# cropped tail



## volcano

I just drove past someone walking what looks like a very good looking young gsd in my neighborhood- with a cropped tail
Ill probably see them again and ill ask why its like that.


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## Montu

Maybe it had to be cropped due to an injury?

some people think my rottie/gsd mix is just a gsd and wonder why her tail is cropped (I got her like that, original owners cropped it)


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## Shade

Montu said:


> Maybe it had to be cropped due to an injury?


That was my first thought, or maybe it was a birth defect.


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## marbury

Could be military retired or neurotic. We see a LOT of retired bomb dogs/military dogs that were docked because they would chase and bite their tails in their kennels, and some pet dogs as well. We also have a number of great danes, pits, and labs with docked tails because they would constantly get 'happy tail'... wagging so hard they were bleeding from the tip of the tail. After a few months of having happy blood sprayed around your house you get pretty tired of it. Docking is a permanent solution.


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## CelticGlory

Years ago when I was still in high school, my grandmother was breeding GSD's, one of the puppies she kept had no tail, she was born that way.


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## shepherdmom

volcano said:


> I just drove past someone walking what looks like a very good looking young gsd in my neighborhood- with a cropped tail
> Ill probably see them again and ill ask why its like that.


I've got a bunny butt. Before we got her, she had a bad infection and it had to be removed to save her life. It doesn't slow her down at all.


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## volcano

Yeah I know there can be a reason for it. First thing as I was aproaching was - is that a gsd? Then I confirmed it as I was passing, then I saw no tail? I had to get on here and share it since thats the first time ive seen a gsd with no tail. It was on the small side like a 4-6 month old, and had great rich red/black coloring and very tall ears, im pretty sure it was gsd.


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## Mikelia

I have met a few rottie shepherd crosses with docked tails. We all know that b/t gsd puppies look like little rottweilers and sometimes people who make that cross think all of the pups will look like rotties, dock their tails and then the pups end up looking like gsds - with no tails. I've seen it happen quite a few times.


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## Clyde

If your curious go ahead and ask them chances are it was injury or birth defect. I don't mind when people ask about my boys tail (congenital defect) what I do mind is when people phrase the question in a negative way.

So many people start out with "oh that poor dog what happened to his tail?"

It really annoys me. I mean the person is going to the effort to ask a question yet they have already made assumptions about what happened and assume it was something bad. Then they often end up on a docked tail rant. 

Just my little vent


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## mehpenn

We had one that had to be docked. He got trampled and broke his tail in several places. Best option was to remove it, so that's what we did. Didn't affect him at all.


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## Chicagocanine

I've seen some Rottie mixes with docked tails. I always wondered why they docked them, since they're mixes I don't get it. I used to walk dogs for a woman in my neighborhood who did a lot of dog rescue, and every time I walked this one small Rottie mix people would ask why his tail wasn't docked or tell me I should get it docked (put an adult dog through that for no reason?) She also had a litter of purebred Rottie pups once, that had full tails because she rescued the very pregnant mom and did not see a reason to dock the puppies.


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