In Canada, Rottis with tails may be shown and receive points, if the judge is unbiased. We have a standard Schnauzer with a tail and while some judges admit points were not awarded because of the tail, other judges have awarded points. Our standard is very cute with her tail. Many tails were docked in olden times because people thought they carried/caused Rabies. When one of the kings needed more tax money, he taxed all dogs with tails and left the working dog's tails untaxed. Naturally, no one wanted to pay tax, so everyone had their dog's tails docked ,to prove they were a working dog and thus did not have to pay tax. The docked tail thus became standard for certain breeds. There is no other reason for docking many breeds tails today. Our older dog suffered phantom tail pain for over 8 years. That is the reason we imported a Standard Schnauzer with a tail.

I agree (with Dr. K that is)! Don't forget the schnauzers! The first ear crop I assisted with was the sweetest little schauzer with awfully cute ears before surgery. I carried her around the rest of the afternoon, too...guiltridden that we caused her pain for no good reason. One of my favorite cockers has his tail as well.

Charity-I'm glad you moved out rather than declawing your Bengal.
I also have a Bengal. We got him when he was about 12 weeks old (he was constantly bored, so we got thwapped at foot level A LOT). As far as clawing goes, we started out with a scratching post that he quickly outgrew, got him a 6 foot cat tree for "his room" upstairs. The original scratching post was cheap and when it needed replacing, we opted for a 5 foot cat tree for the living room (we had acquired a 2nd cat by this point as well b/c the Bengal was very bored).
All that being said, I think most cats don't need to be declawed; they just need to be given the proper equipment to claw. There are those stubborn cats though that are just mean and it boils down to they declawed or find a new home.

when I got my first Bengal kitten my mom could only tolerate so much. Luxie got into everything... he'd steal her Dixie cups from the bathroom, hide our hair scrunchies, race to sprawl out on the stairs when someone was carrying something huge and heavy... and then... he shredded her gauzy white curtains.

to be fair, those stupid curtains were so fragile that they'd tear if you breathed too hard near them. but when my mom found my little leopard-demon tangled up in shredded curtain... yikes. she gave me a choice: declaw or move out.

i moved out.

when it comes to dogs, i dont care much either way, but there are some breeds that i think look better with docked tails. schnauzers and yorkies come to mind.

My dane came from rescue with ears intact, and I love them. I once actually broke up with a boyfriend because he insisted on docking his new doberman puppy's ears. I excused the tail dock because it came that way from the breeder and he didn't have a choice, but the ears were totally unnecessary, I felt horrible for the pup the whole time he was going through all that pain and aggravation and while he came through fine, it was never the same with his master.

I too love the un-cropped and chopped look, particularly since achieving the proper ear set seems to be such a PITA. Saw a Great Dane the other day sporting bandaged and splinted ears and thought why? What's the point? It's part of the reason why I chose a wash and wear breed. I love many of the spaniel breeds, but wouldn't own one b/c I don't see any reason to dock the tail. I don't buy the "burrs in the tail" line. Both of our long-haired retrievers work in the field regularly and yeah we spend a little time pulling burrs off of them and out of their tails and feathers, but you know what? A little spritz of Show Sheen or The Stuff before they head out into the wild blue makes those burrs slide out so much more easily. A proper coat will also not let the burrs cling too tightly in the first place.

Dew claws are where I draw the line -- I don't like 'em. Everyone who works their dog in the field knows of someone who has a dog whose dew claw got snagged on something -- best to just remove them when they are itty bitty.

I had the honors of working with a lovable Rotti when I was at the animal hospital. Her name was Hildagard and her owner was a favorite client of everybody. Hildy did have her tail docked, but she a awesome. She did the Boxer wiggle for everybody that would say hello to her. LOL

Hildy's brother Calvin ( a very large, obese, grey tiger cat) was less than lovable though. If he thought he could get away with clawing a persons eyes out, he tried. I eventually lost count of how many times I had to tell the new kennel people NOT to put him in a cage on the top row when he was being boarded. Having a cat that would strike just because you looked at him the wrong way doesn't need to have his claws at face level, or higher.

I agree with you about tail docking though. Dogs should have their tails and ears.

please post a pic of this pup with the long tail......

Hmmmmmm.... I apologize for jumping on my soapbox! :-)
Of course, Dr. Patty, you WEREN'T proposing banning any of the cosmetic procedures, you were just stating how much you like the natural look. Which is great! And it's definitely true that both cropped ears and docked tails tend to give a dog a "sharper" look - they look much softer and more friendly with floppy ears and a long tail.

I admit I have become a little hypersensitive on this subject though - it feels like our rights as pet owners are under attack all over the country, so when the topic of cosmetic surgeries comes up I may overreact a bit. Sorry! I love this blog!

I also hope that tail docking, ear cropping, dew claw removal, debarking and declawing remain legal options. When performed by experienced surgeons with appropriate aftercare, none of these procedures is cruel and there can be very good reasons for doing any or all of them.

Ultimately I really want the government to stay the heck OUT of my medical decisions, either for myself or for my pets. These things should remain private decisions between the vet and the pet owner. Letting the government start deciding what you can or can’t do with your pets is a very, very bad precedent.

I hope docking stays legal. I have a long-tailed Aussie, and her tail is beautiful, when clean and brushed daily. If she were a working dog in her native environment (the western America rangelands) and not a pampered housepet, that tail would be a huge liability. It collects so much debris that her tail would be stuck to the skirts of her hind legs with burrs. Not real functional, nor beautiful.

Shoot, even though she is a pampered housedog, I often trim her tail hair back by several inches (it can get to 7 inches long) just to minimize the amount of mud, dirt, etc. she brings into the house.