# Pictures of undocked poodle tails



## Countryboy

Here's a couple... two styles. 

Carrot Tail...










And stylish tail...


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## Manxcat

Dakota's tail is very like Pippin's - she actually has a spot in her fur on her back where the tail rubs. Pushkin has less of a bend toward the back and kind of wafts rather than wags like a metronome. Think his is proportionally longer as well.


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## Tiny Poodles

Adorable tails!
Timi has a long dock which I am rather fond of, but it is a bitch to scissor it because it looks different every time I look at it.


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## MiniPoo

Love the stylist brush tail, CB. If Dakota's tail straightens out some I would try that look.

Yes, Pippin looks like Dakota's sister.


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## Oreo's Mommy

Oreo's tail is undocked and he has dew claws.


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## Towandafox

Here is Tully with her undocked tail. I shave it close at the base and attempt a "pom" at the end, but with her wispy hair it ends up looking like a brush.  It does have a slight curl, but is more like a U than a Q.


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## Beaches

Beautiful kids and beautiful tails. I love them all. My girl is docked too short.


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## BorderKelpie

I love all these long, pretty tails!! I am so glad docking seems to be fading away.


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## Oreo's Mommy

BorderKelpie said:


> I love all these long, pretty tails!! I am so glad docking seems to be fading away.



Me too. I specifically asked my breeder to leave Oreo natural. Luckily, she leaves all her poodles natural. I love his tail!


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## fjm

Poppy has a straight tail, but it is set slightly lower and she only carries it high when she is excited or on the alert. This is the only photo I can find that shows it well - Poppy modelling her favourite winter jumper!


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## ericwd9

Grace carries her tail and head high most all times. My sig. photo shows her tail well enough.
Eric


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## peccan

Top view! So fluff!

Much poof! This tail earned a special mention at an inofficial conformation show!

Regal! Wow!

Bonus: best pal tails!

Bonus: itty bitty iddle widdle eight-week tail!


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## MiniPoo

Peccan, it looks like his tail straightened out since he was a puppy. He is definitely a beautiful dog with a beautiful tail.

I was so used to seeing a pom at the end of a docked poodle tail, but as I see these lovely long tails, they are looking more natural to me. 

Keep the pictures coming.


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## peccan

MiniPoo said:


> Peccan, it looks like his tail straightened out since he was a puppy. He is definitely a beautiful dog with a beautiful tail.(...)


Thanks! I do love his tail ^_^

It's actually always been a handbag handle. It looks curved in the puppy pic, but that's because Sulo's excited in that pic and carrying it high, making it curve a bit. I don't have a better pic of his puppy tail but when Sulo is alert and confident (or mischievous/playful/eager), his tail curves, arching above his hip, and when he's super duper into something exciting (see puddle pic), it can actually touch the back a bit. Otherwise it's fairly straight in motion.

With the other Poos I know with fairly straight tails, their tails act the same way. Curling forward a bit is a nice visual cue for us humans ^__^


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## Siskojan

Here are a couple of Sisko's tail. It is normally held up and curled over but relaxes straight when he sleeps, eats or is subdued. When we picked him up from the kennel after our holiday last year it was straight and down, and over the next 3 days rose and curled by varying degrees until he was back to his normal happy self.

Something that guardians of poodles with docked tails may not fully realize is that the full tail is not a static thing. If I touch Sisko's tail there is an immediate response in the muscles and it moves, flexes, contracts. He can actively control it It is very, very sensitive and I wonder if this extreme sensitivity is what originally led to docking. He guards his tail and trying to brush it is like wrestling with a bag full of eels.


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## Naira

We have a long dock over here but we wanted to say that we are thoroughly enjoying this thread!!!


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## MiniPoo

Oh, why not include some long dock pictures here for comparison?

Naira, show us your tail!


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## Countryboy

And here... heehee... just 'cos I'm feeling mischievous... and 'cos they're already in Photobucket... are more pix with a stylish tail.

And a Conti...

And a best buddy... 

The Cane Corso! 

Most Poodle enthusiasts are horrified by these pix.

I can't understand why... :devil: lol


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## MiniPoo

Lovely poodle! 

Scary Cane Corso! Looks like your dog can hold her own -- probably because she knows you have her back.


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## Caddy

Here's Abbey's tail


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## Caddy

And one more, I don't clip it because I'm never sure what to do, but I love a natural tail


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## MiniPoo

The ball on the end of a docked poodle tail is called a pom or pom pom. Portuguese Water Dogs have a similar partially shaved tail and the long bit at the end is called a flag because the hair usually hangs straight down. 

I think longer hair on an undocked poodle tail looks like a brush. I don't know if that is the best name for it.

I am being inspired with these pictures and will grow out the hair on Dakota's tail to see how it looks.


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## cmarrie

Wrex always carries his up, or off to the left.


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## peccan

MiniPoo said:


> The ball on the end of a docked poodle tail is called a pom or pom pom. (...) I think longer hair on an undocked poodle tail looks like a brush. I don't know if that is the best name for it. (...)


Up in here we call it the pom just the same, but then again our Poodles tend to have shorter tails than many undocked dogs in countries where docking is the norm, and it really looks like a pom if the dog has a good coat texture.









(Like my darling monsieur Sulo! )

And yes we do have a collection of nicknames for long scissored tails, such as "fuzz sausage" or "baton" (as in the police baton) or "bottle brush" (no explanation needed!), etc, but they tend to be only common to close-knit groups, they might not even be regionally recognisable, so when we talk online or to strangers, we tend to simply say "long scissored tail" or "long natural tail" or "long shaggy tail" depending on the style.


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## itzmeigh

Hazel has a long dock. I'll bet she's missing less than an inch. Her tail doesn't curl much and I don't think it would of it was all there either. 

