What does your dog's tail look like

[tena]

All the cairns I see in pictures have long tails, Sophie has a little stumpy tail, almost like it was cropped. Does the length of the tail come from the tail itself or fur?

I know this is the dumbest question ever, but I'm not sure what Sophie's tail is supposed to look like.

Tena

[bradl]

Ideally, if you drew a line from the tip of the tail to the tip of the ears, it would be a level line. I like a short fat tail. Here's a nice tail:

Here's another tail, also perfectly normal:

[Guest Guest]

My girl is like the 2nd one - she has quite a long tail for a little pup - hope she grows into it

[purebella]

that was me above - wasnt logged in!

[kayharley]

That is very informative, Brad...thanks. And Tena, that is not a dumb question...I did wonder the same myself.

Elliott has very nice well balanced ears and a shorter tail where Madison has taller ears and a longer tail. I now need to get my yardstick and subject them to measurements.

[Lisad]

Great question! I've too often wondered. Now, I know

[tena]

Sophie's tail is only a couple of inches long at the most. A bitty little stump, but I can see by the pictures that there is quite a bit of variation in tail length....how much of the tail is hair...and how much is tail?

Still feel foolish...but thanks

Tena

[bradl]

Well, generally speaking, I believe normally what you see is all tail. If I've recently groomed a tail (itself a rarity ) there is seldom more than an eighth or quarter inch of hair extending past the tail. Only enough to create a point. Any more and it tends to look like a wayward wisp.

[Milopup]

Bosco has a long tail (same level as his ears) but it is not a fat tail, it is a bit thin.

[savannahsmom35]

I think I am still doing something wrong when grooming Savannah's tail. She still has too much hair on the tip of her tail (about an inch worth) and when I try stripping it, It won't pull out. Is it not ready or should I cut it or am I doing something wrong?

Savannah's tail is thin as well. Before stripping, her tail looked VERY long and wispy in areas and very thin and short in others. Kinda reminded me of a plant stem and leaves. I stripped the wispy parts so that all the hair is around the same length but it looks very thin (not at all like a Christmas tree). At first I thought that I stripped too much hair but if I didn't pull out all the hair that I did it would have looked messy (not like the pictures above). Could it be because this was the first time that I have ever stripped her tail?? Now that all her tail hair is the same length, will it grown in like the pictures above?? I swear, the tail is the hardest thing for me to groom.

Don't feel foolish Tena. You are asking very good and helpful questions that I have been meaning to ask for a while.