Understanding a dog’s body language separates good trainers from mediocre ones. A dog’s tail is one of the most expressive parts of his body and knowing how to read the tail is like looking through a window into his mind. Recently, I had an opportunity to observe a variety of tails when Maurice Lindley presented a pointing dog seminar at our kennel in Virginia. For three days, I watched Mo work a total of twenty dogs of different breeds, ages, sexes and levels of experience, and while their looks and actions were varied, their body language was the same. It was the universal language of pointing dogs.
On the first day, Mo evaluated the dogs by putting
a pinch-collar and check-cord on them and walking them around the training
field. Initially, some of the dogs tucked their tails as they walked indicating
they were uncomfortable. As Mo began asking them to stop and stand still he
stroked them a couple of times for praise before moving them on. After being
stopped and stroked a couple of times, most of the tails began to come up. Mo
explained, “When I first start walking a dog around on the check-cord and
pinch-collar, I watch how he carries himself. A dog that isn't confident may
tuck his tail until he figures out everything is OK. After I work with him a
couple of times, the tail starts to come up at least to level with the back,
which tells me the dog is becoming comfortable and ready to learn.”
Two of the dogs held their tails up in a more
confident manner. As Mo began to walk them around the field and asked them to
stop and stand still, both dogs stood still with all four feet planted on the
ground except for their tails which were going around in little circles at
ninety miles a minute. Mo explained, “Some dogs see everything that moves in
the field. There is a lot of looking around and a fast circular tail action
which tells me they are in a different world and not focused on me. These dogs
take extra work to prepare for training. I’ll have to work hard to gain their
attention and get them in a submissive state of mind so they accept me as their
boss. A dog has to submit and buy into the training before I move him forward
and this is before I get to bird work.”
On the second day, Mo planted quail and turned
loose some of the older dogs, one at a time. Most of the dogs had tails that
cracked with a happy animated action indicating they were thinking about birds
and focused on hunting. One dog ran with a flat tail and acted like he was more
interested in running than hunting or listening to his handler. Most of the
dogs pointed with intensity but one dog was so jacked up and intense on point
that his tail quivered with excitement. It came as no surprise that he charged
in to flush the birds at the same time as the handler walked in. Another dog
pointed staunchly but then his tail loosened up and began to flag in a slow
back and forth action as the dog lost confidence that a bird was there. Once
the handler asked him to move up, the dog went forward and pointed rock solid.
Reading your dog’s tail takes experience, but the
more you pay attention to the tail, the better trainer you will become. As you
go through the steadying process, your dog’s tail will tell you what is going
on in his mind. You will start to see when your dog is ready to learn, when
he’s happy, when he’s confused, when he’s not paying attention, and when he
needs his confidence built up. And don’t just limit yourself to looking at your
own dogs; go to a training day or a seminar or field trial and watch as many
dogs as you can. I knew a National Champion that always ran with a high tail
except when he was getting ready to knock birds. I used to chuckle when I was
riding his brace and saw his tail drop because I knew exactly what he was about
to do.
