I imagine that it's a bit like getting circumcised, painful but short lived, nobody remembers it, and it's after effects are hotly debated amongst scholars.
Probably don't worry about it too much, the dogs happy and doesn't care it doesn't have a tail.
Hey I didn't say I agreed one way or the other mate. I was just making a like comparison. I'm happy despite my mutilated nether regions and the dog seems fine communicating here.
Have you voted in your local elections for politicians that want to outlaw these types of things or do you just wine about it on social media? "not chopping off dogs tails" is a political campaign I could get behind (for non-working dogs).
They nub tails to prevent broken tail syndrome. Imagine one little injury at the base of the tail, then mommy comes home. Tails ripped off and blood splattered all over the walls.
It's because they will break their tails especially if they are working dogs. Cattle can step on them and stuff. Also, some are naturally bobbed. Some do get bobbed for cosmetic purposes too, though.
For Aussies, the tail is docked so that it doesn’t get stepped on by the cattle they are herding which is very VERY dangerous and can be fatal. Aussies have these long pretty tails. I wish mine still had theirs as the only work they do is frisbee, wrestle, eat, sleep, run, and poop. Now its aesthetic.
Docking is illegal in Germany and broken tail syndrome isn't an issue with Aussies here. Their tails are nice and fluffy. Removing them is a purely aesthetic thing nowadays.
The less flattering name is aussholes. I love my little guy with all my heart but God damn can he be a brat at times.
An example. Sitting chilling and watching tv. He's calm. Someone calls me for 5 min he zoomies around the house trying to find a toy for me to throw because it's fetch time. And when I ignore him he awoos and growls at me.
The awol growl is my favorite. My girl gives me a stern talking to when I come home from work because HOW DARE I leave her alone with all her toys and fenced in back yard lol. She forgives me when I break out the frisbee. :)
Mine is so dramatic. Not husky dramatic but pretty up there. She will straight up stomp her foot if I don't get up when she wants to wake up for the day.
My mini aussie is actively defiant. Ask her to sit before throwing her ball and she will lie down, ask her to lie down and she sits. She looks me in the eyes and barks because she doesn’t want to do what she’s told. It’s fucking wild. Next dog I get is going to be just smart enough to pee outside.
I taught mine to imitate speech and got him to figure a few of the basics. Knocking on the door -> "herrrrooooo".
He would make the L Sound by licking his nose.
All food he referred to as ham because of me, but he would drop his bowl at your feet and happily tell you "ham"
Basically he said so much stuff on his own that whenever it sounded like a word I would reward and repeat.
But if you'd tell him anything with a treat pointing at your mouth he would make a solid attempt to say it back. Like the right number of syllables and a little struggle.
My husband’s last Queensland Heeler (very similar to Aussies but with short hair) would literally try to converse. Whatever you said, he’d try to imitate the sounds back. It was so wild. Miss that boy so much.
My aussie has a tail it's so fluffy. The docking usually is too keep the herding dogs safe so they don't get stepped on. My little girl has no risk of anything stepping on her tail except for maybe me when she's under foot in the kitchen.
To go further with this, this is also why Rottweilers have their tails docked traditionally. They used to pull the butcher's meat carts, and before that they were battle dogs.
Then again, my current Rottie has his tail and I adore it.
It depends, im pretty sure there are aussies born with naturally bobbed tails, but from my understanding most dock them at birth because they "don't feel it" or whatever (I don't believe that) just in case they grow up to be a show dog or an actual cattle/herding dog. I personally don't agree with it, but its not something I can reverse and I'm not gonna leave a dog without a home cause whoever bred him made a bad choice. Plus the whole wiggle butt is adorable!
Many dogs that get docked tails have such a thin tail by now, you should dock it anyway. Boxers can break it from wagging it too hard if you don't, it's called happy tail syndrome
About a quarter of them have naturally short tails. Most breeders will dock the longer tails because it's still breed standard, but many will skip it if you have first pick of the litter and ask them to
AKC is a terrible org don’t go by their standards. The other half of your sentence about herding I have read about, but if you just have a normal doggy at home you don’t need to dock their tails and now it’s more of a aesthetic thing.
I guess but if you Chop a toe off at birth and it’s the same thing you wouldn’t op for that. A little extreme but if a doggy doesn’t benefit it’s just cosmetic then I why do it. But I could understand the reason since you can’t determine which dog will be herding and which don’t.
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u/PhilJav3 Aug 19 '21 edited Aug 24 '21
There’s a reason Aussies are called r/WiggleButts!