[Dailydrool] Tails...of all shapes and sizes.

[L.K. Metzler]

Let's see...third time might be a charm...

All four of my kids have the white tips on their tails.  Pelly and
Penelope's tails are white about half of the length.  Jasmine's tail
has about 2" of white tip, and Addie has just the very tip of her tail
dipped in white.  Everybody has a really cute little "twist" of the
hairs on the end of their tails.

As far as the tails themselves,
Penelope has a long feathery tail (that's the Brittany in her) that is
constantly wagging.  She can even wag just the end of her tail when she
wants to, and we have great fun with her and her "trick" of wagging her
tail on command.  She is a perpetually happy girl and carries her tail
pretty high most of the time.  Pen's tail was one of Addie's most
favorite things to play with when she was still a baby, and poor Pen
often suffered a good chomp with those needle-like puppy teeth. 
Penelope never got mad or growled at Addie about that, but there were a
couple of times when her eyes got to be saucer-sized after one of those
bites.

Pelly's
tail is definitely HIS tail, and he really does not like to have it
messed with.  He will let me pick it up and hold it, but he doesn't
like me to mess with it much beyond that.  I think some of that stems
from having had a big cyst on the base of his tail that had to be
removed, and then his back injury almost two years ago has certainly
added some apprehension about his tail being handled.  He doesn't carry
his tail high, but I think that is due to the surgeries he's had in the
area...there may be some nerve damage.  That tail wags, though, 
Sometimes it's rather slow and casual, but other times it really goes
and is pretty enthusiastic.  He does want me to remind everyone,
though, that he is "not a reindeer...so don't put those antlers on me
again!  Humph."    Sorry, P...but you really are cute in them!

Jazzy
has a rather "pudgy" little tail.  It's not very long, but very thick
and "substantial", and when she whops you with it, you know she's
there.  It's a good "handle" when we need to get a hold of her quickly 
(she doesn't wear a collar most of the time because it gives her a
rash), because she is a small torpedo-shaped little houndie girl.  Jaz
carries her tail pretty high most of the time, and has mastered the art
of the "helicopter tail".  Sometimes I really think if she could get it
going just a little faster, she'd take off and fly around the room.

Addie-Lou
Roo, despite her kangaroo tendencies, has a long skinny tail like a
whip, and she carries it very high and tightly curled over her back
like a question mark.  The more interested in something she is, the
tighter the tail curls.  I've never seen another Basset with a curly
tail, but hers is.  When she was a baby puppy, it was very long (longer
than her body!) and almost all black except for a thin brown stripe on
the underside and just the last 1/2" or so for the white tip.  As she's
gotten older, her tail has changed to more of a brown and black
coloration, and she seems to have grown into the length of it.  We were
worried for a while that she would have a tail that was more like an
antenna.....

Those
tails are certainly a great way to identify who is who when you can't
see their faces.  I can scan over the assorted houndage sprawled on
pillows and tell which one is which by the tails I see.  

Happy New Year Drool being slung to you and yours!

L.K. Metzler
San Marcos, TX   toppogigio at yahoo.com     "A dog wags its tail with its heart." - Martin Buxbaum     "If dogs could talk it would take a lot of the fun out of owning one." -- Andy Rooney 
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