gay tail, - Page 1

hi there..i have a question, Is a gay tail, tail standing too upright, can be corrected without surgery? thanks in advance.

We're getting into a murky gray area here. What's your reason for doing so?

Many pro handlers have various tricks for doing this, but many of them would get you banned from the show ring for good if you were found out.

Corrected?
By being on the show ground early, moving around, correcting bullying behavior, socialisation and obedience...

Taz (username icon^) used to be a bit too proud of his; but as you can see from that little photo, the sort of things Susie lists sorted it out.
Does depend on the individual dog though, some are just born with a tail set and carrriage that leads to them flying it all the time, like some Husky or other Spitz breed - result of poor breeding, often. Not too much you can do about those cases, even the sort of tail-breaking tricks Sunny refers to.

Yeah, also lead fishing line weights, carefully hidden in the tail hair... 

Susie, never thought of training to reduce the tail carriage. Two thumbs up to you!

yes, it's a pretty simple procedure. you will want to find an experienced vet but any good show handler can hook you up. It is genetic so if you start with it you gotta live with it.

best,
Rik

OP asked about sorting this problem "without surgery"; Rik you are clearly thinking SOME sort of surgical intervention, whether you are talking about interfering with bone or muscles/tendons ? There maybe ought to be a warning that if anyone travels that route, they run some risk of ending up with a dog with a nerve-damaged "dead tail" that it then cannot raise or wag properly, which in terms of 'doggy communications' can be as restricting as docking the tail altogether. Plus any judge worth their salt can suspect it has been done - and Kennel Clubs tend not to like undercover alterations to a dog. Besides which as far as I am aware these techniques may 'help' with "hooky" tails and some tails which are raised level with the back, but not with one set too high in the first place and carried right over the back. So OP you need to look honestly at your dog and decide the extent of the problem first. Also you didn't actually say if this is a dog you want to Show ?
Rik is right in saying you have to 'live with' this; you will know if your dog has been operated on, you will know if any canny Show Handler has taught you to cheat e.g. by sticking bits of lead along portions of the tail; and you will go on knowing, if you then breed that dog and risk puppies inheriting the gay tails ... so over to you !

right hundmuther, I guess I missed the non surgical part. Go what you want, if it's a true gay tail, it ain;t going to work. involves clipping a couple of muscles. Has been done many times on AKC s/l dogs, considered routine.not saying it's right, just that it happens often.

one very highly rateded s/l dog from a few ago (god bless America and the stars and stripes} (hint, hint0. Had several inches of his tail (long curl) removed from his first puppy outing to his adult showing, Went high select. Jusr sying it happens and is common.

At one time, the top vet for this procedure was in Birminghan Al. Who knows who started out in Birminghan al.

just trying to stir up discussion,

best,
Rik

Yeah Rik I'd got the impression over the years that this is hardly unknown in US showing; not saying its never done over here, but I think its far less common. Majority of UK exhibitors would probably object on the grounds its 'unnatural' (though I would not put it past some to go the lead weights route if they thought they might get away with it ! - not that they should be able to, a decent judge might find a way to run an exploring hand down every entrant's tail if there was a likelihood this was happening). Thought the OP (and other readers) should have the issues spelled out.

One of the most experienced GSD breeders for over 50 years, now retired, told me when I had one of his dogs with a gay tail, that it was easily correctable, without any 'procedures' The answer is road work and lots of it, on a moderate basis every day. Young dogs who have a gay tail that get road work almost always grow out of it. Mine did, and so did several others I have shown over the years.

Please understand, I am not talking about a tail which is curved or curled. But a saber tail which is simply too high.

I would never operate or break a tail to achieve the desired result. In the first place, it can be harmful to the dog, especially later in life as old GSDs often have rear spine and tail arthritis. It just is not worth it. There are far worse flaws than a gay tail.