tail wagging

[JoeyQ]

I actually thought that Basenjis didn't wag their tails. I just read in another thread that one person's B was so happy he/she came up with tail wagging etc. I was confused. Then the very next day, I walked in the door, Joey ran up to me and was so happy to see me I saw his tail wag! Yippee! We have had him only a month (he's 11 months) and I am guessing he just needs adjustment time before he acts like a true basenji!!

[youngandtired]

Sahara always comes up to me with her tail going crazy with waging when I come home from anywhere. I have always thought this was natural. She also lowers her head and ears are also down. She is such a sweetie!!!

[Lenora]

Abbey doesn't wag at all. I don't know how a tightly curled tail could be "waggable" if that's a word. She can straighten it out if she's really relaxed, like when she's being petted, but that's it.

[Duke]

Dukes tail is cut short, but it wags. When he's very excited, his little butt wiggles with it - vigorously! :D

[Ambered]

fender wags his tail when he is happy. its almost like he is trying to shake all the curl out of it :) he also straightens it when he is relaxed. i do not think all basenjis wag. i do not remember any of the dogs i have had in the past wagging.

[nala121498]

Nala kind of wags her whole butt, but the tail does wiggle too. This only happens when she is expremely happy to see someone. Her ears are in what we refer to as "The flying nun" position at the same time.

[Quercus]

Our male only wags his tale for certain people...and it is just a really short burst of wags. Ivy NEVER wags her tail, unless she is inviting play with other dogs. Blondie wags all the time :) Bella wags occasionally, but usually towards other dogs...Luna wags all the time!

[JazzysMom]

Jazzy wags her tail when we come home after being gone a while, whenever she sees Bryan at a show, and when she sees other Basenjis. Otherwise, that thing never moves.

[JoeyQ]

huh, all this is interesting (as tho everything else isn't?!, duh!). Joey's tail is curled very tightly and it did wag when curled tightly! He also relaxes his tail fully unraveled when he is chillin'.

[jenwilson]

My Hollie's tail was cropped by someone, but the little stub wags like crazy when she is happy.

[Miche]

I see the entire body wag from my guy Gibby..the tail does wag if he is REALLY happy to see someone but not for everyone. It's kind of funny how they can control that aspect of emotion...he's the same with a "barooo." Some people he greets with one and others he just investigates. I learn more about him all the time by paying attention to his signals!

[Terry]

Kate and Fiber rarely wag; they're the SERIOUS types, Tex wags and "Baroooos", Dude sometimes wags, usually at one of the other dogs or when he's chasing the laser light, Lela and Arrow wag all the time whenever they see us, and Amina wags her tail, her whole body and leaps joyfully all over anyone brave enough to enter the back yard with her, doing backflips as necessary. The old man, Dino, has always been very reserved. His version of tail wagging was to uncurl and re-curl his tail twice. Now that he's almost 15 his tail is almost always straight. Guess it takes too much energy to keep it curled!

Terry

[JazzysMom]

Jazzy's tail remains tightly coiled when wagging. I love it!!

It only uncurls when she is sleeping, and even then not always.

[noobie]

I wag a little...but I keep it curled when I do it. My people laugh because it looks funny to see the cinamon roll wiggle around...so I don't do it often, usually to invite play or maybe three times when he comes home for lunch.

[laskiblue]

Neither Marco Polo nor Taj wag. Marco's only been with me year, but I raised Taj from an 8 week old pup. Ellie will occasionally wag in a very restrained manner when I come home -- I really have to watch closely to see those two or three faint wiggles.

The only time I saw Ellie wag vigorously was upon my return when my B crew stayed with a friend while I made an unexpected week-long trip out of town. She wagged, cavorted, flung herself back-down on the ground and continued wagging while I rubbed her belly. That is also the day that she made her one and only "roo" at me -- it was very brief and very soft, but extremely touching to me. She makes a wide variety of other sounds all the time but that one little "roo" was so precious.

