by Vivian Flint @2015
Ask any English Shepherd owner what first attracted them to the breed and their list will include the dogs’ medium size, keen intelligence, and general usefulness. But, given time, they inevitably mention how much they appreciate being involved in a breed that does not require docking.
So it might be surprising to learn that as recently as the 1990s many Western ranchers insisted their English Shepherds’ tails be docked. This practice dates back to the beginning of the 18th century, when all of Britain’s drover’s dogs and many British herding dogs were exempt from taxes, and, to prove their occupation, their tails were docked. When these dogs trespassed in the course of their duties, their distinctive tails marked them as working dogs and distinguished them from stock- and game-killing strays, sparing them from landowners’ wrath. Vestiges of this thinking seemingly continued into the 20th century American West, although I must admit every rancher I questioned said they preferred their ES dogs docked for convenience: To avoid brushing out burrs!
Of course, the centuries-old practice of surgically removing dogs’ tails has yet to result in producing a breed that is naturally bobtailed (NBT), and it never will: Docking only changes a dog’s appearance; it can never change its genotype. A multitude of tail lengths is one of the English Shepherd breed’s unique features: Sheppies are a natural breed, descended from British Isles shepherd, pastoral, and droving dogs brought to North America by their immigrant owners, and performance bred for almost 200 years to be versatile, all-around farm dogs. English Shepherds are born with a wide range of natural tails, from almost-nonexistent bobs, through stubs of varying lengths, to full-length tails. So how do you know a full-length tail when you see it? Easy: A long tail’s bone should fall to the hock or below; anything shorter than that is a bobtail.
According to English Shepherd Club’s Registrar, as of 2011 approximately 15% of the puppies registered in the club’s database were naturally bobbed. She pointed out that number might be underreported, explaining the NBT trait was only tracked in litter registration applications. Still, ESCR’s statistics are very close to the number Aussie geneticist C.A. Sharp estimated within her breed: Basing her figures on the Australian Shepherd Club of America’s Business Office database, C.A. estimated the incidence of NBT Aussies at 20%.
Studies have shown that bobtail lengths do not breed true, so any short tail — from tailless to ¾-length — genetically counts as a bob. Consequently, while breeders may have personal preferences regarding NBT lengths, they should not expect to produce a strain of, say, half-lengths. It is suggested that when breeding different tail types be used in order to preserve the NBT gene. Parents of differing tail types produce a mix of tail lengths. Bob crossed to bob can produce varying-length bobtails, and may even produce some full-length tails, depending upon the tail types of the pups’ ancestors. Long tail crossed to long tail will usually result in a litter of all full-length tails, though an occasional NBT might decide to make a surprise appearance. Such is the joy of breeding a purpose-bred breed!
Whether long, short, straight, or curled, your sheppie’s tail is an excellent indicator of what it is thinking. Though we humans like to say “the eyes are the window to the soul,” the easiest way to tell what is going through an English Shepherd’s mind is to look at its tail. Thankfully, our naturally diverse breed gives us lots of choices when it comes to tail length.
Article published with permission from Vivian Flint ©2015