Tail Length
Short Tail
Alternative Names: Bobtail
The Short Tail variant is associated with a naturally short "bobbed" tail. The variant is located in the T-box gene.
Breeds
Short Tail is common in:
Pembroke Welsh Corgi
Miniature American Shepherd
Australian Shepherd
Australian Cattle Dog
More Info
Did you know?
Dogs with a surgically docked tail and those born with a genetically bobbed tail can only be told apart by genetic testing, not visual inspection.
How it works
Dogs with one copy of the Short Tail variant usually have a very short or "bobbed" tail. Rottweilers, Boston terriers, French Bulldogs, and English Bulldogs can have shortened or corkscrew tails due to other variants.
Health implications
If two copies of the Short Tail variant are inherited, it will cause early fetal death and resorption, so all dogs with this variant carry only one copy of it. Two Short Tail variant dogs mated together will have smaller litter sizes and some normal tail length dogs may be produced.
Prevalence
1 in 71 dogs
has one or more copy of this genetic variant in our testing.
Technical Details
| Gene | T-box |
|---|---|
| Variant | G>C |
| Chromosome | 1 |
| Coordinate | 54,192,143 |
All coordinates reference CanFam3.1
References & Credit
Credit to our scientific colleagues:
Haworth, K., Putt, W., Cattanach, B., Breen, M., Binns, M., Lingaas, F., & Edwards, Y. H. (2001). Canine homolog of the T-box transcription factor T; failure of the protein to bind to its DNA target leads to a short-tail phenotype. Mammalian Genome. 12(3):212-218. View the article