[susan tuck]

Someone over on the Leerburg site is asking about a GSD with a docked tail. I have seen a few pictures from various countries (France & Great Britain come to mind) of what looks like a GSD but has no tail. In most of the pictures I have seen, the dogs seem to be working police dogs. Does anyone know what this breed is? If they are GSDs, does anyone know why the tails are docked?

 

[Nancy Jocoy]

So its not dogs who have either injured their tail or chewed it off?

Grim has one that is missing the last, I guess. 3 inhces or so from an injury but I have seen others with just a tuft - once they hurt it they tend to bother it / not leave it alone.

I recall a Malinois at a nearby police department was self destructive-mainly when he was in the police car waiting for action.

 

[Sarah Hall]

I've meet quite a few GSDs and Mals with their tails docked. I believe this is done on many PSDs overseas to prevent injury to the tail (ie- bad guy grabs tail and breaks it).
I've also seen kennels dock the tails of their dogs to prevent the dog from spinning and whacking the end of it's tail off in the pen. I've seen a lot of these too, the dog will get so excited, will SPINSPINSPINSPINSPIN until it busts the end of it's tail open and then it bleeds all over. I saw one PSD in a vet clinic a while back that spun so much in the back of the car during a traffic stop that he broke his tail off.

 

[Jacob Tallmon]

Sarah nailed this one. A lot of high-strung PSDs (usually Mals...) get so spun out at work that they spin circles and repeatedly strike their tails against the car insert. They break the tail open and begin to bleed. Even if you bandage it or stop the bleeding, it is hard to keep the dog calm long enough to heal completely. What ends up happening is one injury being repeatedly opened. Amputation is often the final option in order to keep the dog healthy and able to work.

 

[susan tuck]

Thanks for the answers, all y'all.

 

[Tim Martens]

Sarah nailed this one. A lot of high-strung PSDs (usually Mals...) get so spun out at work that they spin circles and repeatedly strike their tails against the car insert. They break the tail open and begin to bleed. Even if you bandage it or stop the bleeding, it is hard to keep the dog calm long enough to heal completely. What ends up happening is one injury being repeatedly opened. Amputation is often the final option in order to keep the dog healthy and able to work.

my dog occasionally busts his tail open in the car. for the first couple months i had him i wondered why i would see tiny specs of blood on my computer screen occastionally. then one day i noticed the very end of his tail is basically hairless and to me almost looks like scar tissue (from being broken open repeatedly). it still happens occasionally, but not enough that i would consider docking him. if it got to be a regular occurrence, i would consider it. i have worked to keep his spinning down to a minimum like making him go down when i'm just parked in a lot report writing or if i'm meeting with another officer...