I speak from personal experience of working dogs, not some study carried out by people who are against it anyway!!!!
The ground that I have seen worked has been predominantly bramble covered and I have seen some terrible injuries, including to Labs
My evidence is my own eyes

That's not a very rational way to approach an issue, is it?


So why are labs not docked?


I know of 3 wgiute cat's who have had their ears amputated because of cancer. Using your own argument, we should then amputate all cats with white ears.
Rediculous!

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Old Shep - I find it rather odd that you are so anti-docking yet you chose to have a picture of a docked dog as your avatar

I have 2 springers 1 working and 1 show both with full tails and they have never had a problem when out in the field or woods, I also think long tails are nicer to look at , I think it is just people's own preference to have docked tail's but i can't understand why? .If they where meant to have short tails then they would be born with them ,Back to original post about JRT can't help sorry...

I'm not rational?

Labs have a different tail action as I have said in a previous post, they also have a completely different coat.

Ok I'm ridiculous. I'm only talking from 40 years of experience.
How about you?

Yes I much prefer to see dogs with full tails, and I can see no good reason to dock any other breeds, the damage percentage is very low I believe, however working spaniels working heavy cover, for what can be up to 24 hours a week, cannot be compared to pet dogs running around playing

Working dogs like spaniels as far as ime concerned should be docked.

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Yes if you look ata the way a spaniel uses its tail its different to the way lets say a lab does a spaniels tail when working and wether we "officialy" work them or not then in their own right they do "work" their tails go side to side then in a round motion what i describe as a helicopter rudder thats how they are ripped as the brambled etc twist very tight around the tail, a spaniel with a ripped tail which could and often lead to amputation is much more serious and traumatic than docking as a pup.

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As has already been said the action of the tail is different to labs.

One thing I would add - if you haven't seen a working gundog actually working in the field doing what it is bred for you haven't seen a dog at it's happiest - and that shows in it's tail action. The sheer enjoyment and adrenaline when working cannot be compared to a walk however much a dog loves it's walk.
My labs tails wag a lot - they do whole body wags but it is different when hunting - there is an intensity about it - you can feel the pure joy and interestingly looks similar to the tail action of a spaniel.

Have to agree with you there, mine are working spaniels and cocker, we dont work them but give them the right environments and opportunities all the time to work, and as i always say we never take them out and wonder "are they enjoying this" you can tell and as i have said, you and many more the tail action is very different when working and very different in the spaniels, my eldest is the only one i have had/got that has the full tail and there has been times when he has come out of the undergrowth and the brambles etc have woven so tight around his tail because of the circling action they have been very hard to get out without losing some fur so for a spaniel that is working in the undergrowth for the length of time they do i can well imagine how dangerous and the chances are of it getting damaged.

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