my mums cocker is due her pups in two weeks, she is keeping a pup and i have the male and am keeping a puppy, both our cockers have docked tails, but she is not sure if she wants to get the tails docked, i personally think they are better docked, but dont know if our vet will do this. Is it illegal or not. My dad knows someone who breeds weim. and he gets them docked. We will love them all the same even if their tails are long, but would like to hear some breeders comments. I haven't seen any with tails yet!

Any advice would br grateful.

If you are considering docking your litter,you need to contact the Council of Docked Breeds to find a veterinarian BEFORE the litter is born. Do not leave it until the last minute :-)

hi leigh, thanks for your advice but how do i contact council of docked breeds.

Contact details are available on their site :-) Run your cursor over their name highlighted in blue, in my above post and click on it. It will take you directly to their web site.

No thoughts on ethics of docking versus not docking, just appearance. One of our neighbours is looking after her son's cocker at the moment. He is undocked (dog not son!) and looks just as lovely as the docked ones. Its a lovely swishy tail but not feathered. He's trimmed so perhaps they trim his tail fur as well ? She said that I was only the second person to have commented on it in the week that they've had him so far. First cocker I've noticed so far with full tail and we have dozens round here.

From an asthetic view the customarily docked breeds with low natuyral tail carriage look fine with their natural tails (to me) but those short coated breeds with tails that curl over the back do take some getting used to, as they are so obviously different looking!

Now if they could get the natural tail on a Dobermann like that of a Grey hound it would look lovely and graceful. Trouble is that for years they have been breeding for hightail set, which does not give this sort of tail, so they would have to breed for an altered conformation.

I prefer to trim the tails of undocked Cockers like Setters ie with the feathering left on & shaped. I don't like how they look with all the hair taken off, but then a lot of people seem to to have their Cockers shaved from head to foot so I guess the tail is given the same treatment :-)

Jane

It is legal but must be done by a vet. JH

theres an undocked cocker in my street, i think he looks unbalanced as his tails as long as the dog, and as the dogs fairly low to the ground it looks strange-but each to their own

You might find it more difficult finding good homes for undocked cockers. Most buyers like the traditional look.

We didn't buy an undocked Cocker as we couldn't find any with the sort of pedigree that we were looking for. Also we were looking for an experienced breeder with previous proven litters.

Fiona
x x x

There is a post on pedigreedogs by a lady that bred an undocked litter recently and had 40 - 50 enquiries. Maybe times are changing?

WOW. I'm really surprised. When my parents were looking (last year) they couldn't find anyone with a litter due that didn't dock. They were looking for a well balanced pedigree with good quality dogs that breed clubs would 'recommend'. When we were looking we found a couple of breeders but I wasn't happy with them or their dogs. I wanted a 'professional' breeder with good quality dogs, all I found was amateur breeders with unknown dogs in their pedigrees.

Fiona

By professional breeders I mean experienced breeders with a well thought out professional approach to their breeding program who are breeding to improve the breed. I hope I haven't offended anyone with these comments but they were my feelings/criterea whilst looking for a puppy.

When i bought my cocker six years ago, i didn't search for a "proffesional" breeder, i bought him from an ad out of the paper for about £275.oo and he is absoulutely fantastic, my kids adore him and he adores them. I didn't want a dog to show i wanted a loving companion to have in the family and that is what he is. Ive had friends bought dogs from professional breeders and they have had nothing but bother with them. So it just goes to show!

Your dog sounds lovely and I am so glad he has made such a great pet, however I would always be careful to find a good breeder who knows the bloodlines of the two animals concerned as I have a friend who has a black and tan cocker with bad behavioral problems, she gets very aggressive quite unexpectedly towards the owners and the older cocker spaniel they have, she is also very destructive and chews wallpaper and furniture, lastly she has bitten someone - she goes mad when people try and leave the property, and probably would have bitten more if the owners had not been so careful. Maybe she has 'cocker rage syndrome' or just a bad temperament? It is such a shame, you just can't trust her. I am sure these cases are few and far between though.

Yes but bear in mind that breeders of docked Cockers get a similar amount of enquiries - I have been inundated with enquiries for months now & I don't even have a litter. The fact is that there are always plenty of people looking for a Cocker puppy whether it's docked or not. I do get occasional enquiries for undocked pups but to be honest the vast majority don't seem to care one way or another or just assume that puppies will have short tails because that's what they are used to seeing.

Jane

First of all you must decide if you want a docked puppy or not.
Contact the council of docked breeds.
My mother in law had a litter this year and 90 percent of people
that telephoned wanted a docked tail, their was only 10 percent
that wanted a tail.
Nutkin