Helicopter Tail Tell?

[rburdge84]

Our dog, Shadow (link is photo), just turned one and is incredibly energetic - with absolutely no self-control when there's another person around. He is Kelpie/Labrador and currently weighs just over 30kgs.

We've always been really careful with him around people, especially kids because he has so much energy (and was such a crazy, bitey, land-shark when he was teething). So we've never been SURE if he would be ok around other poeple and other dogs. To be fair, he's been AMAZING with everyone he's come in contact with so far, including kids - but I've heard of too many stories of dogs being good... until they're not.

My husband and I have to travel interstate pretty frequently, and so we often drop him off at a local kennel (that is absolutely amazing! Shadow gets SO excited when we drive into the kennel driveway!) All the workers there know his name and say how much they love him.

During this last visit, the kennel owner mentioned that Shadow has a helicopter tail, which in his opinion is the only way to tell for sure that a dog is not aggressive. Aggressive dogs will still wag their tails, pant, and act excited - but the spinning 'helicopter tail' is the only sure way to know or not. He's only had four other true helicopter dogs in the past 20+ years of running the kennel.

Is this something other people have heard of before? How confident can we be with our darling ADHD Shadow?

tl;dr Our Kennel owner mentioned that "Helicopter Tails" are the only way FOR SURE to know that a dog is not aggressive. Is this something that is well-known?

 

[hazelelponi]

@rburdge84 It's true that helicopter tail indicates friendliness and "true happiness"! But it's not an all-out sign that you have a 100% non aggressive dog. Think of people - even the most quiet, polite person could be "aggressive" with the right triggers.

HOWEVER ... some body language tips (and this is from my vet who is fear-free, force-free trained and has a behavior specialty) when a dog is showing "helicopter tail" that's the only body language sign that is used as purely a "happy" indicator. So your kennel guy is sort of right!

Other tail wags can indicate uncertainty or some level of anxiety, primarily a lowered, flicking, or slowly wavging back and forth tail.

I'd really recommend looking up some dog body language indicators and trying to piece together what those look like for Shadow, as each dog uses body language very individually. That will give you more confidence with him in all situations instead of relying on what other people think as to whether he is "aggressive" or not. Remember that body language is always tied to context, and as individuals, dogs will always react individually to each scenario they are in.

 

[alektra]

@rburdge84 From what I understand, the ‘windshield wiper’ wag can mean happy, as well as stressed/excited/upset, but the circular ‘helicopter’ is always happy.