Throughout the history
of the poodle breed it's been a common practice to dock tails.
Reasons behind docking
the tails have been functional as well as cosmetic.
were originally used as water retrieval dogs. The tail was
docked so it did not hamper
the dogs ability to swim
and so that the dogs tail pom-pom could be seen above the
water line. Other
reasons for docking the tail is to prevent broken tails from injuries
such as getting caught
in a door, avoiding breaking their tails during excitable tail
wagging, and preventing
broken items in homes from wagging tail activities.
A broken tail is very painful and can
cause additional problems for the dogs.
Tail injuries are why
tail docking is a common
practice in many breeds.
With time poodles have
become less of a retriever and more of a companion dog.
Nearly worldwide people
are used to seeing poodles with short pom-pom tails and in
many cases when asked
people think poodles are born with short tails.
are removed mostly to prevent painful injuries during daily activities
grooming accidents. Its very traumatic and painful for the dog
to get the
caught and torn or ripped off. With longer haired dogs dew
grooming difficult because they grow at angles twisting and curling.
can easily get caught in scissors when trying to shape legs during
and can be difficult to trim and maintain. They hide
the hair on the legs can be easily forgot by groomers resulting in
that become imbedded in the legs or pads of the feet. This is
dog and can easily become infected with devastating results.
Docking and Dew Claw removal is usually done within the first 3 to 5 days
puppies are born. It usually done during this time because nerve
endings have not
developed in these areas.