# Curly tail?



## Johita

Hello all, I was just wondering if maltese tails are supposed to be curly. The reason I ask is becuase Aolani's shoots up towards the front and then back towards his butt (sort of like a pigs tail). Is this standard? I love him just the same, I'm just curious. Thank you.


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## tamizami

It should make an arc from the base of the tail up over the back, very "round", but any tighter or more curling and its considered a fault in the conformation ring. Also a "flag" tail is considered a fault, which means it doesn't curl all the way down to the back, just goes straight. hth


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## bellaratamaltese

can you post pics of his tail? Some dogs have a tighter tailset than others but it should drape over the back and make an 'arc' like Tami mentioned.









Tailsets can change also. When i got lucy, she did not have the best tailset








at 4 mos 









but now her tailset is one of her best features. So the tail can change as he matures.
Keep in mind though that there is not such thing as a 'perfect' dog so even if your pet has faults, that's ok! But it always nice to learn new stuff about the maltese standard.


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## CloudClan

Pictures would be helpful, but the tail you describe does sound like a pig tail. I had a little girl who had a true pig-tail. It seemed to curl more than once. She was a former foster dog, not a show dog and though she was darling she would have had several faults when taken next to the standard, but that was okay. She was perfect to me.

Stacy, I have heard that the tailset that Lucy had is the kind that can correct. Someone told me recently that pig tails do not correct as they mature. The way I heard it, they are more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get.


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## MandyMc65

This link was posted awhile back, but I think it is a great site! It has pictures of the Maltese standard, correct & incorrect. 

Hope it helps!


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## njdrake

A friends Malt has a little curl on the end of her tail and its just like a pigs tail. You really can't see it with the hair but you can feel it.


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## Johita

Thank you everyone for your input and thank you mandy for the link - it's very informative. I will post pics soon.


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## Johita

I'll get a more current pic over the weekend and post it soon, but below are a few ics of him and his tail when he was younger (about 4 months before his haircut):



















It didn't have as tight of a curl back then, but now it curls all the way back


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## Johita

Below are a couple of pics I just took showing his curly tail:


My hand is touching the tip of the tail









Just the tail


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## Johita

a bird's eye view:









he looks like he has no tail:









but he seems happy with it:


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## LJSquishy

In the recent photos of him it does look like he has a 'pig tail'. Since he's a pet, it doesn't matter what type of tail set he has since he won't be shown.  London has one and it became more noticeable as she got older. Preston's tail is standard so it's easy for me to see the difference between my two babies.


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## bellaratamaltese

It doesn't look too terribly bad, honestly. His coat looks nice!


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## Johita

Thanks everyone. I do love him and his curly tail, plus it makes for a great hook!!  


















(the hair on his legs is a little thin as he pulled quite a bit of it off while recovering from his surgery. he didn't like all the knots he was getting and decided to take care of the problem himself. thankfully its growing back now)


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## remy

haha cute! his coat is beautiful btw


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## binniebee

Midis has a pig tail, too. He's a little over 3 yrs old now, so it's not going to self-correct. The main problem I have with this is matting near the base of the tail. His tail doesn't lay on one side of his hip but splits down on both sides due to the extra curl in the tail. I'm constantly "fixing" the lay of the tail plume (putting the whole plume on one side rather than the split) but it doesn't really matter because the minute he relaxes or wags his tail it goes right back to the split-hip thing.

And, like your's: he's perfectly happy with his tail and he's not a show dog so it really doesn't matter, does it? We love them warts and all! 

*hugs*
Cyndi


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