When did dog tail docking start? The ancient Romans believed that amputation of the tail tip and/or parts of the dog’s tongue could protect it from contracting rabies, which was then rampant all over Europe.
This practice ceased when the actual cause of rabies was discovered by Louis Pasteur in 1885 and a vaccine was created.
Around the 16th and 17th centuries it was believed that removing a dog’s tail would strengthen its back and increase its speed to make it better at fighting. It also gave the opposing fighting dog something less to grip onto.
In the 17th century, many “pleasure/companion dogs” owned by upper-class landowners in England had dogs with undocked tails.
Dogs with intact tails were taxed. “Working dogs” typically owned by the lower class had their dogs’ tails docked because they could not afford the tax. So many of the herding/working dogs; “ratters,” terriers that controlled the rat population; and some of the other large and small game hunting dogs, like pointers, that were used by the lower class were docked to avoid paying the tax.
Yet many of the English hunting dog breeds were not docked, because hunting was considered a leisure sport or recreational by wealthy landowners. A dog with an undocked tail was a status symbol boasting that an individual within the upper class could afford the tax. The upper class also believed the tail helped a dog run faster while hunting.
The dog tax was repealed in 1796, but tail docking continued for hunting and working dogs afterward.
The American Veterinary Medical Association cites early references recommending tail docking “where the tail was overly long for the size of the animal, therefore might be prone to injury.” Tail docking was also done for sanitation.
In hunting dogs, tail docking eventually was done to prevent injury, especially to the tip of the tails from underbrush, ticks, nettles, burrs, grass awns, foxtails and fences.
Tails were docked on herding dogs to protect them from livestock, getting caught in fences, slammed in a farm/livestock gates or getting trapped in farm equipment, wagons and carts.
Long ago, guard dogs’ tails were docked to prevent robbers from restraining them by the tail. Long-haired dogs had their tails docked so their tails would not become dirty when they touched the ground.
In the 21st century, the primary proponent of tail docking in the United States is the American Kennel Club. Dogs shown in AKC competitions are partly judged on how well they conform to the AKC defined breed standard. Docking is included in the standard for more than 50 breeds.
Tail docking was banned in the European Union in 1998. The procedure is not permitted or is highly restricted in many countries, including most European Union member states, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland and the Virgin Islands.
In 2007, the United Kingdom banned cosmetic tail docking. Dogs cannot be shown at any event where the public pay an entrance fee.
The AVMA in 1976 endorsed restrictions for tail docking for cosmetic reasons, and the California Veterinary Medical Association in a 2010 statement said it opposed tail docking of dogs when done solely for cosmetic purposes. The CVMA also encourages the elimination of tail docking from breed standards.
More than 750,000 puppies have their tails docked in the United States each year. Tail docking seems to have emerged for a variety of reasons, but for some breeds it was proposed primarily to improve appearance.
Books from different periods, such as The American Book of the Dog in 1891, openly refer to docking of some breeds to create a “pleasing appearance.” Rules for pedigree dog shows in the United States formalized the docking tradition in the mid-1950s.
The AVMA opposes cosmetic tail docking, basing its opinion on data and the essential question not being “How harmful is the procedure?” but rather “Is there sufficient justification for performing it?”
Performing a surgical procedure for cosmetic purposes suggests the procedure is not medically indicated. In the opinion of the AVMA, this is insufficient justification for performing a surgical procedure.
Dogs have not been shown to have greater self-esteem from having their tails docked, which is the driving force for the majority of cosmetic surgeries in humans.
It is natural for most dogs to have tails based upon their descent from a tailed species. However, there is no strong evidence that naturally bobbed or surgically docked dogs have a physical or psychological advantage.
In some breeds, selective breeding and nature have caused tail docking. Genetics has made natural bobbed tails and short tails in breeds such as the Old English Sheepdog, Australian shepherd, French bulldog, Boston terrier, Welsh corgi, English bulldog and Brittany spaniel.
Some breeders favor letting a gene mutation such as C189G, which creates a natural bobtail in 21 breeds, and selective breeding for other gene mutations, which can also create a bobbed tail versus surgically docking a tail.
Removal of a dog’s tail for medical reasons is not referred to as “docking.” It is called amputation. The most common reason for amputation or partial amputation of a dog’s tail is trauma in which the tail cannot be repaired or return to function.
Amputation also may occur if a puppy’s tail is deformed and, consequently, could negatively affect the puppy’s health.
Tail docking in the United Sates is a personal choice. Many ranchers feel that the docked tails protect their herding/ranch dogs from tail injuries and help avoid fly-strike by keeping their hind ends clean. Some people feel that their companion dogs (pets) have such strong, long tails that they can clear a coffee table in seconds when they are adults so they have their tails docked as puppies.
Other people want the AKC look for their breed and breeders know this and sell what people want and expect. Breeders assume that consumers want pups that look like the ones they have seen online, on TV and in dog shows.
On the other hand, many consumers don’t know whether a breed’s tail is docked or naturally bobbed (born that way).
From designer dogs to working dogs and every dog in between, are all loved with short or long tails.
— Dr. Bonnie Franklin is a relief veterinarian who grew up in Santa Barbara. She earned her doctorate of veterinary medicine from a joint program of Washington State and Oregon State universities, a master’s degree in wildlife biology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and does consulting work with the U.S. Forest Service. Click here for previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.