If you’re entering a local dog competition you’ll want your canine pal looking his absolute best. That means he’s stood upright, looking lean, and standing to attention. That includes his tail! If his tail always drops then he doesn’t look happy and he’s not going to be able to strike the right pose. There is no room for mistakes if you want the perfect shot, so that big, bushy tail needs to get in line. Alternatively, if you’ve got friends and family over and you want to show them a giggle-inducing party trick, then making his tail stand to attention never disappoints.
This type of training is about more than keeping his tail up, it’s about drilling into him discipline and control. Control that you can use to teach him a range of other commands to get him marching to your beat and signing to your tune.
You might think training your dog to raise his tail is going to be a challenging, but it’s actually surprisingly straightforward. Once you understand that he raises his tail when he’s happy, you just need to find a way of triggering instant happiness and excitement. That way whenever you give the cue, his tail will quickly jump straight up. As you can probably imagine, nothing gets dogs excited more than some irresistible food. If he’s a puppy he should be eager to please and straightforward to excite. It may take just a few days before you see consistent results. If he’s older and his tail has been drooping for a while now, then you may need a couple of weeks to get the message across.
Training him to keep his tail up will help you get that perfect Snapchat story. It will also make him picturesque for any dog show you want to enter him into.
Before you begin, you’ll need to collect a few bits. Find his absolute favorite food and break it up into small pieces. Alternatively, stock up on some tempting treats. You’ll also need a clicker for one of the methods below.
You’ll need just 5 minutes a day for the next week or two. You’ll also want to conduct your training in a quiet room when you won’t be distracted by a noisy household.
The only other things you’ll need are patience and an optimistic attitude. Then you’re ready to begin!