i have recently bought an 8 week old puppy, the thing is his tail is mean't to be low set, and his is high set over his back.  Is there anything i can do to train it to sit low?  or do you think it has a chance of becoming lower on its own?  there are no kinks or knobbly bits in his tail, just seems to like carrying it high!

Many thanks

You cannot change tail set.  If you bought your dog from a breeder that shows their dogs tail set might have been the reason why your pup was sold as a companion.

However, you are best to ask people who have your breed (you didn't say which one) if adulthood changes anything about the way pups hold their tails. (BTW, you've said his tail isn't meant to be low set, but his is high over his back... did you mean the tail is meant to be low set?)

sorry yeah its mean't to be low set and i bought him as i am intending to show.

It may not be that the tail is set high, he may just be carrying high due to his age.  If your breeder shows then she should be able to confirm this.

If it's a gay tail you can teach it to sit lower sometimes, however if his tail set is high then it's unlikely to change.

Tail carriage and tail set are two different things.  So can you make it clear what it is that your pup has?  the tail set will determin the tail carriage of course in some ways and some circumstances.

If you brought this pup intending to show then did he alway have a nice or a poor tail set/carriage?

What are the tail sets/carriage in his parents, grandparents etc?

And what breed is he?

Did anyone see Claire Coxall's bit in Dog World this week about how she was judging a Beardie club show and after her judging her first class there was an eerie silence?
Thinking that she'd done annoyed everyone she carried on til the end and after BIS she got a standing ovation from the ringsiders who explained that Beardie people dont clap because it makes all the dogs with trained tails lift them (over their back presumably).

We have got this qith our girl SBT, the tail is supposed to be carried low like an old fashioned pump handle and she carries it like a husky! Nothing we can do about it though. Our fiends SBT has the same problem, the tail of his girl curls like a pig tail and she is registered as well, sometimes its just something that happens I think, an anomoly!

I think, an anomoly!

No honest just incorrect construction.

You rarely find a dog that carries it's tail in the incorrect place that doesn't have some other knock on affect.  Ie aungulation.   The tail is an extension of the spine.

It doesn't affect the quality as a pet but poor tails sets can be very dominant in lines.  

Perhaps you should consult others in your breed?  Did the breeder know you were buying the pup with a view to showing?  If so they should have been able to explain about tail set/tail carriage ;)

In our breed tails are set low and supposed to be carried low, but pups often carry them high (but not over the back) until they get older/calmer ;)    Some dogs still have tails that go up when excited or around bitches in season ;) - and who can blame them? LOL

our boy lifts his tail quite high- its perfect conformation when he's calm, he's just a waggy fiend! if he's not wagging it falls straight down fine, he just carries it upwards facing when he's excited (almost always). he still holds it straight (not a gay tail) and you can tell its fine but it's given him a wee wrinkle above the root!

Polo's tail set is good but his tail is kinked. He's had it since a young pup . He's very energetic he may have knocked it, quite common in standards I've heard. It straightens a bit when he's at a show and on the grooming table, for some reason! But its quite curly so I dont show him anymore which is a shame as he's quite nice in other respects as one person said 'if you fixed his tail you'd have a lot of fun with him (at shows)'  but I'd hate to put him through that.

Many RC's rise their tails high when excited, of course they are not supposed to on the move! 

Saw a Weimeraner at the weekend at the show and it's tail was really weird, full length of course and it started off nicely, then had a kink where it would usually have been docked and then it had another kink further on, so it's tail was going in three different directions!  It looked very weird.

Is Polo not docked then?x

He is docked . Searched for ages for an undocked pup before the ban, ended up getting a docked puppy and now prefer docked tails LOL but I think  the undocked tails look quite nice if (fairly) straight! His tail is quite curly , it would be very curled undocked.But his breeder said his litter brothers tail when he visited her was even curlier!        :-)

I like the docked and the cute pom pom on the end. I didnt realise there was so much difference in docked tail. Thought they would all look more or less the same.lol :-)
Seen varying undocked tails and various ways its clipped. freds tail is long and straight until he gets excited and it goes in any which way!! Its shaved at the base of the tail then left like a pony tail type thing the rest of the way. Sometimes the fur falls and it looks like a pom pom anyway. other times it curls over his back like a husky.
have seen some undocked poodles with completely clipped tails and i dont really like that.

Or even angulation. ( My typing is getting worse and worse)  time for glasses :-)

LOL Tooolz,  Crazy really eh..

It is something that can be very dominant in any breed really and shouldnt really be over looked IMHO.

I am tail fanatic I like our breed bang on top.    Can't stand low set , gay tails or really long ones for that matter :-) . I think it ruins the whole picture.

Never seen a puppy in my own breed with a dodgy tail that had really good lay back shoulders and good rear end angulation. 

Well I'm dreading my breed with tails as they've never ever been bred for tails so in Europe all types are shown.  We know what we would prefer and I suppose at some point we will have to breed from only those with that type, but in my opinion the tail should be the last thing looked at, although I must admit I don't know whether I will ever keep a long tailed one as I would much rather just have a natural bobtail!

but in my opinion the tail should be the last thing looked at, Perhaps in your breed BUT not in mine :-)

the tail is an important part of the body.  It tells a tale :-)  pardon the pun :-)

Yes some breeds will have big problems now with the docking but I guess over time it will sort itself out ( Hopefully)

>but in my opinion the tail should be the last thing looked at

In setters you don't want a high tail, more likely to substain dammage when in the fields.

As you wouldn't want a sight hound with a tail high, as it would act as resistance

Also a huskey or malamute must be able to, when curled up, protect their faces with their tail when sleeping so not to freeze.

However aslong as the tail set is correct the tail should follow, although could allow males to carry a little high in the ring for if they are dominent or have a few pretty bitches moving infront of them! ;)

Labs are supposed to carry their tails no higher than the lovely setter in ice queen's avatar.  My Lab puppy has his straight up in the air nearly all the time.  I'm hoping it's his dominant attitude, I have seen it drop when meeting some big dogs, or running around.  But even worse, as his tail, which was skinny to start with, grows thicker, he has developed a crook where the thick and thin parts meet.  So when his tail is horizontal the last third drops off at a 90 degree angle.  It looks really weird.

Ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone, but my Suki can hold hers very high :-o, it even curls over sometimes! Thankfully when I'm showing her it's not too bad!

one of my labs hold her tail straight up all of the time, she is a very dominant bitch and have always thought that this is probably the reason for this, (jetstone jewel) you have confirmed my thoughts.