Curvy tail - Page 1

My pup has a nice pedigree good pigment. Although she has a slight curvy tail mainly on the bottom end, I noticed a odd shaped bone at the bottom. Another of her siblings looks the same. Could this trait be passed on? Is this a fault? Any input will be appreciated. Thanks

Old timer dog man told me some thirty odd years ago, that if you have to get to the tail to falt your dog, then you have a pretty darn good dog!

can be many reasons for "curvy tail" from too long to injury, I think called ankylosis (sp sorry) if you feel a knot.

lets not forget that there are many different reasons people are into the GSD, and a bad tail may not matter in one case and may be a disqualifier in another.

if there is a joint out of place, it is possible it can be repaired by a doggie chiropractor. may be hard to find. if it;s just too long and has to curl to keep off the ground, or curls because of genetics, you just have to live with it and I agree with the poster who said if that's the worst thing about your dog you got a pretty good dog. (paraphrase}

Rik

Most German Shepherd Dogs today do have a slight curl at the end of their tail. It's often called a "shepherd's crook" after the wooden staff with an open loop on top, that traditional shepherds (the human ones) have used to herd and even sometimes catch their sheep. The first foundation GSDs however had mostly straight tails from high content wolf blood in them which can be seen in old black and white photos. The working herding dogs soon added to the first GSD bloodlines caused the tail curling. Slightly curled tails are found on most herding or working dog breeds. If you really want to breed for the straight tail in GSDs you need to use the working bloodline GSDs as they still have strong traces of the original wolf blood showing in their conformation. Black or sable colored dogs are the best to breed for straight tails, as the strong sable looking color, which is really called Agouti or wolf grey, actually came from the wolves originally used in the foundation dogs.

honestly, I have not been privy to the info about the wolf being a heavy influence on Capt. V.S. creation of the GSD from the 5 herding breeds used in the original creation.

I would like to study up on it if you can supply info.

in my mind, it seems it would be very difficult to take a wolf from a predator to a protector of sheep in the short span that it was done.

but, I will also admit, had our resident Rodeo trainer not presented evidence of what can be done with wolf/hybrids, I probably would not have believed that either as I have seen how skiddish these hybrids can be. I would not have thought them good for anything outside of the wild.

just curious,
Rik

Rik-
I have read that Horand von Grafrath SZ1,was mated to Mores Plieningen, and she supposedly was a granddaughter of a wolf living in the Stuttgarter Zoo. One of the offspring was Hektor von Schwaben SZ13, who began a founding line.

And, apparently, a few hundred years to a hundred years ago, breeding to a wolf was considered to help against distemper, as wolf blood was thought to strengthen the blood against the disease.

But von Stephanitz did warn against adding more wolf to any lines...saying that the balance is now perfect and more would be detrimental.

I’ve seen English publications mentioning this, and also german publications.

thanks jesse, I think no one can deny that the GSD has many wolf (in looks) characteristics. also, for anyone who has seen the skiddish/flight first dogs, this came from somewhere and is the instinct of almost all wild creatures.

I just have a little issue with believing that the wolf was up close in the original herding/protector foundation stock from real sheep herding dogs.

anyway, hope this turns into another interesting/informative thread on the GSD.

Rik

Thanks for the input.