I am going to be a first time dog owner, and am thinking about buying a miniature pinscher. I have noticed that most of the ones I have seen have docked tails, but few do not. I personally like the undocked tails better, but if it is a health issue of course I would get the tail docked. Can anybody explain to me the necessity of docking a miniature pinschers tail? Thank you!

Your going to have trouble finding a reputable breeder who will not crop a tail for you. Tails get done at three days so they would have to eitheir select a pup for you then or leave a whole litter uncropped. Neither is a good option.

A breeder wants their dog to match the standard or I have issues with them breeding.

A lot of toy breeds would probally be jsut fine with a tail but you never really know. I'm sure your going to have it as purely a lap pet and not running around a farm or through the woods everday? Maybe rescue would be good for you to look into.

The tail of a Min Pin has no main purpose as a pet these days. It began being done way back to avoid injury, same as the ears. Other than accidental injury, a tail on a pet min pin would not be an issue.
Though, since the tails are done at 3 days of age, you will have a hard time finding a reputable breeder that will not dock the tails. Especially since at birth you dont necesarrily know which pup will be for who, so the entire litter would be done.
It is part of the standard of the breed, so most all breeders unless they are sketchy will have them done.

Sometimes in the Min Pin rescues you can find one who still has a tail that came from someone who didnt want to spend the money to have it done. If you go to Petfinder and do a breed search the internet Min Pin rescue will come up. Look there, as I have seen maybe one tailed one there before.

My Min Pin's tail is not docked. She came from someone who didn't care about the parents having an accidental breeding and didn't want to spend money on the puppies. Not having her tail docked does not affect her in any way. She wags it like crazy! Tegan is so full of energy, even if you can get the rest of her still, the tail is beating you to death! I am not saying NOT to have the tail docked (I personally like the look). I am just saying that it won't affect their health.

Thank you all for your help, just seems like I will either have to talk to a breeder before the pups are born or rescue a min pin...I can't wait!

A breeder though that would agree to not docking the tail is likely to be one you would not want to deal with in the long run. Since they need done at such a young age, and it is part of the breeds standard. Also, what if the one pup she decided not to dock in hopes that the person wanting it will follow through with the purchase (would be hard pressed to sell one to most people that way) god forbid doesnt survive? As is common in the toy breeds espec for less than reputable ones who would agree to not dock in the first place?
I would think that they wouldnt be willing to not dock an entire litter for one sale.
Check the rescue sites first.
Why is it so important that the dog has a tail? Why not choose a tailed breed then so it wouldnt be such an issue finding one that way.

Good luck and post pics when you find your new companion!

lpn169, Actually docking had nothing to do with injury. Somehow people just came up with that. Back in Jolly old England people were docked for Taxes. Any dog that had a job was considered a working dog. ie MinPins were used as ratters. So they had there tails docked to be aleviated from being taxed. This is actually the way docking became about on many breeds. It is illegal to dock tails, remove dew claws and sergically alter ears any many countries now. This is why we are seeing more and more dogs with uncropped ears and docked tails. More and more breeders in the U.S.A are starting to follow suit. My Parson pup from Finland came alnaturel. And I have choosen to leave her that way.
I would never let a breeders choice to dock or not to dock be a deciding factor in whether I choose a pup from them. There are to many other important factors to consider. Right now I am still docking my Parson pups, but keep taking less and less off the tails. And some day soon, I might just quit all together. There are several dogs in my breed who have gained Champion titles with natural tails. It is something my parent club will be considering a chance in our breed standard. So far it has not been a big issue. I have seen Rotties show at Eukanuba with there happy meters safely intact. As well as many other breeds. I was probably the first person to own an Old English with a full tail.