Laskiblue

[spitfirekrl1]

That's interesting, I had no idea that some B's didn't wag. My girl wags every time we come home get up from the couch or talk to her. It's a very tightly curled tail that jiggles back and forth very quickly. It's pretty funny. I have yet to see her tail uncurled even when she's sleeping.

[lvoss]

Both of my girls are tail waggers and yodelers. They are very demonstrative about their feelings. I am always greeted with vigorous wagging and a loud yodel from Rally and Rio fills me in on the whole day with series of yodels, burrs, and I don't even know how to describe them sounds. Nicky on the other hand will occasionally give me a dink dink of his tail but only really wags it when he is trying to entice the girls to play with him or he is waiting for his turn at the lure. Nicky also does not yodel and rarely vocalizes at all.

[Luzambo]

My mother used to have a tri girl years ago that wagged her tail in a circle so fast, you'd think it would lift her butt right off the ground like a helicopter!! lol :-)

[iluvmali]

Mali wags her tail when she is happy. I notice it most when I come home from work. But it's not like the normal dog wag... still it's cute going all fast like a tightly curled little piggy-tail =^-^=

[seko]

Iluvmali, great avatar, just saw the wagging tail! :cool:

[iluvmali]

haha... yeah how appropriate right? I forgot the tail wagged! yep, just like that everybody!! haha....

[JoeyQ]

Joey's tail remains tightly curled when he wags, don't they all?

[red and white furever]

My Nikki is a b-mix and she's a wagger. Stormie is purebred, and he wags his tightly curled cinnabun tail. Somedays I think he's going to propel his little behind right off the floor the way he gets it going! He rarely makes any sounds, though - the only time I hear him make sounds is a growl, or an occasional bark-oo when he's "playing" with the cats.

[JoeyQ]

Had to laugh!! Joey's tail looks like one of those whirlybird things when his tail gets going too. It does look like he might take off someday...LOL!!! :D

[Mark1491]

Cali is the same way....Cali looks like she is being wined up....LOL

[BDawg]

Lexi's tail wags ONLY in anticipation- not in happiness. She wags it mostly for the lazer pointer. She knows that when we pick it up to look at the ground. She'll look around for the red dot to appear and start wagging her tail, slowly at first and then a little faster. She'll pick up her feet and you can almost hear her say, "Where is it?! Where's the light?!?!"

[Basenji_Boy]

Since we're talking about tails, some of ours their tail never uncurls, and others the tail can straighten out and go limp.:D

[JoeyQ]

Just like us, there must be those Bs that are more laid back and those that are always just a little bit uptight :D !

[Basenji_Boy]

Just like us, there must be those Bs that are more laid back and those that are always just a little bit uptight :D !

Some tails you couldn't straighten out with an iron.......uptight, that explains it.:D :D :D

[nala121498]

Anyone who visits is so excited when Nala is sittingor laying in their lap with her tail straighted out (as much as it will, the very end is a hold-out)! They feel such a sense of accomplishment!

[alkite]

Giz wags when he is happy, but uncurls when he is upset or nervous. He also lays his ears back like a cat when he isn't too thrilled. I love to watch him wag his curl, it is the best "welcome home" I can get. He's never baroo'ed. I keep hoping!

[JoeyQ]

Joey's ears lay back on his head when he is very excited to see me. He has also given up a few baroos for me when my hands have been full and I haven't been able to give him attention right away. Otherwise he is silent, well of course except for the occasional grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr when someone tries to move him while in a warm comfy spot!

[Mantis]

Caesar is 6 and has never wagged his tail. i was shocked to see Beta wag her tail and she would do it anytime she was excited to see me.

I thought the wagging was rare, like a roo!

[abby_basenji]

My Abby wags her tail but it's almost her whole butt, my other dog Missy who is not a basenji but has the same tail wags her whole butt too.

