Chimera Kennels

You might have already covered this but I was just wondering do you always dock the swinford's tails and if so why?

Damaged tails can be bloody tender messes by docking you reduce the chance of either a 'happy tail' or traumatic injury.

The reason the tails are docked at 1/3 length vs bob length like a Rotti is that by leaving 1/3 the dog can still cover the gentalia from the elements, insects and other animals.

I like the long dock (1/3rd+ original length) as like RND says it leaves enough to cover the genetals, but also enough to still use for communication (wagging, etc), and finally...it makes a great handle should a handler need to grab a dog by the collar with one hand and the tail with the other allowing one to control both the front and the back of the dog.

The current Swinford standard allows both docked and full length without prejudice or preferrence for either, but considers a short dock a fault. I dock about 90% of the dogs, but we have allowed a few to have a full tail upon request...but ONLY when someone has 1. first pick and is willing to pick a dog before it is 1 week old...as I dock the rest of the litter before they are a week old and I will generally dock the remaining portion of the litter.