I thought at first that I wanted a natural tail and then I found out that the breeder docks unless you ask her not to. I was ok with it (I didn't really care that much.) but when I picked her up I was shocked at how long her tail is. The breeder says she likes the longer dock. 

Now that I've had a "normal" dock and this long dock I am still really on the fence about what I like. I often find Hazel's tail to be... Weird. Like I always feel it is styled different from her body. More like an after thought. 

I'm liking it more as she gets older and the hair fills in more but for a long time I didn't like her tail at all.


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## Axeldog

Axel has a fairly long dock on his tail. He typically holds it curled a little bit. If he is excited, it curls more but even if it was full length it wouldnt touch his back. 

He also is sensitive about having it brushed



Most of his curl is closer to the tip of his tail- you can kind of tell by this photo


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## FlyingNimbus

Here's Bim's tail I've left his hair long on it and when he curls up very tightly it looks like a plume. Mind you this picture was taken almost a year ago and it's even longer now! I love natural tails


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## ArreauStandardPoodle

Both Quincy and Journey have undocked tails, because they were imported from European countries that do not allow docking or dew claw removal. Growing up in a show home, I prefer the look of a docked tail, but if I knew that if I left our puppy tails natural that they would look this good, I would leave them. But UI have seen some pretty horrendous natural tails.


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## itzmeigh

ArreauStandardPoodle said:


> Both Quincy and Journey have undocked tails, because they were imported from European countries that do not allow docking or dew claw removal. Growing up in a show home, I prefer the look of a docked tail, but if I knew that if I left our puppy tails natural that they would look this good, I would leave them. But UI have seen some pretty horrendous natural tails.


Your first picture is how I think Hazel's tail would look if it had been left natural. Maybe not quite that long but that set and carry. That is a very lovely tail.


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## MiniPoo

I think we are used to a docked look for the poodle tail and at first these long natural tails look weird to us. Sort of like uncropped ears on a boxer. But once you get used to the different look, we can appreciate it.

These pictures show some beautiful natural tails that really make a statement. I think I might print out a few to use as a guide in grooming. Thanks!


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## Streetcar

I'm pretty sure the black in front has a natural tail (Dino from Afterglow). Poor quality cell pic, sorry.


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## Caddy

Looks like a long dock to me.


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## MiniPoo

Caddy said:


> Looks like a long dock to me.


Could be. But I think it might be undocked. Hard to tell how much is hair on the tail.

If this is the dog (see url below) then he is from the UK and is more likely to have an undocked tail than a US dog.

http://afterglowdogs.com/dino.html


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## Hermelien1989

Docking and declauwing isn't allowed in my country, so gioia is undocked. I love the long tail <3


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## Streetcar

MiniPoo said:


> Could be. But I think it might be undocked. Hard to tell how much is hair on the tail.
> 
> If this is the dog (see url below) then he is from the UK and is more likely to have an undocked tail than a US dog.
> 
> Afterglow Show Dogs - Dino


Yep . Ricky's dad.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle

I believe Dino's tail is docked


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## FlyingNimbus

Is that your beardie  Very pretty pair of dogs


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## Hermelien1989

FlyingNimbus said:


> Is that your beardie  Very pretty pair of dogs



Thank you, she is my moms dog. The two of them always play together layingball:


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## MiniPoo

Question for those of you with undocked poodle tails. Dakota always has his tail up high. The only time I have seen it down was when he is sleeping or about ready to rest. I don't know if he is just a happy little guy or if it is the nature of curly undocked tails.

What is your experience with how high they hold their tail?


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## cmarrie

MiniPoo said:


> Question for those of you with undocked poodle tails. Dakota always has his tail up high. The only time I have seen it down was when he is sleeping or about ready to rest. I don't know if he is just a happy little guy or if it is the nature of curly undocked tails.
> 
> What is your experience with how high they hold their tail?


Wrex keeps his tail up most of the time...unless he's in the bath, or is being scolded. He'll also hold it straight out and off to the left if he's uncertain about something, like if he's having trouble reading me and is unsure if I'm going to be annoyed with him.


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## Muggles

Same with Rory. His is up unless he's on alert of some kind (usually when getting ready to chase a bird!) and then it's straight and sort of diagonal. But he's also a very happy boy!


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## cmarrie

Muggles said:


> His is up unless he's on alert of some kind (usually when getting ready to chase a bird!) and then it's straight and sort of diagonal.
> 
> 
> 
> How could I forget the prey? Birds, chipmunks...faded smells of stray cat in the grass...tail is straight and the left front paw lifts...sometimes it looks like Wrex has identity confusion and thinks himself a pointer, rather than a retriever.
Click to expand...


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## Muggles

Haha yes! I've often thought Rory has some pointer-esque traits too!


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## *Mooshka*

This is my girl Mooshka with her natural tail as we are from the uk. X


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## Siskojan

Sisko's tail is very like Dakota's and it is nearly always up and curled over angling to the left. It is straight and angled down when he sleeps and sometimes when he eats. It was down and straight when we brought him home from the kennels after a 3 week stay while we were in Europe. It rose by degrees over three days, staying at half mast and horizontal for about half a day. Once it was up and curled we knew he had settled back into home and was fully happy again. His tail is very sensitive and he does not like it handled. It is loaded with energy - a bit like a spring- and is most definitely not a passive appendage.


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## Coco86

Tiny Poodles said:


> Adorable tails!
> Timi has a long dock which I am rather fond of, but it is a bitch to scissor it because it looks different every time I look at it.


Sammy has a long docked tail too. It looks cute. We just trim it a bit.


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## PaddysMom

MiniPoo, thank you for such a fascinating thread! Paddy came to us with a docked tail (I think), and I never even gave it a thought. It's been an education seeing all these glorious specimens with such a variety of tails.


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