Docking Dogs= Aggression?

 injured knees?? how? balance issues?

DPU

I would not automatically leap to aggression.  I think the short tail dog would experience anxiety and frustration in the social setting but the resulting behavior would be the way the dog copes with anxiety or learns to cope, and sometimes that does not include aggression.

This got me thinking. Maybe the issue isnt aggression but the lack of ability to convey certain things in doggy language because of the loss of the tail. Dogs tell a lot about a friend or foe by the tail position as most of us have experienced and rely upon. Just specualtion......

 Emma's best doggy buddy is a Doberman Pinscher, who's tail was docked too short. Her tail is more like a Rottie tail than anything. For some strange reason, this dog very, very rarely wags her tail. She can be grinning, ear to ear, and people are afraid of her because she doesn't wag. She's super friendly, but doesn't use her tail to communicate, at all. It throws people off. She seems to communicate with dogs just fine, though.

Emma is also docked too short for her breed. I haven't seen anything bad happen because of it. It's very obvious when she's friendly or not.

The knee injury thing is interesting. I'll have to read about that.

yeah, the hypothesis is the balance of the rear end is messed up when you take off the "rudder" and thus the knees take the brunt of it. You can see dogs using their tails as counter-weights while taking sharp turns, so it makes sense.

I'm not too sure about the no tail = aggression. Well-socialized docked-tail dogs seem to compensate by exaggerating the rest of their body language. The extreme pain inflicted at such an early age may, however, affect the dog. There are some interesting studies about the impact of painful circumcision in human day-old infants about how the pain permanently affects their brain chemistry.

 i really do wonder if it has more to do with how old the puppy was when it left the litter. they tested a LOT of dogs on a robodog.... but did they test a REAL dog with a docked tail? we already know the dangers of taking a puppy away from its litter mates too soon. we're having that problem right now with the shepherd. as well as not having any household manners she also hasnt got a flippin clue on how to act around other dogs. she's annoyed everyone out here beyond distraction but is learning quickly how far she can push her luck. and she has a tail... oh boy does she have a great big huge sweeping clear-the-table-tail....