A Boxer's Tail

[Ileana]

I've been meaning to write this post for a while. It's about the exquisite joy of having a boxer with a long tail (undocked).

Gracie is my first boxer with an intact tail. At first, I was hesitant to get her intact. What if I didn't like how she looked? What if she wouldn't be as true a boxer as the other boxers I had before?

Well... There are a million surprises in a boxer's tail! It conveys new expressions I didn't even know boxers could convey. It wags, cleaning everything off the coffee table - no exceptions! It can sit upright and stiff, downward and curled with the tip up; it can wag horizontally, or in circles... all depending on her state of mind. It can whip you across your face when you least expect it, or it can wake you up in the middle of the night if she's having a happy dream. But, most of all, she still does the kidney bean when I come home every day, only in her case the tail smacks her right in her face sometimes, and she has this priceless dazzled expression - what is that thing that hit me???

Bottom-line - no reason whatsoever to cut it!
I brought Gracie from Germany - where they don't dock anymore for quite some time. And seeing just how enjoyable having a boxer girl with a fully-grown tail can be, I decided to share this with you, and to invite you to take a poll, to find out if we are ready to stop chopping off little tails...

For those of you who'd like to see my girl's tail in action, her photostream is at Flickr: Wolf Healer's Photostream

Hoping the results are positive and that breeders read my posts as well... I welcome your comments and thank you all!

 

[LILYLARUE]

Lily is docked, poorly at that. My Buster came with a tail but due to medical issue his was docked after a month he was with me. (Now extremely scared at the vet).

Smiley has a tail that hates people! It's a weapon! Fozzy has a very nice, soft tail.

I hate to say, but forgot what tails can do til the young boys came. Though I would NEVER dock a tail, or anything else on a dog for cosmetic reasons, I am happy I only have two tails wrecking my house and my legs, not four. LOL

 

[xJazerx]

I voted the first option, Yes to tails!... My boy has a natural tail. He is a purebred German Boxer, and as you mentioned, out here they no longer dock tails, therefore it is most common to see Boxers with tails!

I see no necessary reason to dock the tail, although, just out of precaution, I try to keep him away from walls when he is REALLY excited. I don't want him to hurt himself.

 

[x19er]

We no longer dock boxer's tails here in the UK either, so we one dog with and one dog without and they both suit what they have. Overall though all I can say is YAY to full tails appiconappicon Nothing better than a happy boxer dog with a non stop waggy tail. Charlie tries to sneak into our bed in the morning, if she's too early she's sent back to bed but when she does get up with us she lies down flat out and all you can hear is her tail thumping with delight :D Tails for boxers really are an extension of their fun loving personalities.

 

[jacquim]

My little guys sadly has a docked tail. I much prefer them with tails (and he is my first dog that has been docked) but it is nearly impossible to find a boxer with a tail around here.

 

[pairofboxerz]

I have to admit the nubs are cute but I am all for the full tail - I have one of each, both are rescues and they both came the way they are now. I had heard ear and tail docking were banned in Europe - any truth to that? I wish they would ban it here in the U.S. as there are way too many breeders who are more about cheap than about the well being of the dogs.

I love my girl's long tail and hearing the 'thump, thump, thump' on the floor when she is happy. She also did a bit of tail chasing in her younger years and that's just plain hilarious to watch. An online friend involved in Scotland Boxer Rescue and is a gorgeous photographer has a bunch of pictures of Boxers and almost all have tails which I think is encouraging.

 

[darwinsmom]

Living in the United States, both of mine have docked tails and while I think their nubs (AKA tootsie rolls) are super cute and I love to watch them wiggle, I would also love a tail. Sure I'm used to a docked tail on boxers but I don't find it an aesthetic issue so much as ears can be. I totally prefer floppy, uncropped ears. I wish breeders in the United States would start showing more uncropped ears. I understand it is no longer officially penalized but that perhaps breeders think they will still get lower marks for uncropped ears? Anyway, for 99.9% of boxers tail docking is cosmetic and therefore I believe it to be an unnecessary and undesirable procedure, but until the rules are changed the reputable breeders will continue to dock here in the U.S.

 

[Sansal]

I do like the docked look but I still think it should be banned - like it already is in many countries outside the US. It's a cruel, purely cosmetic procedure. Also dogs communicate with their tails, a dog with docked tail is at a disadvantage.
One day I'm going to bring back a German boxer puppy with a tail from a trip to Germany when I visit my parents lovicon

 

[ouesi]

Well, Bates is a boxer-mutt, and has a tail, he uses it as a rudder when he zoomies at mach5 thought the front pasture :D

I also have two great danes, and let me tell you, those tails are deadly weapons. We're not talking knocking things over, we're talking sending coffee cups flying across the room and mopping coffee off the walls. Not to mention the damage to your legs or more *ahem* delicate regions on the male family members...
Forget cropping dane ears, its that darned tail that needs to go! Unfortunately though, you can't crop a dane's tail, they'll too tall, they'll fall over :D

In all seriousness, happy tail is a reality, and some dogs injure themselves so badly simply wagging their tail, that the tail ends up having to be amputated :(
It certainly doesn't happen often enough to warrant tail docking IMO, but it is something to consider.

 

[Ileana]

I had heard ear and tail docking were banned in Europe - any truth to that? I wish they would ban it here in the U.S. as there are way too many breeders who are more about cheap than about the well being of the dogs.
QUOTE]


Very much so. Some countries ban the docked / cropped dogs from shows, or even from breeding. Other countries send breeders / owners who dock or crop to jail for animal mutilation and cruelty - Sweden is such an example. IMHO I think they're right. Tail-docking is done without anesthetics :(

I brought Gracie from Germany - she's a pure-breed German Boxer with 4 documented generations in her pedigree. While searching for her on a German puppy sales site I noticed there were absolutely no docked pups for sale. Made me wonder... Yes, tails are fun, natural, and docking / cropping should be banned.

(http:// link removed by moderator. Please do not post link to classified ads.], enter "boxer welpen" in the search field)