That's a bummer,. Besides the obvious medical cruelty of docking: I can tell a ton of what's going on with my dog by what they are doing with their tail, and I don't even speak dog body language like a dog does. Having no signalling device must make dog interactions misinterpreted by the other dog. I wonder if it leads to aggression also.
Heres "The recipe story" part you skip:
My dog is a rescue, and not knowing her all her life, I look at her tail to clue me in for what is going on for her.
Down and tucked under means she was frightened by something. Sometimes its a gate moving in the wind, sometimes its a bicycle came too close.
If it stays down for a while and she's pulling incessantly on the walk, it means she gone into PTSD mode and trying to escape...it takes her a while to come back from this :(
Stretched out backward with the tip up, is like the normal mood.
Up in the air means she's spotted something of interest.
Up in the air with tiny wiggles at the tip, means she has positive anticipation of something.
Fully curled forward and wagging is excitement.
It also is my tool to sort out why she came to talk to me. Picture a cat coming by and making a meow but with a dog voice.
I run through the list of options and watch her tail.
Hungry?
Treat?
Outside?
Porch?
Call Mom?
Her tail will move slightly for each, but it will be a large wag when I hit the right one she's wanting.
I can't imagine trying to figure out what a dog with no tail is trying to tell me.
2 replies
That's a bummer,. Besides the obvious medical cruelty of docking: I can tell a ton of what's going on with my dog by what they are doing with their tail, and I don't even speak dog body language like a dog does. Having no signalling device must make dog interactions misinterpreted by the other dog. I wonder if it leads to aggression also.
Heres "The recipe story" part you skip: My dog is a rescue, and not knowing her all her life, I look at her tail to clue me in for what is going on for her.
Down and tucked under means she was frightened by something. Sometimes its a gate moving in the wind, sometimes its a bicycle came too close. If it stays down for a while and she's pulling incessantly on the walk, it means she gone into PTSD mode and trying to escape...it takes her a while to come back from this :(
Stretched out backward with the tip up, is like the normal mood.
Up in the air means she's spotted something of interest.
Up in the air with tiny wiggles at the tip, means she has positive anticipation of something.
Fully curled forward and wagging is excitement.
It also is my tool to sort out why she came to talk to me. Picture a cat coming by and making a meow but with a dog voice.
I run through the list of options and watch her tail.
Her tail will move slightly for each, but it will be a large wag when I hit the right one she's wanting.
I can't imagine trying to figure out what a dog with no tail is trying to tell me.
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