German Shorthaired Pointer -
Tail Injuries
Earlier, the German shorthaired
pointer’s tail had to be docked but from 1989
onwards the tail docking was banned. However, with
tail injuries becoming a common thing, the Swedish
German Pointer Club decided to get deeper into the
matter.
It was found out that out of an
odd 300 dogs, 81 suffered from tail injuries, which
meant 27% of these dogs were affected. The male
dogs are always more affected than the female of
the species.
The tail injuries occurred mostly
during hunting and the sledding dogs got injured
whilst they were being trained.
The kinds of tail injuries that
have occurred in the last few years are more or
less of the same type, for example:
- Inflamed and infected tails.
- Lameness injuries and water tails
- Bleeding and damaged tail tips
- Broken tails
There were cases when the tail
injuries had been so severe that nothing but amputation
could save the dog from further harm.
The German shorthaired pointer
is a heavyset dog with the ability to run fast even
on rough terrains.
However, this dog was allowed to
be amputated only till the 31st of December 1988,
after which docking of the tails had been banned
in Sweden.
In the autumn of 1990, 27% of the
dogs aged between 1-1.5 yrs suffered from tail injuries
and another year later, every third German Pointer
had a tail injury and the causes were broken tails
and swollen or wounded and bleeding tips that refused
to heal.
The occurrence of tail injuries
increased until 1991. The severity of the tail injuries
is directly proportional to the liveliness of the
dogs, the type of terrain they worked in and how
much the dogs worked.
These were the observations with regard to the injuries:
- The more the dog is used for difficult work,
like the German Pointer, which is used for hunting.
- The more lively and abrupt the dog, the male
of the species being more prone to getting hurt.
- The more difficult the terrain the dog works
in.
However, it has been decided upon,
that docking the tails of these dogs, soon after
their birth is now an absolute necessity.
Dog
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