# Tail growth - normal to curl?



## chisberry

Hello,

New to the forum. I just got a purebred DDR GSD pup, black and tan. Right now she is 9 weeks old going on 10, so I have had her about two weeks. She is my first dog outside of when I was growing up as a kid, and my first GSD. She was bred for temperament and it shows; she has a great disposition.

The first week we got her we noticed she had consistently soft stools, and sometimes diarrhea. A vet visit and stool sample confirmed she had coccidia. We began treating her and although she still has the soft stools, she seems like she's got an extra bounce in her step and she's really starting to grow rapidly, which is something the vet said would probably happen since the parasite was denying her all the nutrients from her food.

With her growth and extra energy, I've noticed her curling her tail when walking. This is a hard curl; like a question mark from the side. When we got her I did notice her tail seeming long, and her walking with it up, but I don't believe it curled like this and figured she would 'grow into it', or that she was holding it up since it was so long and she was so close to the ground. Well, now her tail doesn't look too long for her body as her body has been elongating. Her ears have been going up and down, left and right, which I know to be normal, but is this curling of the tail normal for a growing puppy? If this is normal, at what age should her tail hang normally? Or is this something I can expect her to have for the rest of her life?

Thanks in advance for anyone with knowledge on this!


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## CeCe

Do you have a pic? Is it like a Husky tail or more like a sideways S? My boy has a S tail but it is considered a flaw for a shepherd.


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## PupperLove

A friend of mine has a lab who had a curl in her tail as a pup and she never grew out of it. My GSD Jackson had a very straight tail as a pup and now he curls the tip off to one side. Can you post a picture?


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## cliffson1

DDR dogs often have traits that will incline the dog to hold his tail high, especially when going somewhere new or unfamilar.


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## kennajo

what is DDR? My guy's tail curls too and ear's didn't stand but I love him flaws and all!


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## TaZoR

my dog held his tail like an akita at that age,,it worried me too, only because he looked silly. At 4 months his tail is down like a sickle,,don't worry yet.


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## carmspack

we don't know what the OP is describing yet . 

Picture please.

A tail is animated, for balance , for expression. She may be describing the sabre , or the Lierberg twist , or just a bright aware dog. Limp or hanging could be undesirable indicating "dead tail" , insecurity - clamping down on the anus .

the stuff to sweat is the dog's temperament , the bonding, the trainability .

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


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## onyx'girl

Onyx carries her tail high when excited, and at rest it is like a question mark. I don't know her lineage.


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## TaZoR

If I had analized how Tazor carried his tail at that age, it would have been such a waste of time. I tried googling and a lot of opinions were leaning towards.."at that age it isn't likely to change". Then I looked at a thousand photos of puppies and realized even the primo breeders pics were similar. 

In my opinion, it will change as it gets longer and its far too early to make assumptions. I know its hard to be patient, especially with a 'gay' tail as my pup had . Lol


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## Wolfiesmom

Here's how Wolfie carries his tail when he is excited or agitated. He is a DDR dog.


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## kennajo

What is DDR?


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## Wolfiesmom

kennajo said:


> What is DDR?


East German Dog. _Deutsche Demokratische Republik_


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## rumhelka

Wolfiesmom said:


> Here's how Wolfie carries his tail when he is excited or agitated. He is a DDR dog.


My 10 months old Amber carries hers exactly the same way. Is it a fault?


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## Good_Karma

My boy is ASL, but he has a very long tail too, and curls it up when he is excited (like when he is stalking the chickens  ).


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## Wolfiesmom

rumhelka said:


> My 10 months old Amber carries hers exactly the same way. Is it a fault?


I don't know if it's a fault. He carries his tail normal when he is calm. It only curls like that when he is excited.


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## Syaoransbear

It might be like that for the rest of your dog's life. My dog's tail was curled at 4 months when I got him and it never went away.









Excited









And how it normally hangs


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## martemchik

I'm pretty sure any curl in a rested state is a flaw, not in an excited state though. My boy's tail is as straight as can be, and also not fluffy at all. The tip touches the ground when he walks so you can tell its pretty long for his body size. He's partially DDR but I never noticed any kind of curl.


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## chisberry

Ok here are some photos, I've never done this before so hopefully they display correctly. I added them as attachments.

Picture quality isn't the greatest, but you can see that her tail goes straight down in one photo, but in the other two curls up over her back.

And I think someone already answered, but she is DDR, or East German - working line.


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## onyx'girl

Your puppy looks perfectly normal! The curl when excited is what GSD's do...and your pup has a straight tail. Look at the others that aren't so straight when at ease, funny how they both curl to the left. Maybe because the way they herd, it acts as a rudder


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## chisberry

I should also add that she walks around like that, with the tail up. Her tail is all over the place! But, when she is normally walking around, more often than not her tail is curled up. I included another picture of her with the curl and then one of her from the front.


