Concern with the tail of my pet

Question
I own a 6 month old Neapolitan Mastiff (Female). There seems to be a problem with her tail (By Birth). The tail is not docked and is too short pointing down with an inside turn. I understand that the tail for a Neo should be docked by 1/3rd length and the tail for the one that i own, the complete length doesn't come to 1/3rd. Is this a herediatary concern and how does it affect the puppy's health. Will the faulty tail affect its litter (Will the Puppies also get the faulty tail)?

Answer
Hi Phani,

The length of your puppy's tail, or how she holds it in no way impacts your puppy's health.

The puppy's tail length, is supposed to be less than 1/3 the length from point of insertion of the tail to the hock, simply means she isn't meeting the breed standard. She will be a terrific pet, but would be disqualified from the show-ring.

Your dog can still be bred, but her puppies do have a chance or inheriting the tail form their mother, but they also have just as likely a chance of taking after the papa.

If the other dogs in the litter which your dog was a part of have standard tails, and your dog's parents also had the breed standard tail, then there's an excellent chance that your dog's puppies will also have the standard tail, since your dog has the gene, it's just recessive in her.

Your vet can probably answer a question regarding the genetics of what your dog's puppies could inherit. Be sure to choose a stud with a standard tail, from a line of dogs that also have standard tails, so the chances will improve that your puppies will be standard.

Here's a site on dog genetics you might find useful:
http://www.netpets.org/cats/healthspa/primer.html

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,

Patti