Young pointer. Tail issues??

My pup is 7 mo old. Any chance his tail (on point) will be straighter and higher when he matures?

http://rs140.pbsrc.com/albums/r38/pharmvet/Mobile%20Uploads/image_3.png?w=480&h=480&fit=clip

That's an unusual looking tail. It should get better.

That looks like a sight point to me... his style should grow with his intensity. Get as many birds as you can on his nose. He's still a pup.

In my opinion, this is a tail showing doubt and insecurity plus lack of confidence around game. I would try two things......
1. Put the dog on a barrel and stroke him up good and hard on the tail and back simultaneously going typically against the grain of the hair applying enough pressure on the tail to keep it at an acceptable level for you. Be emphatic on the dog to hold his head and tail up. Patience is key here. Spend a considerable amount of time here. Never grab him by the tail again for any circumstance.

2. Set him up on point on a planted bird and get around in front of the dog with the bird in between you two. Go into a long flushing attempt w/o flushing the bird. The pup needs to see you and the bird spot in the same panorama. Don't talk to the pup besides a quick whoa or whup and a flushing sound. Once he gets confidence and he thinks the bird is going to lift, you will probably see his tail stand up taller. It may never be a 12:00 tail but should stand up some taller and straighter.

Some dogs just may not have the straight tail bling. You can make it some better. But with just looking at a lot of the photos on this board, a lot of dogs here don't even have a tail and they are pointing birds. We all get caught up in the pretty, straight tail, but if a dog is pointed and holding and I get to flush and shoot, I am not going to worry too much about it. With as many birds as we all have this year, I bet you see it improve before the end of the season. Try to flush wide and coming around to the front of the dog instead of walking in right beside him. Once he sees you in his view along with the birds in front, his confidence will rise along with his tail.

I think I know dogs, and then you guys start talking.

The Billy Squire method works.

My dog went from this to this by me using the methods I described.





Notice where I am standing and the approach...way out front!

The tail set I looks good.

With what I am seeing here, and with the dog's age, it is just a lack of intensity or birdiness. Your dog may need more visual contact with the bird, especially if the bird is moving a bit. Here is another trick. Pull some of the flight feathers on your quail. Approach your dog and the bird from the front or side, go in for the flush. The quail should jump, move and try to fly. This should excite your dog.

Watch your dog as he moves and re-adjusts(or not) for the moving bird. Intensity should increase.

A Bobwhite without flight feathers can be easily caught(use a fish net if needed). To finish this off, snag the bird, throw it and fire a blank or your shotgun. Release the dog for the cripple retrieve. Clipped wings birds can really excite those retrieve instincts too. All of this is best done with a training partner. One person needs to control the dog via a check cord and the other goes in on the bird. You do not want him to flush the bird. It also helps you control your dog if you are training for steadiness to wing or steadiness to wing and shot.

If you are concerned about the quail running, here is another tip. You can hobble the legs. Tie them close together with some string or surveyor's tape. I have done that a lot to chukar and pheasant when working young pointers or flushing dogs.

The pup looks to have a low tail set to me. Should get to about 60 degrees later when he is more sure of himself. As long as you are not trialing him if it never gets better and he is a good bird finder it makes no difference.

Consider making the birds seem more like wild birds or put him on wild birds. There's plenty of dogs who don't pay pigeons any attention, won't give pen-raised quail much, but are hard as a rock on wild birds. Your dog looks activated by the birds with his ears up and his posture. Maybe he's not fully activated, though.

You can call me at 469-410-2683 to talk about it or you can bring him out. We have plenty of land, pigeons, quail, launchers. Everything you could ever want to train g a dog.

The best bird dog I will ever own had a ugly tail when on point, low to straight out. But he was a bird finding machine.
I love the look of the classic high tail but will take a bird vacuum any day.

All good advice so far. On what northtxbirdhunter was saying. A barrel used for whoa work can also be used to set the head and tail. I have done the same thing stacking my dog on the ground in repetition when training for conformation. Really short training sessions over and over ending with praise you can have a right proud standing dog on point or not.

Is there a possibility that he's had a cold injury to his tail? It's called cold wet tail, and I've seen it a couple of times. If that is the problem it could take a year or more to recover. I hunt with a buddy's dog that used to hold her tail up 12 o'clock high, but got cold wet tail last year. She will still hold her tail like your pup's from time to time a year later.

See?

[quote=pharmvet]

Nice tail set. Proves I know nothing at all. Bill knows his tail sets.

The point was driven home Bill. Thanks!

walk up behind him, gently stroke his tail against the grain of the hair, this will sometimes pump the tail up