The Tail Wagging The Dog: Or When Is 5% Not 5%?

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216 – August, 2024

By Caroline Coile

I occasionally get requests from readers to write about a particular topic. And so it was this one came in, suggesting I write about tails. “For example,” she wrote, “my breed says tail to be carried from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock with no preference, but the reality is if a tail is carried lower than high noon the dog is ignored. I’ve seen judges measure length of hair on the tail, or how long a docked tail is. My point is in most standards, or many, tails are only 5% of the standard. So in my book, judges shouldn’t be so nit picky about them.”

As usual, I got all excited about a possible new topic, filed it away for later, promptly forgot about it, and went to a dog show. Where I heard the same things I hear at every show:

“We lost just because he wouldn’t get his tail up.”

“I can’t believe that judge put up a dog that never got his tail up once!”

“You need to train your dog to hold his tail down!”

“I’d never put up an undocked dog in a docked breed. It’s not breed typical.”

“Anyone know where I can get this tail fixed?”

Click here to read the complete article
216 – August, 2024

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=297129

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