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## horsegirl

chisberry said:


> I should also add that she walks around like that, with the tail up. Her tail is all over the place! But, when she is normally walking around, more often than not her tail is curled up. I included another picture of her with the curl and then one of her from the front.


Cute pup!!! looks like she has a slightly high tail set. If her tail curls up over her back as she ages and stays that way , it is indeed a fault.. most people call it a "gay " tail.


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## horsegirl

rumhelka said:


> My 10 months old Amber carries hers exactly the same way. Is it a fault?


curling slightly when excited is ok, but the tail should never curl up over their back or break over a 90 degree angle (my way of explaining) if it does it is indeed a fault.


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## horsegirl

Wolfiesmom said:


> Here's how Wolfie carries his tail when he is excited or agitated. He is a DDR dog.


love your counter top with the white cabinets!! is that granite? I am remodeling , sorry I see that stuff now...


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## onyx'girl

If you aren't going to show in conformation, who cares? Gay tail is showing some exuberance/enthusiasm and confidence ~~better than a tuck tail, IMO. 
Some dogs will carry the tail higher because it drags on the ground during the growth stages, then habits are formed. 
I don't think a dog will carry the tail in the 'gay' mode while in a ring pulling, but then I don't do that type training so take my opinion with a grain of salt...


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## Wolfiesmom

horsegirl said:


> love your counter top with the white cabinets!! is that granite? I am remodeling , sorry I see that stuff now...


Thank you! It is granite. The color is called Blue Pearl.


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## bianca

My Molly more often than not has her tail curled up. I tell her she's trying to be a Husky! 










And straight


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## horsegirl

Wolfiesmom said:


> Thank you! It is granite. The color is called Blue Pearl.


saw that color at home depot , love it!!!


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## NancyJ

Beau't tail hangs like a sabre when at rest but when he is interested in something, it looks like a darned snake with a mind of its own.....craziest tail I ever saw....which i like because he is very easy to "read" with that much expression. And when he walks it is up and slightly curled.


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## Witz

I have a very close friend who is also my trainer for Schutzhund who has been around GSD's and Schutzhund for over 30+ years. He has always had me trim the hair on off the end of the tail in growing puppies. He says that the tail and its hair is sensitive to touch and by not allowing it to scrape the ground it will avoid the reaction to turn up or to the side. Until the pup's body grows so the tail is proportional, he swears that this keeps the sabre drape intact. In terms of my dogs "excited tail", it curls right up over his back.

Now, is it an old wives tail, I don't know, but I have done it on all my GSD pups and had very straight tails as adults. I certainly recognize that some dogs will have genetics that effect the tails drape and or shape, but has anyone else ever done or heard this before?


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## jprice103

Wolfiesmom said:


> Here's how Wolfie carries his tail when he is excited or agitated. He is a DDR dog.


That is exactly how Cheyenne's tail is when she is playing, or excited or happy. All other times, it is low.


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## vomlittlehaus

Bella's tail has a curl in it. I have seen her straighten it at times, but she mostly carries it curled. She is half DDR, half West German.


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## chisberry

Happy to report that she is no longer curling her tail over her back. So, as some people said, it must have been a puppy thing. She's almost 15 weeks now, and hasn't been curling the tail for a couple of weeks now. Perhaps she just needed to grow into it?!


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## laki

my gsd puppy 11 weeks old has a curly tail up, can anyone tell me if that is a gay tail and what does it mean . She looks like this https://www.google.com/search?q=ger...al-puppy-stuff%2F294770-she-pure.html;767;575


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## Harry and Lola

Tail should hang straight down without a curl, obviously they lift their tails at times such as running or when they want to appear bigger and tougher!

If the tail hair is so long that it is touching the ground, the puppy/dog will naturally lift the tail to a curled side position and the tail can become used to this position and stay there as they don't like the tail hairs touching the ground.

To fix this I have always burned the long tail hairs with a cigarette lighter so that the hair is above the ground, that way they won't have to constantly lift the tail and it does help with allowing the tail to sit where it should on this breed.

Burning is better than cutting with scissors as it gives a more natural look compared to cutting straight across the tail


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## Kip's mom

My puppy Kip just turned three months, he has working lines and has always held his tail almost like an akita it has lowered a little bit and he really only carries it up when he is excited which at this point is pretty often, time will tell if it lowers


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## Stonevintage

Last relevant 4/2012


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## Castlemaid

Hi Kip's mom, welcome to the forum! Please introduce yourself and your dog in the Intro section, and feel free to jump into any active thread. This is a very old thread from 2012, so it will get locked as old threads being brought to life can be very confusing.


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