Recently I have noticed that my dog is spending an inordinate amount of time strutting around with his tail raised and curled over his body (not its natural position). He does this often in the house for no reason that I am aware of, very often while in the fenced yard and always when we are on a walk (the tail is in a fixed raised position during the entire walk). Who is he communicating with and what is he communicating. I hope he is not talking to me with that tail, but if he is, what, if anything, should I do about it.

Using the terms that I have seen here as best as I understand them, I would describe my dog who is 20 mo. as dominant but not rank. There have been no recent challenges. He is a bit on the soft side, doesn't tail tuck or cower, but goes on his belly when corrected. I would say he is sharp with medium nerves, no hackles, isn't bothered by fireworks etc. He is obedience trained and we are still working on reliability with distractions.

Is there a problem brewing here that I am unaware of. I would appreciate your insight.

What breed of dog is this?

He is a GSD/Malamute cross. His father was a pure working GSD and his mother a pure malamute. It was an accidental (negligent) breeding. I got the pup through a very good friend of mine who is a NYC police officer. He actually referred me to this site, first message board I have ever been to. He thought I should look into protection training the dog but after reading the information on this site I don't think he is a proper candidate. Malamutes are too social. I don't think my dog could bring himself to bite anyone. I will probably ask more questions about this after I am better informed. I didn't lurk long enough to realize that this site is really exclusively for working GSD. Hope you don't mind if I hang out.

Hey Giamal - I lurk here constantly and no one has booted me off yet - and I have huskies!
Many northern breeds have quite a high tail carriage and while a husky while working(pulling)
will carry his tail down they will often carry their tail high when playing or when they are a little bit excited, happy or interested in something. A dog with a tighter, highter tail-set will often have his tail up pretty much of the time. If he is coming into maturity a male will show his confidence in a high tail carriage. If your dog is not displaying any other behaviours that would make you think anything is amiss I wouldn't worry too much about it. Mavbe as he grows up he is deciding he wants "swing" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> to the northern dog way! I wouldn't worry about the protection training as GSD/Malamute crosses usually look imposingly wolfish enough that to intimidate those who don't know them better. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Giamal,

Although there is a large number of working GSD folk that hang here, and the board is owned by a working GSD breeder and trainer, this is a dog training board as well. You will find plenty of others on the board that have other breeds of dogs and use this site for training advice. Although I have a great admiration and appreciation for the GSD(working of course),have owned them in the past and will in the future, I currently have 2 Retrievers. Point of the story....Welcome aboard! Ask your training questions and enjoy the site. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thank you for your advice and welcome. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />