Docked tail vs natural bob

[Laurelin]

How do you tell?

I keep getting asked if Hank has a docked or NBT. I assume docked. The tip has no hair on it if you part the hair. Is that a tell-tale sign of a docked tail?

 

[Linds]

Be interesting to see if anyone knows!

Hannah had a natural bobbed tail. Her tail had a weird little point at the tip, kinda felt like a nipple to be honest. And her fur covered everything. But I don't know if it's the norm.

 

[Oko]

You can definitely feel the scarring on Wesley's nub.

 

[meepitsmeagan]

I've always wondered about Rider as well. He has a weird little pin tail that makes me want to think it is natural bob.

 

[Laurelin]

For those with known docked or bobbed dogs can you take a picture? I'll get a picture of hanks nub.

 

[Southpaw]

Maybe I'm wrong, but these look like scars to me - pretty visible on both dogs when the hair is parted.

Juno

Cajun

 

[thehoundgirl]

I'm pretty sure Dixie's (Schnauzer/Terrier Mix) was docked and isn't natural. I'll see if I can find a picture... she's a wigglebutt lol.

 

[amberdyan]

I was going to say scarring as well. My dad had brittanies and GSPs when I was growing up and I know at least 2 of them had little scars.

 

[milos_mommy]

Southpaw: that's what Milo's tail (scar?) looks like! His tail is also a decent bit shorter than a proper JRT/westie/cairn tail.

I'm super interested in this thread, it's not something I've given a lot of thought to.

 

[Slick]

I have NO IDEA!

But...Leo does have a natural bob, this I know for sure.

Maybe others can look at it, and tell me how it is different to docked tails?

Edit: Ok, Leo now hates me. But I grabbed his tail and felt around, and he also has it weirdly ending in a very skinny tip. Like, he has a pretty thick tail, but then all of a sudden the very end is super tiny and skinny, to the point that I have never noticed in all that tail hair.

 

[Laurelin]

Hank's tail/bald spot.

And the nubbin

 

[PerformanceDog]

Angel and Chloe both have docked tails, both have a line of scarring.

Here is the best photo I could get of Chloe's nub. The straight darker line is the scarring area.

I had really dark lighting and used my phone with flash, so not the greatest picture..

 

[ACooper]

Laurelin, Hank's nub looks like a dock to me.

From the picture, it looks "blunt" and bald on the end, and that's how the docks I've seen in person appear when you move the hair aside. Granted, I haven't seen an abundance of NBTs though, LOL

 

[LostAndConfused]

I wrestled small dog down to get a picture of his tail.

I don't even know how to describe it. His nubbin has a nubbin. There is no scar and the very tip has a little nubbin on it. The little nubbin is about the size of the tip of a ball point pen and has a tuft of hair sprouting from it. you can't see the little nubbin in the picture, but you can see the tuft of hair coming from it.

this is the first time I've ever really looked at the tip of his tail. It's weird

 

[StillandSilent]

My coworkers dog is supposedly a natural Bob tail and she has the nubbin too

 

[AmberH]

My two Yorkie girls are docked. One has a super short tail and the other is longer. They feel completely different. The short tail has a fatty scar at the end. It's pretty obviously docked. The longer tailed girl's tail isn't fatty and goes to a skinny point. If you can get through all that hair, you can see both of their scars.

I had a foster puppy with a natural bobbed tail. The litter had varying lengths from no tail at all to full tail. Pip's was like 3/4 length. Sorry if these are huge pictures.

Pip

Mojo

Missy

Pip at 5 months old