I recently found out that some breeders have the Pembroke tails docked. I was completely unaware that this still happens to any breed and thought that all Pembrokes were born with the short tails. Does anyone know more about this? Honestly it made me sick to my stomach to think that little Gonzo could have had his tail chopped off as a puppy.
The long Pembroke tails are not always curled like the ones I showed in the pictures above. But they - just like the Cardigans - hold their tails high when they are playing - or proudly "showing off". (Showing their moods...)
Here is a picture of a very successful male Pembroke - a Swedish champion - holding his beautiful long tail very low:
Pembroke (long tail) - Swedish Champion male
An all Cardigans don't have our Frodo's very thick foxy tail. That's why he's so proud of it...
Cardigan - Swedish and Norwegian Champion Verdidas Frodo - happily playing and holding his tail high...
Permalink Reply by JW on January 6, 2008 at 10:51pm
Thanks for those great pictures! I need to get a good one of my Pem Griff's tail, as it is quite epic!
Can't wait to see your Pembroke Griff's fluffy tail, JW!
While I'm waiting - here are a couple of pictures of another flutffy Pem. He was born with a naturally short "bob tail" - and he belongs to a friend of ours :
Fluffy Pembroke - "Mackan" - short tail
And here the fluffy Pembroke "Mackan" says "hello" to my Cardigan Tina - when she was a little puppy:
Pembroke fluff Mackan (natural "bob-tail") and our Cardigan puppy Tina
The theory that I read somewhere is that Welsh farmers were taxed on livestock by "size" and sine the corgi was part of the livestock, the farmers would dock the tail in order to not pay taxes on it! don't know if this is true, or if it's like tha faires riding them, but it's the only one I've heard
I had heard that some Pems are born with naturally short tails and some are still docked. I've never known for sure, but I suspect that he has a natural bob tail. It seems a bit longer than most Pem stubs. Could just be the way it was docked, though, so I'll never really know for sure.
Several breeders told me that usually Pems born with natural "bob tails" still have to be docked. The natural bob tail is usually still longer than the AKC breed standard requirement.