As a breeder of Aussies and cavaliers, This thread comes up often and usually brings out some good and not so good dialogue. That said, if and when I could compete with a tailed aussie in North America, and be concidered on the total dogs merit, I would. I do not like docking, but will continue as long as it is the standard for the breed. Dr.C. Link has a number of books out regarding K-9 sports and one transcrtpt mentions docking and how this possibly contributes to cruciate problems in those breeds. As they don't have it to ballance with etc. In breeds where the tail has been shortened through selection there doesn't seem to be these problems. I have 65-90% natural bobs in my aussies and have never had a cruciate problem. Possibly there is more to this then just tail length and has to do with conditioning the dog.
. Dogs without tails communicate very well. The tail is only one part of their language and even docked tails are clearly read just as well as a short person can express themselves with body language. Leah Swatko Ministik Reg. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ========================================================"Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
