My grandfather crops all of his cattledog's tails. He says it prevents injury. That working dogs often get them stomped by cows, shut in gates, etc...

As far as cropping for cosmetic purposes goes, I'm undecided. I love the look of cropped ears and tails. Yet, I am not sure that I could bring my family dog in for cosmetic surgury. I'd probably rather them look natural then put them through unneccessary pain.

BTW. I was asking about cropping one time, and my vet is really cool, so he let me come back. They had this pitbull puppy put under on a table. There was blood everywhere as he trimmed his ears with scissors. He just keep looking and trimming a little off each time until he got the look that he wanted. It was very gory and disturbing.