[Vanessa]

Chance has a half wiggle when he finds me...but...when he potties...his tail goes up and down like a water pump! I laugh when I see this :)

[LSanders]

Tana wags his tail quite a bit at anyone he's familiar with and likes, whether it's when you've just come home or you have something he wants (i.e., food).

He uncurls his tail when he's relaxed, but he broke his tail when he was a puppy (before we or his previous owners had him- probably at the breeder's) and he's very sensitive about it. You can pet his tail, but just can't play with the end too much or he SCREAMS!

He will manage to squeeze out a "bark" if he's trying to get your attention. Especially when you tell him to go to his kennel, without realizing the door is closed. So funny!

Does anyone else have a basenji that "waves"? Like when he's on a leash, and he sees another dog or person he knows, he stands up on his hind legs and furiously waves his front legs. His previous owner told us not all basenji's/dogs do that. He also has a game where he lies on his back in your lap (as much of him that will fit) and you wag your fingers towards his face or chest and he waves at them. So silly.

[Mantis]

that is cute! my basenjis dont wave.....but it would be a great photo to catch

[nomrbddgs]

Both of my Basenji's wag their tale. My female does it more than my male. It is really a personality thing I think.

Arlene

[RockysWoman]

Rocky does the "light switch flick" wag... his curl flips back and forth over his back in an abrupt fashion, like a person flicking a light switch on and off repeatedly.

It's adorable! Then he yodels and all is right in the world!

[Vanessa]

I can always tell when Chance is about to fall into a deep sleep...his tail will un-curl. Thats when I know it is safe to move about without him thinking it is playtime.

[Basenji_Boy]

I find the tails very interesting. Some of ours wag tails, some don't. Our domestics have tails you couldn't uncurl if you wanted to....unless you broke their tail. The African's tails are very loose and go limp when they relax or sleep. When the AF female eats, its completely limp, hangs straight down.

Just an observation based on what I see with mine.:)

[Barklessdog]

Ours are the exact same, tri cant uncurl, african female goes limp and staightens out when running, sleeping

[JazzysMom]

Jazzy's tail is tightly curled and only uncurls when she's sleeping.
Keoki's tail is more loosely curled and uncurls regularly.

They are related...but it's hard to say exactly what to call them in human terms....

Gabrielle is Sprite's dam. Sprite is Paso's dam. Paso is Jazzy's sire. And Gabrielle is Jazzy's dam also. {So.. her mom is also her great-grandma? And his mom is her grandma/half-sister?}

{Can everybody sing, "I'm my own Grandpa"?}

Sprite is Keoki's dam. His sire is an import from Australia; I don't know how far removed from African breeding he is. {So, his mom is her Grandma/half sister}.

We just say Jazzy is Keoki's auntie and let it go at that. LOL

ANYway, Keoki has a looser tail than Jazzy, but I think his sire also had a looser tail....I've only actually seen his daddy once, and that was before the breeding took place, so I had no idea I was ever going to own one of Buka's babies and didn't pay that close of attention. And I've seen photos, in which the tail looks looser than Sprite's.{I believe he belongs to Khani's though, so she could tell you more about his heritage ...and tail....}


Keoki wags his tail for EVERYONE he meets. Jazzy wags her ever-so-slightly for family members when we come home, and REALLY wags it for Bryan, my niece, and my daughter's boyfriend.

I hope this makes sense. I am rudely trying to type while listening to someone blab on on the phone..... lol

[nala121498]

Nala's tail uncurls when relaxed and sleeping. She wags her tail when we've been away and she sees us or when my parents arrive after not seeing them.
I noticed another tail-wagging though...when she's "hunting" chipmunks or red squirrels! I know a Lab/Chesapeake mix that wags when looking for her ball in the brush. Does anyone else notice this? Just curious...

PS JazzysMom - I do that too! Shhhh.... LOL!

