Desert Point Kennels, 209-256-4853
Randy Randall
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The tail on a German Shorthaired Pointer! How long should it be?  In America we are known for short tailed GSPs.  They could almost be called German Short Tailed Pointers.  The problem often lies with our vets who really don’t take the time to look up the standard, and the owner of the litters who also don’t know the standard, and expect the vets to know the proper cut.         
          It’s been going on far to long that we either cut the tails to long ourselves or rely on the veterinarians who are used to cutting the tails on short tail breeds, and just assume a docked tail is a docked tail.
          All of our early dog came with very short tails, around 3 inches.  The about 7 years ago, we were seeing a few longer tails from the same breeders. Now we are seeing a mix of longer tails and shorter tails. 
          One GSP came into camp just the other day with a tail no longer than 2 inches.  It’s just the way the vet cut the tail I was told.  Others in the litter had tails a little longer. 
          We have tried to make the right cut, not just a long cut, But then we went to a little longer cut, and now a little longer still, and we may go to a tad bit longer yet.
          It went like this for us:  Early in our breeding program I had read “The Complete German Shorthaired Pointer” by Herr H. F. Seiger, and Dr. F. Von Dewitz-Colpin.  This book published in 1951 was the first book written about the German Shorthair.  The book was written by German breeders in English and published in America. The authors lived in Germany, were Germans, bred Shorthairs, and had first hand knowledge of the breed in Germany as well as the history.
          The breed standard regarding the tail in this book stated that the tail should be cut leaving approx. 2/5 lenth. Since 2/5 is 40 percent, then 60 percent should be cut off, and 40 percent left.
          The author however went on to say that the only exact spot for the tail to be cut is at the exact spot where the tail begins to taper.  The reason given is that this is the proper joint for tail cutting, and cutting any longer than this will result in a crooked tail. Meaning that at the tapper the tail will bend out of shape, and any area above this will be bent in an odd-looking shape. 
          So, for us, we cut at this exact taper, which is very easy to see.  The tails looked fine, and ended up being about 6 inches long.  Often there would be white just above the taper, and wanting to keep a white tip I would cut the tail just above the tapper leaving a white tip.  I found out that this did not leave a crook at the tip.  The taper in a puppy tail that is 3 inches long is approx. 1 inch form the base, so I would cut off 2 inches and leave 1 inch on the puppy.  By cutting off just past the taper, I would be cutting the tail at approx. the 2/5th mark, or leaving 40 percent of the tail, which was the early German and American standard.  If a puppies tail is 3 inches long and you want to leave 40 percent of the tail then you will want to cut at the 1 and 3/16 inch mark, or 1.2 inches, measuring from the base of the tail. 
          Looking at so many old photos of a, I believe that most tails were cut at the taper or at approx. 40 percent.  This seems to leave a 5 to 6 inch tail.  Sophie who camp from Germany has an 8 ½ inch tail.  This would seem to be longer than a 40 percent cut as a puppy, but unless her tail would be only 17 inches if not cute, than it would seem to be less than a 50 percent cut, which is now the German Standard.  
          All that being said, I feel that the taper cut, and the 40 percent cut leave the tail looking pretty good, but I also feel that a slightly longer tail would look pleasing, help in seeing and reading the dog in the field, and could help slightly in the performance of the dog in swimming, running, and turning.
          Plus 50 percent would be an easy measurement at the time of puppy tail cutting.

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