by BarBara Beissel LAMPLIGHTER Yorkshire Terriers, Chinese Cresteds & Silky Terriers Breeder of Merit in all three breeds BarBara’s TALE OF THE TAILS
I was a Yorkshire Terrier breeder for close to 40 years. I am no longer breeding Yorkies as of about 5 years ago, but when I was, I docked my own puppy’s tails. I also docked the tails of a number of friends’ dogs (friends who could not do this themselves)—I even have a few new vets using my procedure. It was always fast and always painful. Up to, and including my last litter, it never got easier for me. I always dreaded the day it needed to be done and even then, I thought this unnecessary procedure of docking was barbaric. When the world started changing and docking and cropping became ille- gal in many countries, I was liking this new way a lot. Finally, after a few sleep- less nights over the why and why nots of not docking, I made the “no dock” decision on five Silky Terrier puppies whelped September 29, 2010. To make a long story short, all of those puppies finished their champion- ships in record time. One of these pup- pies grew up to be the #1 Silky Terrier in 2013, Eukanuba Best of Breed and to date, the first and only Platinum Grand Champion Multiple Best in Special- ity Show Winning dog, Lamplighter’s Tattle Tail, “Tatty”.
“i always dreaded the day it needed to Be done and even then, i thought this unnecessary procedure of DOCKING WAS BARBARIC.”
I have lost count on how many Lamplighter Bendill Silky’s have fin- ished with a natural undocked tail. Last year we had another #1 Silky Ter- rier, GCh Lamplighter Bendill Tails I Win, “Winnie”. As you can imagine, with our out- of-the-box decision on no longer dock- ing, we have many stories to tell of the highs—and a few lows—we’ve had in the early years (we being me, Lamplight- er and Mark Benson and James Dillman of Bendill). We were blessed with having a litter of five outstanding puppies with close- to-perfect tail sets and carriage, so said judges who were by now, judging many dogs and breeds over seas, all with
natural tails. We continue to be blessed with the quality of our Silky Terriers. That is the number one key to our suc- cess. It is not about just the tails any lon- ger. It is the overall quality—just as it should be. We did have some incidences where a clearly inferior docked dog was awarded over a better quality natural tail. That doesn’t happen so much any- more. Most judges are judging the total dog and have come to the conclusion it is “just a tail.” Now it is time for some of the breed- ers and breed clubs to come to the same conclusion that so many judges have already come to. It is after all, just a tail. We Americans pride ourselves on our having choices in so many things that are not so in other countries. The choice of docked or natural is the only sensible answer to making peace for everyone concerned. If you like the docked tail, by all means, dock. I will support everyone’s right of their choice to dock. With that, I expect the same in return for my undocked decision. It’s so American. We are so overdue to just get along—another choice.
“Most judges are judging the total dog and have coMe to the conclusion it is ‘just a tail’.”
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