Showline With Curly Tail - Page 3

what causes cow hocks?

I don't get why Yellow Rose thinks the tail SET has anything to do with a curl at the end ?
Sure it matters where the dog flags the tail up above the vertical, a poor tail set is extremely likely to be
contributory to that;  but how the tail is set on does not seem to cause end-hooking.

I had a pup with a very long tail, at 4 months I noticed the tip crooking to the side. I cut the hair at the end off the tail and the crooking fixed its self in a month or so. It was caught early. With this pup, it didn't like its tail touching the ground and by catching the problem early enough the behavior didn't cause any growth and or developmental issues. Conformation lines tend to be bred for longer tails and they must be watched.

Long tails, yes; but I have seen long-tail lines that don't curl. I couldn't tell you the exact machinations for it, but in some lines it runs that you can see a distinct flip at the end either to the left or to the right, and nearly all the dogs if they present a tip-curl at all, will have it flipped in the same direction.

I have seen the rare line that present with a right flip, passed from grandparents to grand progeny. Other lines with a left flip, and it seems the left flip is more prevalent.

What causes it? Genetics, well, yes. And I find it interesting that it generally favors the left side in a tip curl, just as the left testicle generally is slightly behind the right, and most dogs are "right handed." Meaning, I couldn't tell you why nature favors that, but it seems to be the case. It could also be on linebreeding back to a certain left (or right) flipped individual. However, it still stands I see less right flips (and only in West German showlines), whereas I have seen left flips in DDR,West German Showlines, and in Czech dogs.



Cow hocks -can- present as a lack of muscle tone and conditioning, a neurological disorder, weak ligaments, overly-long hocks, an awkward growth stage; sometimes the result of sloppy breeding, sometimes the result of bad luck... Very few things have one thing that causes it. That includes, in my opinion, a curly tail.

Curly tails, and tips, appear to be caused by vertebra structure as discussed [http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/bulletins.read?mnr=98623&pagen=1], but it is possible difference in muscle or connective tissue length might also result in a curl presenting in an excited state. Generally the dogs that have flip tails still hold them straight when relaxed.