[Barklessdog]

Our female wags her tail when I come home as she runs to greet me. Our male is far too dignified for such pathetic displays of affection. He never wags, but will lay down a few feet away and try to make you come to him. I don't, I make him come to me.

[lvoss]

I noticed another tail-wagging though...when she's "hunting" chipmunks or red squirrels! I know a Lab/Chesapeake mix that wags when looking for her ball in the brush. Does anyone else notice this? Just curious...

For the longest time Nicky would only wag his tail for the lure. Then we got Rally and he would wag his tail when he very badly wanted her to play with him. He is never going to be a real tail wagger but he does wag now when he is really happy.

[kmccubbin]

Tallulah definitely wags, but also only for very specific people. Often I'm not even one of them! :) The tail stays curled but does a sort of enthusiastic twitch to and fro.

[youngandtired]

Sahara will wag her tail when you greet her for just about anyone. She is so friendly everyone she meets loves her. Her tail is tightly curled but she seems to get it to wag pretty well. The only time her tail relaxes a little is when she is asleep. I love her tail, it is my favorite part along with her muscular thighs.

[Craigh]

Cassi - more of a fold over than a curl, and often hung down between her legs when she was scared or scolded. She never wagged it.

Alex - tight curl, but will unravel some when he's asleep. He doesn't seem to wag it anymore, but when he was younger and got excited it would twitch like crazy!

[BasenjiDiva]

Cory's tail has a nice tight curl but she will uncurl her tail and let it just hang when she is feeling really relaxed and when she sleeps. But no matter how relaxed the tail is, the white tip will keep it's little fishhook bend. When she wags her tail, it is a very slight side to side movement.

[imbj]

Casey doesn't wag her tail... She has one and a half curls and keeps it up (unless she's snoozing)... However, when I pick her up on the back of our SUV to set her down on the ground, her funny tail starts spinning like a helicopter blade! :D

[LeeL]

We have 3 Basenjis. Two older litter mates, a boy and a girl almost 7 and one puppy about 8 months old who is a girl. The older boy will only occaisionally give a little wag, usually when we have him sitting prior to getting a treat or tossing him a ball. Our older girl wags a ton when we first come home and any time she is happy and excited but it moves maybe an inch either way tops. The new puppy wags her tail even more, almost completely side to side.

[dmcarty]

I had a bitch once who really didn't wag her tail but she used it like a propeller. I was certain one day that it would lift her off the floor but it didn't.

[mrbhayn]

My dog's tail is wagging most all of the time! Doesn't curl tightly but looks most like a big question mark. She'll wag it when she's standing, sitting, or laying down and sometimes spins it like a propeller when stalking squirrels.

[Rivermoon]

Cheyenne wags hers all the time. Apache, only was when he's playing with Marlowe.

[gemurray]

Here's an example of some tail wagging. We call it "Belly Dancing" when she really gets into it since her whole torso is wagging too!

http://www.youtube.com/v/otMX-Osw2Ko&rel=1

[Terry & Zoe]

Zoe's tail is curled when she wags, which is a lot! It looks adorable.

[Terry & Zoe]

Hi, My Zoe is a B mix also. She is 1/2 Jack Russel, 1/2 Basenji. She is a great pooch. What type of mix is your pup?

[Kalima62]

Tail Wagging?? My Duna never wags at us, but you know she's pleased to see us as she comes up to you with her ears down and has a grin on her face. she wags just a little, when she meets other dogs, but just slightly. Will she wag as an adult? I do miss those happy wagging doggy tails!!!!

[Barklessdog]

Tail is too stiff to wag, and way to undignified.It cant uncurl.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Fenderbird/Basenjis/tail-1.jpg

[Basenjimamma]

Otis does wag his tail ever so slightly and he puts his ears down when he greets you, and this morning he said 'Good Morning" when I let him out of his crate....his first "real" (?) Barooo deep from his thoat..yeah.

