Tailor - Danish & American Ch. Aussome's American Tale - There's more to a dog than just the tail!

Danish & American Ch. Aussome's American Tale ROM

Shown here with her son Bruce, Tailor finished her American championship May 21, 2004.

From the moment of her birth, Tailor was chosen to go to our friends Thomas and Lilly Lundgaard (Tho-Li Kennel) in Denmark. In order to be allowed to be shown in Denmark, her tail had to remain undocked. Though we had some concern as to whether an undocked puppy would be at a disadvantage among docked ones, those concerns quickly evaporated. The intact tail allowed Tailor to balance herself better in tight turns and invariably she caught up with her brothers and pulled their docked tails!

Tailor came back to live with us November 7, 2001. We missed her and are very happy that she is part of our family again! She came back to us in whelp to the wonderful Dk. Ch. Kisamba's Allways Happy. Their puppies, Ch. Aussome Enter The Dragon and Ch. Aussome Kiss Of The Dragon were already successful in the ring long before Tailor was able to earn her American Champion title. Unlike many breed clubs that changed their breed standards to facilitate import/export, the Australian Terrier Club of America is firmly clinging to the old ways. 

 The Australian Terrier Club of America, on April 14, 2003, wrote a letter to AKC judges requesting that they penalize natural tails. This made it much more difficult for Tailor (and any undocked import) to attain an AKC championship, unless one were to have the dog's tail docked. Unlike in a puppy, in which the surgery causes brief pain but usually no prolonged distress, docking an adult dog is an amputation, requiring major surgery including full anesthesia, putting the dog's life and well-being at risk. We realize that dog shows first started as an evaluation of breeding stock in the days when dogs were considered little more than livestock, however, our dogs are truly members of our family. We are deeply saddened that some would have us inflict pain on them in order to comply with the exact wording of the breed standard. 

Many countries no longer allow docking, and imports from these countries have natural tails. Therefore, several other breed clubs have taken a more progressive stance towards the ethical issues involved and have either changed their breed standards to allow undocked dogs to compete on an equal basis, or notified judges than an undocked tail in their breed should not be faulted.

There have been several mentions on dog-related e-mail lists recently regarding the use of anesthetic for tail docking and dew claw removal. Our vet did this with our first Aussie litter. As a result, we lost our largest, most vigorous female puppy. 

According to our vet as well as our pharmacist, anesthetic drugs pose a risk to the very young as well as the very old.

The American Veterinary Medical Association opposes tail docking and encourages the elimination of ear cropping and tail docking from breed standards. Vets are well aware that tail docking at any age is a painful procedure. It is unfortunate that our breed standard requires it.