Published: 14 Oct 2025 | Last Updated: 14 Oct 2025 01:00:03

A new study from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has found that the Boxer, English Springer Spaniel and Cocker Spaniel are the dog breeds most likely to have a tail injury. The study explored how often tail injuries occur in dogs in the UK, the breeds at highest risk and how these injuries are typically managed in veterinary practice, with the findings offering valuable insights for owners, breeders, veterinarians and policymakers to support prevention and better treatment.

A healthy, functioning tail plays an important role in a dog’s life, supporting communication, balance and scent marking. Injuries can disrupt these natural behaviours and have a significant impact on dog welfare. Tail injuries carry serious welfare risks, often being painful and distressing for dogs, worrying for owners and challenging for vets to manage.

Planned tail docking in puppies - the partial or complete removal of a dog’s tail - had long been common practice in the UK for several dog breeds for reasons including cultural beliefs, appearance and beliefs about injury prevention. However, since 2007, non-medical tail docking has been legally banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, except when performed by a veterinary surgeon and only for a very limited set of dogs intended to be working animals. Some breeds such as French Bulldog and Pembroke Corgi have also been selectively bred to have absent hind parts of their spine, meaning they are born with congenitally short or absent tails.

Led by the RVC’s VetCompass Programme, the new study examined the veterinary clinical records from random samples of 285 tail injury cases and 285,000 controls taken from a wider study population of over 2,000,000 dogs under UK veterinary care in 2019. The findings reveal that approximately 1 in 435 of all UK dogs present for veterinary care with a tail injury each year, and that Boxers, English Springer Spaniels and Cocker Spaniels were the breeds most likely to have a tail injury. Conversely, the French Bulldog - as a breed typically with a congenitally shortened tail - was less likely to have a tail injury.

Additional key findings include:

• The breeds with the highest risk of tail injury, compared with crossbreds, were the Boxer (3.61 times the risk), English Springer Spaniel (x 2.46) and Cocker Spaniel (x 1.86).
• French bulldog had reduced risk of tail injury compared with crossbreds (x 0.11).
• Compared to breeds that were not recognised by the Kennel Club, working (x 2.21) and gundog (x 1.85) groups had higher risk of tail injury, whilst the toy group had reduced risk (x 0.46).
• Flat-faced (brachycephalic) dog breeds had reduced risk of tail injury (x 0.58) compared with mesocephalic (medium-headed and muzzled) breeds.
• Dogs weighing 20 to < 30 kg had significantly increased risk (x 1.65) of tail injury compared with dogs < 10 kg.
• Increasing age was associated with decreasing risk of tail injury. Dogs aged ≥ 12 years had the lowest risk of tail injury (x 0.23) compared with dogs < 2 years.
• Neutered females (x 5.65), neutered males (x 5.59) and entire males (x 2.16) had increased risk compared with entire females.
• Pain relief and antibiotics were prescribed in 45.6% and 32.6% of cases, respectively. Surgical amputation was undertaken in 9.1% of cases.

Dr Camilla Pegram, Lecturer of Veterinary Epidemiology at the RVC and lead author of the paper, said:

“This study has used the power of “big data” to robustly address the frequency, risk factors and clinical management of tail injuries in dogs. Not only are tail injuries painful, but they can also affect how dogs communicate and interact with the world around them. With tail docking no longer a routine practice, our findings highlight the dogs that may benefit from closer owner monitoring - particularly during high-energy activities.”

Dr Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the RVC and co-author of the paper, said:

“Having a long happy tail to wag must be one of the greatest natural joys in any dog’s life. Although this new paper shows that tail injuries are relatively uncommon in dogs overall,  owners of very active types of dogs such as Boxer, English Springer Spaniel and Cocker Spaniel should be aware of their increased risk and try to reduce trauma to these dog’s tails.”

Dr Alison Skipper, Veterinary and Research Advisor at The Kennel Club, said:

“This research, supported by The Kennel Club Charitable Trust as part of our mission to make a difference for dogs, will hopefully enable more dog owners to take steps to prevent tail injuries or to seek the appropriate care from their vet, who will also be better prepared to manage cases effectively. Research like this gives everyone who cares for dogs the knowledge to help prevent injuries and protect their wellbeing – ensuring more dogs can live happy, healthy lives with their tails wagging.”

Reference

Pegram, C., O’Neill D.G., Edwards, A., Church, D.B. and Brodbelt, D.C. (2025). Frequency and risk factors for tail injuries in UK dogs under primary veterinary care. Veterinary Record.

The full paper is available from Veterinary Record and can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.6020  

Related infographic: Tail Injury Infographic

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About the RVC

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a Member Institution of the University of London. 
• It is one of the few veterinary schools in the world that hold accreditations from the RCVS in the UK (with associated recognition from the AVBC for Australasia, the VCI for Ireland and the SAVC for South Africa), the EAEVE in the EU, and AVMA (probationary) in the USA and Canada. 
• The RVC is ranked as the top veterinary school in the world in the QS World University Rankings by subject, 2025. 
• The RVC offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences. 
• The RVC is a research-led institution, with 88% of its research rated as internationally excellent or world class in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. 
• The RVC provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals and first opinion practices in London and Hertfordshire.