THE YORKSHIRE TERRIER A TALE AbouT TAILS by KAThLEEn b. KoLbErT Turyanne AKC Reg.
F or quite some time now there has been much dis- cussion about tail docking in the Yorkshire Ter- rier. Many people oppose this practice for any and all breeds, regardless of the effect that such a ban would have. In my humble opinion, outlawing docked tails would be disastrous for the Yorkie. There are several things to be considered when discuss- ing this matter. First, there is the description of the Yorkie’s tail as it presently stands. According to the standard, “Tails are docked to medium length and carried slightly higher than the level of the back.” In actuality, many Yorkies carry their tails in an upright position when gaiting and this is allowed. The standard also states that squirrel, gay and low set tails are all faults. The illustrated discussion also states that, “The length of the tail will vary since breeders usually have the tails docked three to five days after birth. The tail is docked at the point where the tan vent on the underside and the black (which extends to the end) meet. A Yorkie with too short or too long a tail dock should not be penalized on that basis alone as it is a man-made fault.” All this being said, it now becomes obvious that there are two factors in the discussion about tails—one is the length, the other is about set and carriage. Those of you whom attended the Yorkshire Terrier Club of Greater New York
Specialty in New York in February of this year know that I put up several exhibits with long tails. For me, the deciding fac- tor was obviously the overall quality of the specimen coupled with the fact that the tail, whatever the length, was carried as specified in our standard—“Slightly higher than the level of the back” or “in an upright position when gaiting”. However, a tail that has never been docked in my opinion cannot be carried in the manner described in our standard. The undocked tail has four variants, all of which are faults in our standard; in other words, gay and squirrel tails. The other possibility is a pseudo Maltese tail—this tail lays curled up on the back, or the exceeding long tail that covers the entire back and when it moves toward you, it looks like the dog has three ears. Yet another is a tail carried straight out from the spine in the manner of a Setter. In my opinion, acceptance of these tail carriages drastically alters the appearance of the Yorkie and destroys the outline. The alert and happy Terrier tail is one of the hallmarks of this breed. Lastly, if breeders want to allow for a longer tail I feel that our standard must specify that the carriage of said tail must be the same as that of Yorkies with shorter tails. Not only that, if anything about the present description of the breed’s tail (set, carriage and length), as referenced in our standard is to be changed this cannot be done haphazardly. This must involve an actual change in our breed standard. This, in turn, is only accomplished by much discussion; careful thought and active involvement of all of us who breed, exhibit and love the Yorkshire Terrier all over the world. It is up to Parent Clubs to foster our breed. We need to work with AKC and FCI to protect the standards of all pure bred breeds and the future of the dog shows and our community of breeders. “In my humbLE opInIon, ouTLAwIng docKEd TAILS wouLd bE dISASTrouS for ThE yorKIE.”
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