Thereby hangs a tail

My young spaniel, Root, is now wagging a much shorter tail. Somehow or other the narrow window of opportunity for docking it was missed in the days after his birth so, when the time came for me to collect him from my friends, I took possession of a dog with a complete, rather splendid and — once he had settled into his new surroundings — very lively tail.

I was concerned that, as a working dog, Root would be likely to damage that rather splendid tail when busy in thick cover. I consulted one of the local vets, who confirmed that they would take action if necessary. But they explained that shortening a dog’s