8 month old GSD with a 'crooked' tail - Page 1

I have a 8 month old German Shepard with a 'crooked' tail. Are there any ways to get if fixed?

When he was about 3-4 months old, his tail was still straight. However, time passed by and the tail get 'crooked' by the time.And now, it looks nearly the same with the one in this thread:

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/bulletins.read?mnr=355213&pagen=2

PS: My GSD didnt have any accident in the past and he has a quite long tail. Could the long tail leads it to be 'crooked'? In the above thread that I've posted the link, people said that trim the hair in the end of the tail would solve the problem. Is it true?

Really appreciate all of your comments about this issue!

Yes, there are ways of doing so, both surgically and non-surgically; either way results in a good deal of pain for the poor dog, however.

But I have to ask--*Why* are you interested in straightening the dog's tail?  If it's because you want to show the dog and the tailset would hurt the dog's placement, then you probably also know that *anything* you do to straighten the tail amounts to cheating, and would be in violation of the rules because it's an alteration of that dog's natural structure.  So it's hardly an ethical action to take. 

And if it has nothing to do with showing the dog, then why would you put your dog through something so painful for mere cosmetic reasons that no one but you would give a damn about?

My advice is to embrace it as a unique quirk that's part of who your dog is, and leave the poor tail be. The dog won't be any less loving, any less capable of working, or any less healthy and happy just because his tail is crooked.

Hexe is absolutely correct. Making any alteration of any kind for showing is unethical and violates published show rules. Add in the pain inflicted on the dog,and you could find yourself barred from showing. I have a itch with a crook tail. It's a funny-looking thing. But, she is a working line dog who works impressively and will never be shown. The tail used to bug the hell out of me. I have made peace (sorta ) with it.

I agree, just leave it alone and be happy it's not a health issue.  My boy is oversize, but I never thought about shortening his legs by an inch .  Perfect he's not, but I love everything about him, faults and all!

Thanks you very much for you comments. Honestly, I just want to ask you guys if his tail could be 'fixed' by just trimming the ending hair of his tail or not. He's something really mean to me so that I wouldn't do anything which hurts him. I promise that I wouldn't even think about surgical solutions However, most of owners want their dogs to be perfect as much as possible. I'm not the exception. If the solution didn't hurt him and it was really efficient, I would do it. About the other situations, of course I would not hurt him.

PS: I'm not a native English speaker so maybe I did not use some words correctly. Hope that you guys understand it for me :).

I've never heard of trimming the hair to solve that problem, but I'm assuming that if it really worked, everyone would know about it.  I can't imagine how shaving or trimming would make a difference, unless it's just a carriage issue and that would make it feel different, so he'd self correct.  It just doesn't sound right, but if you try it and it works, please let us know.  Shaving or trimming certainly wouldn't hurt, but it would look pretty silly until the hair grew back. 

Since English isn't your first language (and actually, considering that, your post was pretty clear) I do have a question about your second post. 

He's something really mean to me so that I wouldn't do anything which hurts him.

Do you mean that he is aggressive towards you or that he means a lot to you, as in you love him?

Your English is excellent. I "think"you intended to say that your dog really means very much to me. :-). We can all relate to that. About the tail hair trimming,I believe that is a lie told by people who surgically or otherwise altered a tail. I trimmed my bitch's tail hair on the tip. Still crooked!:-)

The second part is correct, "he means a lot to you". When he was about 7 weeks old, he started living with me ^ ^ So YES, he means a lot to me.

In short, the point is that I dont want to hurt him. And there is a question that I really want to know the answer. Is trimming the ending hair of the tail a possible solution for the problem? (According to many people in the topic I've posted, it is the common way to solve this problem (?!) Actually, I've asked some 'famous' GSD breeders in my hometown (which is Vietnam FYI :D), they said that the 'crooked' tail is possibly caused by some of the following reasons:

An extremely long tail

Genetic situation (his grandparents have 'crooked' tails for example)

Accident

And they are kind of surprise when I mentioned about the solution which is to trim the hair.

However, if you guys be patient a little bit and try to read several pages in the link I've posted, you will see that many people recommend the owner to trim the ending hair of the tail.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/bulletins.read?mnr=355213&pagen=2

 

For example:

Sometimes if the pups tail is long they will curl it slightly to keep the hair from hitting the ground.  If you trim the fur at the bottom of the tail this will usually solve the problem and the pup won't continue to curl it upas it grows into it's tail.  If you feel the  tail and the bone  are straight this should help, if there is a kink in the tail it won't.

 

 I was going to say exactly the same thing as GS Mom, but it depends how marked the curl is.  We once did this with a very nice female who had a long tall that touched the ground.   I think we did it a bit late, around 7 months, and during her show career she always had a slight curled up hook at the end - only one judge ever mentioned this though, and she competed many times always in good places,  and many first places  like Hodie said if everything else is good this is a minor fault.  Funnily enough this female is now nearly 7 and the curl has virtually disappeared.

 

She is a show female and as a youngster she would often twist her tail to the side as your puppy does I did keep trimming the end of her tail to keep it off the ground. ----- I cannot say when she stopped doing this --- I guess I just stopped worrying about it and didn't even notice that  she stopped holding it like that.
She has had a litter  of  7 puppies and none of them have a tail problem.

 

If I was you I would not start to worry just yet he is still a baby , trim the end of his tail feathering every few weeks to prevent it touching the ground and see if that helps. He is a beautiful puppy. Good luck with him

 

I AM SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION AND I THANK EVERYONE FOR THEIR RESPONSES. I WAS NOT HEAR TO SLANDER ANYONE OR HURT ANYONES REPUTATION. I SHOULD HAVE JUST WENT TO THE BREEDER MYSELF AND ASKED IF THIS WAS A PROBLEM AND IT IS MY OWN FAULT I DID NOT DO THAT. I LISTENED TO ALL EVERYONE SAID AND I ENDED UP CALLING MITTELWEST AND THEY ARE GREAT. I TOLD HER THE PROBLEM AND SHE TOLD ME LIKE OTHERS ON HERE TO CUT THE HAIR ON THE TAIL AND I AM SHOCKED, HIS TAIL IS DOWN NOW AND LOOKS PERFECT, HE HAD ABOUT 2 INCHES OF HAIR THERE AND I GUESS BEING THE PRETTY BOY HE IS, HE WAS TO PREMADDONA TO LET IT HIT THE GROUND. I FEEL SO BLONDE NOW BUT I THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND LOOK FORWARD T