Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Losey
I don't the the so called 12 o'clock tail was as common even in the Remington days.
The dogs depicted on the guns tend to be classic hunting dogs. Even today these lines of dogs, especially the setters, will tend towards a level or an "Osthaus tail" at the highest
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The DH I picked up has a setter on one side
and a pointer on the other-
both have the level tail. These days a pointer like that would probably never be considered a good trial dog prospect. Lots of talk about a "high tail" makes a pointer move better, better style, etc. I don't really get it, but I'm not a field trial guy.
I think it dates from 1890 according to the serial number.
I wouldn't say the level tail has disappeared. I think it depends on the breed and the intended purpose. I've got a shorthair that came out of lines that definitely tend toward field trial dogs, though she's pretty good in the grouse woods. She's got so much white on here I'm sure some would say there was some pointer blood mixed in somewhere. She has the erect tail that field trailers prefer, and pictures I've seen of other dogs from her bloodline do as well. I remember talking to her breeder when I first got her and she was just starting to point. One of the first things he asked was did she have a high tail on point. My newest dog is a Drahthaar, just 8 months old now. There isn't any consideration to "pointing style" when breeding them from what I can tell, its all about can they do the jobs we ask them to (which ranges from pointing upland birds to blood tracking deer), are they biddable, and are they sound from a confirmation perspective. She points with a dead level tail, and most pictures I've seen of Drahthaars pointing they have a low tail- I've never seen a picture of a Drahthaar pointing with a ramrod straight up and down tail like an English pointer, though I'm sure one may exist somewhere.