Droopy Tail

[sanford]

I'm a first-time cairn owner so I hope you'll indulge me with this frivolous question:

One of many physical characteristics that is so cute in a Cairn is the perky way they hold their tails up, but my Cairn almost never does that. Is this fairly typical, or a variation of the norm? He's totally endearing and I couldn't love him more, but I'm just curious about this one thing.

The fact is, he's 12 years old, so maybe his age is a factor? I adopted him just over a year ago, so I don't know if he ever carried his tail differently in his younger days. His tail goes up in the "typical" Cairn position when he encounters other dogs and sniffs them. At all other times his tail is only half up or down altogether.

Does anyone know what's up with this?

[bradl]

Some Cairns' tails are almost always up, but it doesn't seem uncommon for a dog's tail to drop a bit when tired, old, bored, etc. Some dogs' tails only really come up when they are excited. The behavior you describe of it perking up when greeting another dog is very normal. Some dogs' tails will come up when they are moving, and then droop when they stop. Even though it's not desired, you'll see handlers in the ring propping the tail up from time to time. That's because the judge expects to see the tail up, but the dog's not cooperating!

Tail carriage is part of the standard.

Tail: Tail in proportion to head, well furnished with hair but not feathery. Carried gaily but must not curl over back. Set on at back level.

[Darcy's Mom]

Toby, our male that we had for 14 1/2 years never carried his tail up unless he encountered another dog, or critter of any kind or unless he was excited. He wasn't much of a tail wagger either. He was always that was until the day he passed.

[Lesley]

Rusty was born with his tail in the air - i think it's his antenna. Only when he is dead tired does he let the tail down.

[Eliz222]

Scout doesn't have her tail up very much. She brings her tail up when she meets strangers, or if I say the word "walk?".

Finch's tail is always up and she wags it constantly.

I'm going to have to pay more attention to when they actually have their tail up and what they are doing at the time.

[ParNone]

Both of mine carried their tail up and waggin'. I thought that was typical of the breed and is one of the things I love most about'em, because they seem perpetually happy all the time, with that tail just a'goin'.

I did have an incident with Murph, where he slipped off the bed and landed on his rear end. He didn't yelp and seemed fine at the time, but by the next day his tail was in permanent droop position. So off we went to the vet. Murph would still wag his tail, even though it was drooped, so the vet didn't think there was anything wrong. Murph was the first Cairn at his practice, so a down tail seemed normal to him. Uh maybe for a Lab, but for my lil' Cairny, if his tail is down, there's a problem. Sure enough a x-ray revealed he'd fractured it. So that's pretty much the only instance in Murph's life where his tail has been noticably droopy.

Les...

[prandaj]

Elvis's tail is either straight out or down, never up in the air like the pictures of champions. But it does wag a lot!

Pattie

[tena]

Sophie has a stubby, snipped off tail, that is almost alway up and wagging unless she is scared or in trouble. Her wiggling tail is a trademark with her.

Tena

[kcsdogs]

Okay so Kipper's tail pretty much is not a great tail anyway and the only time it looks typically Cairn perky is when he is pooping..........

[toomanypaws]

Kiara and Abbey's tails are a disgrace to the Cairn Terrier breed. Both of theirs are too long, feathery and curl over their back. Oh well, I still love them dearly. Hannah has that cute tail that is always standing up bobbing, which makes her look like the happiest little dog I know.

[AllAboutPetey]

Petey's tail, bless his heart, is quite feathery and will curl over his back. Most of the time it is straight out. Belle, on the other hand, has a very nice upside down carrot-like tail. It's almost always straight up.