For our first lesson in communicating with our K-9 friends, we will be discussing the tail position. In general, you want your dog’s tail to be high, (the higher their tail the better the mood their in). However that isn’t to say that it’s bad for their tail to be in the down position, sometimes a dog’s tail is just down. That’s why you have to look @ the whole dog in order to interpret their feelings & thoughts.
Most of us know that dogs wag their tails when they are happy & their tail will be fairly high, however, if your dog’s tail is in this position it means that they are aroused. This is Madison, she will be the subject of many of the behaviors that we will cover in this blog. Here she is displaying many signs of arousal. The tail position is just one of them.
In future posts, we will discuss the other signals that she is displaying. In case you are wondering, Madison is barking @ our next-door neighbors. Madison is very protective of Victoria & me. She is very obedient & settles down when told.
In the picture below, Madison sees something out the window that she is unsure about. Note how her tail position is slightly elevated.
Here is a picture of Madison’s tail, we took her to the groomer today & she really isn’t a huge fan of ridding in the car. This position means she is nervous. She was also displaying calming signals which is a subject for a future post. You’ll just have to keep reading if you want to learn more.
