DOCKED & UNDOCKED TAILS AUSTRALIAN TERRIER
BY ALEXA SAMAROTTO
T AILS, DOCKED and UNDOCKED; such a charged topic for many fanciers in so many breeds. I am writing to tell you about our journey in the Australian Terrier Club of Ameri- ca, which has resulted in a change in our Breed Standard to make judging our breed more inclusive for many in our fancy. Over the last few years, there have been a number of requests from many to modify our Standard, with equally adamant defenders of the Standard to be left unchanged. In our breed, there are also those fanciers who do not have such a strong response in either direction, but would agree with whatever the Standard described. Many mem- bers have imported and exported to countries that did not allow dock- ing, making this an issue that finally came to a head with a petition to the ATCA Board. Without boring you with the details, the Board followed the AKC Procedure to appoint a Standard Revision Commit- tee to analyze, craft, and propose new wording to the Tail Section of our Standard. The members were myself as Chair, Kerrie Bryan, Mari- lyn Harban, Caren Holtby, and Elaine Strid. Working diligently, we accomplished our goal, ending in full adoption of a revised Tail Section by the ATCA members and the AKC Board on April 7, 2021. The new Standard wording is as follows: “Tail - Set on high and carried erect at a twelve to one o’ clock position, in balance with the overall dog, a good hand-hold when mature, docked leaving slightly less than one half, or undocked from straight to curved for- ward. The tail set is of primary importance.” “Over the last few years, there have been a number of requests from many to modify our Standard, with equally adamant defenders of the Standard to be left unchanged.”
Top: Docked Tail Center: Undocked Tail—Straight Tail Bottom: Undocked Tail—Curved Forward
SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 2021 | 323
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