[renaultf1]

All 3 of mine wag their tails...
Brando (tight curl, flips back & forth - not as animated as Liyah's) wags his when he wants to play with Ruby or Liyah or is about to get his dinner.
Ruby (loose one curl, actually moves more than Brando's) only wags hers to welcome me home.
Liyah wags non-stop (tight curl, flips wildly back & forth)...for play, food, attention...anything that makes her happy, which is pretty much everything. :D

[wizard]

Gossy's tail is a tight cinnamon bun so it looks odd when she "wags" it - usually only when she's on scent of something and then it just wags kind of slowly (if you can picture what I mean). Sometimes she'll wag it when I come home from work and usually just flattens her ears (makes her look earless :)).

[innociv]

My Basenji mix died and I'm going to get another soon.. I was wondering: Can you tell when they're only a few months old if they're going to be waggers when they're adults?

My mix wagged his tail pretty much non stop whenever he was standing. He was always really happy. Whether playing, if I had a toy, when I said anything to him, when I got home, when he was following me around, anything. Only time he didn't wag was when he was relaxing, pointing, or eating.

It would be very very weird for me to have a dog that didn't wag their tail. If they wag as a puppy will they wag when grown up? I worry that their tail will change or something and it stops wagging.

[Basenjimamma]

I don't know needless to say since my puppy is only almost 5 months, but he has coinsistantly gotten to be more and more of a wagger. it is so cite to see that cinnamon bun wag ever so slightly on his back, I love it.

[renaultf1]

My Basenji mix died and I'm going to get another soon.. I was wondering: Can you tell when they're only a few months old if they're going to be waggers when they're adults?

My mix wagged his tail pretty much non stop whenever he was standing. He was always really happy. Whether playing, if I had a toy, when I said anything to him, when I got home, when he was following me around, anything. Only time he didn't wag was when he was relaxing, pointing, or eating.

It would be very very weird for me to have a dog that didn't wag their tail. If they wag as a puppy will they wag when grown up? I worry that their tail will change or something and it stops wagging.

My 5mo b-pup, Liyah has been a serious wagger since before I took her home at 11 weeks. She still is a big wagger (maybe even bigger)...I don't anticipate that changing as her personality is super happy, outgoing, playful and wiggly. Everyone she meets always comments about how happy she is and practically wiggles out of her skin :D:D. Her personality reminds me so much of another Eldorado bitch I know (Liyah is also from Eldorado, but only distantly related to that girl) that is 2 years old. I anticipate Liyah behaving very similar to this other girl when she is older (the other girl was just like Liyah as a pup).

[innociv]

Well I wondered because I don't think not wagging their tail doesn't mean they aren't happy. But I like lots of tail wagging showing their happiness..

Thanks though!

[tanza]

Out of all my B's I only have had a couple that were real tail waggers... baby puppies at about 5 or 6 wks will begin to wag their tails if they are going to be big tail waggers (at least in my litters)... and I agree wiht innociv, not wagging doesn't mean they are not happy puppies/adults...

[renaultf1]

and I agree wiht innociv, not wagging doesn't mean they are not happy puppies/adults...

Oh, I completely agree...dogs have many different ways of showing happiness...tail wagging isn't everything.

[dmcarty]

I have had, over the years a variety of tail 'expressions' - I had one that her tail would just slightly undulate, several waggers, a couple of tip waggers, and the previously mentioned - helecopter rotar tail. Sometimes it is VERY subtle.

[Shaye's Mom]

There's a B who goes to the same dog park I do - his little tail is so curled it nearly curls around twice - when he's happy or wants to play that little tail opens up a little and wags like a spring - it's adorable!

[innociv]

Aww that's cute.

That's why I wondered. I've kind of noticed it seems it's harder for them to wag when it's tightly curled. The ones with less curl more often seem to be waggers. But sometimes they still try either way, or they'll uncurl it some when they wag to wag it easier.

Thanks for the responses!

