My corgi's tail is docked so I was just curious what is the difference between the two. We are talking about getting another corgi in the next couple of months. Moose tries chasing his docked tail all the time. Is there any pictures to show the difference between a docked tail or un-docked tail?
Tails are docked because it's written into the breed standard. The real reasons are lost in the obscurity of tradition. Docking is like this religious issue -- wanna start a fight among corgi people? -- you start talking about docking. You'll hear a different reason from everyone you ask. I find none of them convincing, and the Cardigan tail undercuts the credibility.
We dock tails for the same reason we cut the ends off a ham:
KID: "OK, Mom, after we put on the glaze on and stick in the cloves, why do we cut off the ends of the ham before putting it into the baking dish?"
MOM: "Hmmm... I dunno... it's the way your Grandma taught me. Go ask her..."
GRANDMA: "...it's the way my mother taught me... go ask her..."
GREAT-GRANDMA: "We had 1 small baking dish. We cut off the ends to make it fit."
John...I respect your opinions, you're great with your dogs, you take awesome pictures. But as a former English major I cringe at the use of the phrase "highly invasive" as being inaccurate merely to inflame passions.
Spaying and in the case of my dog's neutering (which involved two abdominal incisions followed by a hunt for what nature deemed not to show) are "highly invasive" procedures.
Dew tail removal, tail docking, ear bobbing are not truly invasive. You can call them "morally reprehensible" or "repugnant" if you like. "Arrogant"? Sure!
Incite passion. Speak your mind. Please! It's a free country. But be accurate.
I'm sure I'll get flammed for this. But it really bothers me when people attempt to manipulate others by using inaccurate language.
You made an excellent and passionate argument...up to that point.
I am suprised at how many breeders dock the tails, and I feel that it's going to be more difficult than not to get a corgi that was born without or undocked.
I think I've heard that the natural coloring of the corgi tail has a white tip, so if you see any white fur, it's natural bob. I've also heard docked corgis have a tiny bald spot where the tail was cut.
yup, a bobtail is a mutated gene grows to a shortened length.
You can read how the Boxer community with the approval from the EKC "borrowed" the corgi bobtail gene to create a "natural" bobtail boxer here.