Sam has been investigating training the tails, so those of you that want to do Conformation can have a little read at this that she found on the net:
Training tails!
There are multiple steps here, but it's all done in brief sessions with a high rate of reinforcement, so it should go fast and be fun. I have personally re-set more than a few show-dog tails with this recipe, including some collies.
Teach the dog to move her tail deliberately, at a standstill. You can use a target stick and touch the tail gently and try to have her move her tail away from the touch. Start by asking the dog to move the tail left or right (not up or down, that's harder) away from the touch.
Just moving the tail to the left or right requires the dog to do something consciously that dogs usually do unconsciously. In fact, as soon as the dog discovers that tail moving is the game, the first move will be to wag the tail; it's the only thing they know how to do on purpose. Click that! Then work on just one move, away from the target stick—or, free-shape a move one side, and then the other, without the target; your choice. That way you don't have to fade the target.
When the dog can move the tail consciously, then you can use the target to teach "lower your tail" and "raise your tail." Do this from standing still. Even if you don't want an overly raised or "gay" tail you should teach the dog to raise the tail for a click as well as lower it. That helps the dog become aware of how it feels to deliberately manage your tail: it must be, for them, sort of like for you trying to learn to wiggle your ears or cross your eyes. First you need to become aware of the muscles that do that.
Now put "raise" and "lower" the tail on a verbal cue and fade out the target completely if you have been using one.
Now, with someone else leading the dog (and feeding the treats) you introduce the target again as a prompt, for the first couple of clicks, and teach raising and lowering the tail ON CUE at a walk with the clicker. This sounds like a lot of trouble but we're talking one or two minute sessions, ten or twenty clicks per session, and in two sessions the dog should have it figured out, i.e., learned the cue and learned how to address the necessary muscles to give a visible response.
You do not need to worry about how much the tail is raised or lowered, in fact it's better if you don't. Just click any clear movement without trying to shape a strong movement. You are teaching the dog to make the tail move up or down on cue, NOT to hold it in some particular position. You are literally teaching the dog to think about its tail, and direct its movements consciously, which will be very interesting for the dog.
The final stage is to have someone else gait the dog—slowly at first—while the trainer asks for "low tail" if/when the tail starts to go up and over the back. Then click the teeniest effort to move the tail down, even if it's crooked or waving. Stop and jackpot, and try again. If the dog is showing confidence you can start clicking for approaches to the angle you like best.
