TAIL - Page 1

Does lenght of tail affects the german shepherd dogs utility or working efficiency?

It may affect their balance. So too long or too short a tail COULD be said to influence their working ability, depending on what is asked of the dog and on the individual dog's ability to cope.

"It may affect their balance."

This was my first thought, too, but when thinking about all the breeds with (formerly) amputated tails like Dobermans or Rottweilers, the single specimen were very well able to handle their life without tail...

I guess a good working dog won´t mind, but in case of the breed standard I´d neither breed for too short nor for too long tails.

Yeah I was trying not to hang it all on the Standard LOL This bitch I have just aquired has a really short tail ! More like mid thigh than mid hock - pity I did not see her when she was younger, might have given me a better take on this question, I am SO used to any tail problems being either too long, or hooky.

Without a TAIL how in the world is the German Shepherd going to communicate with us...

Sorta kidding...

~Bob~

She might have had her tail partially amputated. I had a Sch3 female back in the early 2000s who I bought when she was 5. She had her tail cut off about 3/4 of full length Apparently, she injured it so badly it just wouldn't heal.

Christine

@ Christine - dunno; she's a rescue, no records. All the tail bones feel as if present (though as she is a long coat it makes it difficult to be completely sure !) It is just as likely its genetic, she is a 'pet market' English 'Alsatian', so who knows what crappy little secrets lie in her blood ?

My dogs tail hit the tip of the ground throughout his life. When he hit 10.5 I could tell that his hip and spine were effected and about 1.5 inches touched the ground. Personally I have always loved the long thick tail but its all good either way. The other thing I forgot to mention is this all has to do with there croup and angulation that can effect the tail and balance. Would love to hear more about this....

I know a lot of police and working sport shepherds that have lost their tails to accidents or injuries. All of them continued to work.
I think once healed the dogs do just fine. Millions of working type dogs are tail docked and they all preform in work or sport normally.
Terriers, Australian shepherds, corgies, bird dogs, rottes, dobies, and many more.

First thing to remember about that German Shepherd Dog is it's purpose that is also in it's name. It's a herding dog originally made for herding sheep. As such the foundation dogs used were mostly herding dogs. Many dog breeds used for herding are known to have natural bobtails or even partial bobtail. So it's very likely that every now and then a GSD will be born with a bobtail or partial bob. Many people have tried to breed them out, but such things are easier said than done. (Like with white GSDs still being around despite many GSDs breeders best efforts.) For GSDs the full bobtail is rather rare while the partial is more likely to be seen every now and then. Various types of drop ears also occur in GSDs thanks to early herding dogs who had or carried the genes for them.

Someone breeding showline red and black GSDs in Brazil seems to be getting quite a few partial bobs that they have recently uploaded photos of on here for their pedigrees. One a female with a rather short coat for a showline, the other a stock coat male that they seem to have tried using Photoshop to lengthen the tail. Herding dogs work just fine without tails and it is often preferred as tails tend to get caught on things or even stepped on by livestock, leading to them being docked anyways. The originally reason and still the main one today for short docked tails is to help the dog, not for beauty like most people try to claim.