Docking Working Terriers

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Docking Working Terriers
Topic Started: Nov 13 2007, 11:35 AM (514 Views)
zandd	Nov 13 2007, 11:35 AM Post #1
Moderator Posts: 22,618 Group: Moderators Member #48 Joined: February 5, 2005	Just curious as to why most working Terriers were traditionally docked - and indeed still can be - but not the Border Terrier? I presume it's to do with the prey but can anyone explain. Please note this is NOT a debate about docking merely a query about working terriers.



Lu20	Nov 13 2007, 11:58 AM Post #2
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 4,188 Group: Full Members Member #423 Joined: March 9, 2007	With regard to JRT's and PRT's the tails were docked to stop them getting caught on brambles etc whilst out hunting. I never quite understood about the full Dock but like Jess 75% Dock still gives a firm hold should the need arise for retrieval from holes etc: [assuming they don't go too deep of course :mellow: ] As a child I remember going with Dad to visit Gramps on the farm he worked at. Another labourers terrier had a badly muitilated tail after getting it caught whilst out rabbiting.



PARSNIP	Nov 13 2007, 05:29 PM Post #3
Chatterbox Posts: 870 Group: Full Members Member #452 Joined: April 28, 2007	It really is to stop the tails getting caught or torn; and to give a firm grip hold when extracting terriers from holes etc...



zandd	Nov 13 2007, 05:30 PM Post #4
Moderator Posts: 22,618 Group: Moderators Member #48 Joined: February 5, 2005	But then why not Borders as they go to ground?



Lu20	Nov 13 2007, 05:53 PM Post #5
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 4,188 Group: Full Members Member #423 Joined: March 9, 2007	? :huh:



Tafia	Nov 13 2007, 08:53 PM Post #6
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 5,816 Group: Full Members Member #134 Joined: November 17, 2005	zandd Nov 13 2007, 10:35 AM Just curious as to why most working Terriers were traditionally docked - and indeed still can be - but not the Border Terrier? I presume it's to do with the prey but can anyone explain. Please note this is NOT a debate about docking merely a query about working terriers. I had no idea that working Border's weren't exempt from the bill. Stupid, rushed through thing that it was..... old woman wanders off grumbling



zandd	Nov 13 2007, 09:01 PM Post #7
Moderator Posts: 22,618 Group: Moderators Member #48 Joined: February 5, 2005	Tafia Nov 13 2007, 07:53 PM zandd Nov 13 2007, 10:35 AM Just curious as to why most working Terriers were traditionally docked - and indeed still can be - but not the Border Terrier? I presume it's to do with the prey but can anyone explain. Please note this is NOT a debate about docking merely a query about working terriers. I had no idea that working Border's weren't exempt from the bill. Stupid, rushed through thing that it was..... old woman wanders off grumbling No I worded that badly :lol: meant why weren't Borders docked - they never have been but most other working Terriers are - not that they weren't exempt,doesn'at apply to them.



Tafia	Nov 14 2007, 12:39 AM Post #8
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 5,816 Group: Full Members Member #134 Joined: November 17, 2005	zandd Nov 13 2007, 08:01 PM Tafia Nov 13 2007, 07:53 PM zandd Nov 13 2007, 10:35 AM Just curious as to why most working Terriers were traditionally docked - and indeed still can be - but not the Border Terrier? I presume it's to do with the prey but can anyone explain. Please note this is NOT a debate about docking merely a query about working terriers. I had no idea that working Border's weren't exempt from the bill. Stupid, rushed through thing that it was..... old woman wanders off grumbling No I worded that badly :lol: meant why weren't Borders docked - they never have been but most other working Terriers are - not that they weren't exempt,doesn'at apply to them. How odd. Always presumed that they'd just had the tail end taken off if I've ever thought about it at all (and not overly sure I ever have!). Border Dawn, where are you? Quick come and answer this question!



piwoodhouse	Nov 14 2007, 01:14 AM Post #9
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 3,970 Group: Full Members Member #282 Joined: August 18, 2006	Found this - you'll be able to say if it's nonsense or not: Some caveats. At least one breed of working terrier does not have a docked tail -- the border terrier -- and neither do working dachshunds. The tail on a border, however, is a very solid thing and is not easily damaged. If you cannot pick up a border terrier by its tail and throw it over a fence, it's not a true border terrier. A tail that is left intact on a working Jack Russell terrier, however, often ends up being very long and thin, and as a consequence it could be subject to real damage, and so it is generally docked (taken from Terrierman's Daily Dose)



zandd	Nov 14 2007, 09:54 AM Post #10
Moderator Posts: 22,618 Group: Moderators Member #48 Joined: February 5, 2005	piwoodhouse Nov 14 2007, 12:14 AM If you cannot pick up a border terrier by its tail and throw it over a fence, it's not a true border terrier. :lol: Daisy would approve of that method when chasing cats - thanks for that Pam never seen it put like that.The Borders tail is carrot shaped - thick at the base and thinner as it goes along compared to say a JRT where the tail is the same thickness pretty much all the way.



Lu20	Nov 14 2007, 10:03 AM Post #11
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 4,188 Group: Full Members Member #423 Joined: March 9, 2007	Interesting, learned something today :ok:



Tafia	Nov 14 2007, 12:15 PM Post #12
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 5,816 Group: Full Members Member #134 Joined: November 17, 2005	piwoodhouse Nov 14 2007, 12:14 AM The tail on a border, however, is a very solid thing and is not easily damaged. If you cannot pick up a border terrier by its tail and throw it over a fence, it's not a true border terrier. A tail that is left intact on a working Jack Russell terrier, however, often ends up being very long and thin, and as a consequence it could be subject to real damage, and so it is generally docked (taken from Terrierman's Daily Dose) How interesting, thanks for looking that up Pi! Subconciously I always imagine undocked terriers becoming whippy at the end and though never really having thought about it, just presumed Borders had had the whippy part removed!



Linda & Fred	Apr 14 2008, 04:08 PM Post #13
Chatterbox Posts: 703 Group: Full Members Member #571 Joined: November 28, 2007	I know this thread is a few months old, but it might help me to work out what's in my Fred! He's definitely got JRT in him, but he has got an extremely thick tail, and it's often used as a handle (although I haven't picked him up by it yet) or as an anchor. I thought he had Lakeland in him, but his tail is definitely thicker than that.



roo roo	Apr 14 2008, 07:08 PM Post #14
Total Gas Bag! Posts: 2,679 Group: Full Members Member #479 Joined: June 8, 2007	im still trying to figure out why youd be throwing border terriers over fences?is it some obscure country pastime ive never heard of? :blink: :woohoo:



RJL	Apr 17 2008, 11:46 AM Post #15
Chatterbox Posts: 1,381 Group: Full Members Member #179 Joined: January 25, 2006	Wow - Fred has such a lovely head and expression. He's realy workmanlike :) I've never seen anyone throwing a border over a fence, but at a judging seminar, Ann Roslin Williams whipped a stuffed otter's head out of her bag to show what an otter head should look like!



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