Or is it an automatic mood indicator not really consciously thought of.
Unless a dog responds to this post I doubt you will get a factual answer. What dogs are “thinking” is anyone’s guess. My guess is that dogs wag their tails reflexively when they are happy, but not being a dog that’s just a guess.
…or interested in something, or excited.
I suspect dogs know when they’re wagging their tales without being self-conscious about it. Initiation of tail-wagging is likely involuntary.
D’oh! I’ll put in for a forum change.
Did you feel that? Like being transported to a different forum?
Wellllll… for an argument on the “can’t even really control it” side, there’s happy tail syndrome, especially common in pit bulls- where a dog wags their tail so often and so hard against some hard surface that the tail ends up getting injured and bloody. And then they don’t quit. A dog with an injured paw will favor it or hold it up. Dogs will generally remember things that cause them pain and try to avoid them. But NOTHING- not bandages, not the pain, not the fact that they’re making it worse- will stop them from wagging. A lot of them end up having to have their tails amputated.
But for an argument on the “it’s intentional” side, my own dog is generally pretty reserved. She’s a happy dog and she loves me, but she’s not a quivering ball of enthusiasm. She doesn’t do things like give kisses or sleep in the bed (unless there’s a noisy rainstorm) or try to be a 50-lb lap dog. When she wags her tail, it always seems deliberate and controlled- like she’s intentionally communicating her approval or pleasure with whatever is happening.
So the answer is… I have no idea.
I was going to mention Happy Tail Syndrome-- My first dog (a lab/vizsla mix) had it. And then, of course, he’d splatter blood all over the same surfaces that were making it bleed to begin with. Our walls had a two-foot-high blood stripe around them.
TIL about “happy tail syndrome” and I hate it! Serious question to those who have or had dogs with this problem–why did you not dock their tails? It’s a very simple and relatively painless procedure (I had to contemplate it one time when my idiot dog managed to sprain his tail really badly–vet said if it didn’t heal on its own it would be best to dock the tail to keep him from constantly reinjuring it) that would save the dog and all humans and their property from a pretty distressing condition.
I have three dogs but only one is much of a wagger, her tail is a perfect barometer of how she’s feeling at the moment. The other two more wave their tails, as in greeting or play, but tails are mostly fairly quiet and as soon as something alarming or threatening happens those tails go into “I mean BUSINESS” mode and are carried straight out and a bit lower than their backs.
My Father told me that it is done snipping of a tiny amount at a time so that it doesn’t hurt.
Don’t think so, it’s a one and done procedure. I have cattle dogs, many of them are natural “stumpies” and some people think they’re all like that but they’re not. Some breeders dock their puppies’ tails but that’s frowned upon. Breed stumpies if you want tailless dogs, don’t cut off tails just for appearance!
Hadn’t heard of Happy Tail Syndrome before this thread, but I can certainly believe it’s a thing.
Less painfully (for the dog): I’m sure owners of large dogs can all tell stories about their pets wagging their tails and slamming the heck out of someone’s face, shins, groin, etc. All with a good nature, of course. Labs and goldens are notorious for this.
Also sweeping things off nearby shelves, cabinets, tables, etc.
I was discussing this thread with my Wife the biology student. She thought docking tails and ears had some practical origin, fighting dogs, perhaps.
Fighting dogs are predominantly the reason for ear cropping and tail docking. Stumpy cattle dogs are likely preferred because when they’re working in a mob of 2000 lb cows their tails could get stepped on and damaged but there’s no practical reason for doing it to pet dogs. Dobermans got the tail dock/ear crop to make them harder for the people they were sicced on to deter them from a fight by giving them less to grab onto. Basically though, all that stuff is unnecessary for pet dogs and is mostly just cruelty in the name of fashion, especially the ear cropping. Ear flaps are there for a reason, they help keep dirt and bugs out of the dog’s ear canals so cutting those off is especially terrible.
I had a cat once who had a puppy tail. In fact, that was her nickname. Her long whip-thin tail could sweep things off the coffee table when she got excited. I’ve never seen another cat whose tail would wag like hers did.
The dachshund floppy ears keep dirt out while he is digging up badgers?
There is a theory that flat ears are due to domestication. Reader’s Digest had a story years ago about Russians domesticating foxes, and their ears became flopped down rather than erect.
I’ve had three rescued Pointers (two GSP, one wire-haired). One of the GSPs had his full tail, the other two were docked. I wish they would stop docking tails. They still point with the full tail and I can’t see how they would be more susceptible to injury.
I think they must at least know when other dogs’ tails are wagging; because the position and movement of the tail is a significant social signal, to other dogs as well as to humans.
Docking and cropping are on the way out, thank goodness. The British Kennel Club outlawed showing cropped/docked dogs quite some time ago and that had a big influence on American show standards as well. The breeder I got Kosh from gets asked about docking her pups and she flatly says she won’t do it. She removes dew claws as needed (and those can be a significant risk in a working dog, they get caught on stuff and keeping the claw clipped is a pain) but tails are left natural. I really prefer it, myself, I like Kosh’s goofy tail–most dogs carry their tail curled upward but his goes out at a slight angle higher than his butt, then does about an 80 degree angle downward, silliest thing ever.