[snorky998]

My Ty has a tightly curled tail, not even to one side or another, straight over the back and curled within it's self. He wags for greetings (hula like gyrations from the hips down with the tail going 90 miles an hour). Katie has a loose curl and NEVER wags unless she's done something wrong and thinks it's funny.

[Rita Jean]

Jaycee wag's her little bun and her butt very cute and she is so happy when she is doing this.

Rita Jean

[Kalima62]

My Duna Never wags her tail at us, but howls with happiness and her ears are straight backwards...I wish i could see her little tail wag like other dogs do!!! :(

[SyberSade]

Hee hee I just read all the posts about tail wagging.......made me smile. We call it "wobbling" in our house. When we come home Haley's tail "wobbles"........just adorable.

[nkjvcjs]

I find the tails very interesting. Some of ours wag tails, some don't. Our domestics have tails you couldn't uncurl if you wanted to....unless you broke their tail. The African's tails are very loose and go limp when they relax or sleep. When the AF female eats, its completely limp, hangs straight down.

Just an observation based on what I see with mine.:)

Hmmm...
Are we risking introducing hemivertebrae by breeding for tighter and tighter curl in the tail in domestics?

-Nicole

[Kananga]

My Duna Never wags her tail at us, but howls with happiness and her ears are straight backwards...I wish i could see her little tail wag like other dogs do!!! :(

Kananga doesn't wag his tail much really either. He will, however, do his "happy spins" and then take off running with a B-500. It's almost like he's winding himself up. I laugh every time. :D

[Kananga]

Hmmm...
Are we risking introducing hemivertebrae by breeding for tighter and tighter curl in the tail in domestics?

-Nicole

Is it common in the states for a B to have a fairly tight curl?

[wizard]

Gossy only "wags" her tail when extremely excited (as when I come home from work) or if she's stalking a squirrel. She has a tight cinnamon bun curl so it just wags at the base - like she's trying to knock it off her butt.

[Basenjimamma]

Wizard,
Otis' tail looks like that too..we call it the "cinnamon bun wag"

so cute..

[Kananga]

Does anyone's Basenji uncurl their tail upwards when they are pulling on a leash or while maneuvering during a B-500?

It's hard to explain, but my B's tail will extend up at times when he's running around on his leash, usually trying to pull in a certain direction. He has a loose curl and always uncurls his tail when he sleeps. I always laugh when his tail extends upwards when he's running around.

[Shaye's Mom]

Shaye's tail is wound tightly, but she wiggles it from side to side when we get home after being a way a while - Gemma's is much looser and she wags like crazy!

[Nemo]

Hmmm...
Are we risking introducing hemivertebrae by breeding for tighter and tighter curl in the tail in domestics?

-Nicole

Don't know about the hemivertebrae issue, but it's interesting to see what type of tail develops. Neither of Zoni's parents have a tight tail curl, Pow's is a larger loop but Zoni and the rest of her litter have a much tighter curl in their tail. I'm curious how predictable that is up front if you have never bred one of the dogs before. And it seems like good tail set/rear assembly would be more of what is breed for versus how tight the curl is. Zoni's is nice and curly but I'd rather that she wasn't so high in the rear versus having a tightly curled tail. I like them a little more loose personally so that they can drape a little over the side.

[tanza]

Does anyone's Basenji uncurl their tail upwards when they are pulling on a leash or while maneuvering during a B-500?

It's hard to explain, but my B's tail will extend up at times when he's running around on his leash, usually trying to pull in a certain direction. He has a loose curl and always uncurls his tail when he sleeps. I always laugh when his tail extends upwards when he's running around.

You will see that on the lure field... either extended upwards or straight out behind, it depends on the "set" of the tail and the curl....

[Kananga]

You will see that on the lure field... either extended upwards or straight out behind, it depends on the "set" of the tail and the curl....

Ah ok. I still think it's comical. :D