Association between tail injuries and docking in dogs

(a) Clinical information was extracted from the clinic database for the period January 1977 to October 1984. (b) Docked and undocked dogs were defined according to normal docking practice relating to their breed, e.g. all boxers were assumed to be docked and all whippets were assumed to be undocked. (c) Tail injuries included fractures, lacerations, contusions, dermatoses, self-trauma and neoplasia. (d) The incidence of tail injuries in both docked and undocked dogs was tabulated thus: