A tail that’s carried over and over a dog’s back in an arc that never touches the back, nor lies flat against it, is called, for obvious reasons, a pot-hook, or pot-handle tail. Its “correctness” in a dog has everything to do with the dog’s breed.  Such a tail would be incorrect for, say, a Scottie, because this breed carries its tail erectly with a slight curve forward or vertically, but not over the back. The Shih Tzu’s breed standard, on the other hand, stipulates that the tail should be, “set on high, heavily plumed [and] carried in curve well over the back.”

Early developers and breeders knew that in some working breeds, tails served as counterbalance, rudders, provided equilibrium during sharp turns, and acted as “handles” (in breeds that went to ground), but they also wanted dogs that were pleasing to look at. Early on, these people determined how tails factored into their breed’s overall appearance.

At the end of the day, does it really matter how your Scottie or Shih Tzu’s tail is carried if the dog is “just a pet?” Probably not, but tail carriage is part of type, and type is what sets our breeds apart from each other. A Shih Tzu carrying its tail like a Scottie is still a Shih Tzu, but will look somehow different than a Shih Tzu with proper tail carriage.

Shih Tzu by Katja Turnsek, shared with permission
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