Boxers have been having their tails docked from the late 1800’s. It is the breed standard to have a docked tail, much like other breeds.

My personal view on tail docking is simple

1. Boxers are a very expressive breed and they do so by wagging their tails. Boxers tails however are very long and hard, they are forever banging their tails off of things and many times this causes fractures that never heal properly.

2. Our pups are given a longer “Show Type” of dock. This eliminates the chance of fractures but still leaves the pup with something to wag and express himself with. Boxers also lower their tails and try to hide their bottom if they feel threatened by another dog or situation, having a longer dock leaves them with enough tail to cover their bottom should they feel the need.

3. As I have mentioned boxers are forever wagging these long hard tails around. Now when you enter the home after being away the dog is excited and wagging his tail, the tail hits you and believe me, it HURTS. You of course react with saying “Ouch! Stop That!” or even merely change your expression. Now the dog does not understand what he has done to upset you, he only meant to say hello. This in long term will cause the dog mixed emotions about being happy. Everytime he gets excited - the tail hits someone - people are upset. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what this will do to the dog in long terms.

My standpoint on this issue is from experience, as you see our female has a natural full tail and I am speaking from experience when I tell you the tails cause problems for the dogs. This is not simply a matter of cosmetic as those with no experience will tell you.