Big and beautiful or short and cropped? Dog owners at Westminster show divided over cutting off tails and ears to win
- The practices of cropping and docking has became written into many of the judging standards used to evaluate dogs shows
- But owners, like Leslie Fried, have started to voice their opposition to the trend
Leslie Fried is a prominent dog breeder who has been turning out champion Rottweilers since 1986. She says she knows a winning Rottie when she sees one, and a number of years ago, she thought she had an outstanding female for the show ring.
There was just one problem: Unlike all the other Rottweilers on the circuit, Fried’s dog Tyra still had a “natural” tail – a big, long one. Tyra was from the first litter of puppies whose tails Fried, after seven generations of breeding, had left undocked.
“People were saying, ‘Get that mongrel out of the ring,’ ” said Fried, who lives in New Jersey. “You feel intimidated – and I’m not new to this world or a weak-temperament person.”
Fried says she wanted to show that a Rottweiler could be a great competitor with a natural tail. But after paying the entry fees and travel expenses to show Tyra in various rings for more than two years, Fried and Tyra’s owners gave up. Tyra never earned American Kennel Club champion status. One of Tyra’s puppies did, though, and she will compete this week at the elite Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show – with what’s left of her docked tail.
Watch: Westminster Kennel Club dog show underway in New York
