tail cut off. so that is another clue that I might be right. well i don't know, good luck gettting an answer!! :)
-Christine

Answer 8

It is called Docking. Some breeds,such as Boxers,Doberman Pinchers,and Poodles is just the way they look the best. It isn't that bad iof done while they are young. Just like declawing a kitten.

Answer 9

It's for cosmetic reasons. However a lot of larger dogs cause harm to their tails when they wag it to hard. It hits against the wall etc and can call absceses, fractures etc and that could lead to amputation.

Answer 10

It's called docking, and people do it so that their tails don't get in the way... but i personally find it crule for a family dog! POOR DOGGIES! I don't see the problem with tails and plus once you dock them.... it kinda looks creepy! *shivers* lol