Tailed puppies

[BostonRott]

Bear,

When I was in Germany last year, I saw MANY agility courses, the sport is VERY popular over there. The FCI Agility championships were held in Germany last year actually.

Tails and turning woudl come into great use during the blind search and also give a better read on the dog while tracking (loss of scent, etc).

Rudi, many European countries have outlawed both docking and ear cropping. It has come about b/c of the "Greenies" over there. Very sad that a few can ruin things for so many, but if you don't speak up for what you believe in.........

[BigBear]

Boston,
I stand corrected... I knew I wasnt speaking on facts... but just thought of it off the top of my head.... thanks for the clarification... http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/smile.gif

Oh and I forgot about using it as a tool for body language... I was thinking on other terms.

Regards,
Bear

[Sasha's Mamma]

Hi everyone,

I agree with keeping the tails docked...that is what attracted me to the breed in the first place. I love their stump waggin'.

I have owned shepards in the past and much prefer the look of the short tail....

To tell you the truth I don't think that a dog cares either way (tail or no tail) when it is done so early in life...they don't know they had one...

Just my opinion.

[Jay]

I own both tail and no tail, and as far as speed, balance and agility goes, the tail absolutely makes a difference. I am basing this on actual results. I realize that the looks take time to get used to, actually not that much time, but IMO for those who truly admire the TRUE essence of the breed a tail is trivial.

[PowerROTTS]

The thing that I find most interesting about the ban that was pointed out to me by Anton Spindler is the fact that certain breeds of sporting dogs can still be docked. The reason...so that the rich people who own these dogs could enjoy their weekend hunts with their dogs the way they preferred. The ban has nothing to do with cruelty, it's all about politics.

[Nidia]

My pup, Goliath, has a tail, and it's so much a part of his personality, I can't imagine him without it. I don't know about the agility part, though! He's all gangly and uncoordinated! haha, but he's still a puppy.

From a rescue point of view, it is still difficult to place tailed dogs. At the rescue I volunteer at, we had a rash of tailed dogs. It was harder to place them, though they did all get placed.

My housemate has a docked Rottie. I like both looks, but of course I'm biased because of my boy!

If some of you have not seen a tailed Rottie, you can see lots of pix at Goliath's web page: http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~sdohe/goliath.html



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[Jay]

Originally posted by PowerROTTS:
The thing that I find most interesting about the ban that was pointed out to me by Anton Spindler is the fact that certain breeds of sporting dogs can still be docked. The reason...so that the rich people who own these dogs could enjoy their weekend hunts with their dogs the way they preferred. The ban has nothing to do with cruelty, it's all about politics.

I agree with PowerROTTS that there were definitely politics involed with the decision to ban the docking of tails and the exclusion of certain hunting breeds, I lived in Germany for almost 10yrs. and I know first hand that the German fanciers of the breed were not happy with this law before it was passed. I am even inclined to say that as far as looks the docked looks better than undocked, but I struggle with the school of thought that a rott with a tail is not a rott, or that nub wiggling is what draws me to the breed etc.. IMO this is very shallow for a true admirer of the breed, and to be honest with all, I see far far too many ROTTWEILERS in this country who have much bigger problems both physical and character wise than to be overly concerned about a tail. I am not just speaking of BYB's but of countless so-called reputable kennels who produce dogs on a regular basis who don't come remotely close to what the standard for a true rottweiler should be conformation wise, temparament, working ability,endurance etc.!! I am not trying to sale anyone on a tail, and if the standard that I follow did not now call for a tail, I would dock, but once again the rottweiler is so much more than a tail, and with the overall quality of the breed in the US, I would take two tails and a set of tusk, before some of the so-called top of the line stuff available. JMHO.

[WorkinDogz]

I agree Jay. 100%. "A tail (or lack of one) does not a Rottweiler make".

PURELY cosmetically....I like the looks of no tail. Again...a tail isn't going to be even close to a deciding factor when the next Rottie is purchased.

[BostonRott]

Workin and Jay,

I completely agree. I do prefer the docked look, but I also spent some time in Germany last year and saw plenty of tailed Rotts. They really didn't bother me at all.

My biggest concern was in placing the pups, but from what people have been saying on the board, it may not be such a huge problem...not easy, but not impossible.

[Orville Story]

It will be interesting to see the Best Agility times of Rotties with docked and natural tails.

As for other issues being more important than the tail I would agree. However, the ADRK must feel like the tail is an important issue. I understand at this year Club show no Docked Rottweiler will be allow to be shown that is born after 6/01/98, eventhough the FCI standard has not yet changed. And in the AKC ring the tailed Rottie has yet to win a point. I am not certain about the rules in the ARV. The USRC accepts all rotties tailed and docked equaly provided that these dogs have the correct tail accord to the birth country's laws.

While the tail does not change the dog, it does change where the dog can be shown. I favor the stance of the USRC let the tail be the choice of the owner and have no effect on the showing of the dog.

[czechrott]

From I have been told, the tail docking issue is part of some Animal Rights Legislation that was passed in Germany. I do not know of any breed club in Germany that sponsored (Authored) it. It was basically shoved down their throats.

I'm guessing that the ADRK "Propaganda" about following this rule is out of fear of further legislation. It reaks of it! They were probably told they must promote the idea, or suffer consequences.

I read somewhere that the German's were good at propaganda http://www.rottweiler.net/rottie/biggrin.gif

[Jay]

Czech- It is a law passed for the entire country and is not just limited to dogs, so the ADRK or any other group did not have a choice and if they did ,would not have chosen the no-docking for sure but since it is a LAW there is no choice in the matter they have been fighting this law as well as the cropping of ears for years and finally lost when the law was passed. No Germans I know of have ever stated that this was their choice, but rather it was shoved down their throats. I see no propaganda in that, and as far as the benefits of the tail, the experiences are true, I see no propaganda there, and most Germans will admit they prefer the docked looked better but it is not an optional issue for them.Here in the US it is not a law and we can choose to dock, not dock, breed RED rotts, white blazes,hip and elbow dyplastic, in-breed, line-breed, scatter-breed,register, not register,guarantee, not guarantee,title, not title,produce oversized, undersized,standard sized,stable temparaments, unstable temparaments, train, not train, tattoo, not tattoo, micro chip,prove breed worthiness or just go on word of mouth etc.. I am proud to be an AMERICAN and pleased with the fact that we all have choices, but the fact that we have so many can come at a PRICE..... just look at the ROTTWEILER.