Our wonderful Sheltie almost never wags his tail at us -- is this normal?

[Piper's mom]

It’s funny because of my three they all wag their tails differently. Piper will wag his tail when you talk to him but it’s just a slow sway. Finnie is a happy boy who is forever wagging it and Blueberry will only wag hers for certain people. They do carry it higher when excited.
My last Sheltie was the same, he only wagged it at certain times for certain people.

 

[Cindy]

Pico is a relatively waggy sheltie.
when he is happy, when he is playing, and after he goes potty (don't ask..he is happy then?).
compared to other dogs it isn't a lot but compared to other shelties it is

 

[Margi]

To modify the current colorful slang phrase, my first five boys had zero wags to give! Then comes Benson. His tail, like the rest of him, never stops.
I didn't realize how helpful zero wags on the grooming table was until I got beaten in the face by that huge tail when trying to brush him LOL

 

[KarenCurtis]

I don't know the answer to why, but you're not alone. Half of mine are waggers; the other half are not. No matter what you do, they don't wag. Sometimes we'll get a gentle "wave," but that's it. I don't know if it's personality or genetically driven, but it seems like an either they-are-or-aren't thing!

No wagging going on at my house either

 

[woof]

Our crew are not big waggers, they do a little but what they do do is seem to use their tail to "feel" things like when you give them scritches they sort of wrap their tails around to contact your hand and they like it when we grab their tail in play but otherwise they wag are somewhat muted most of the time.

 

[Piper's mom]

Our crew are not big waggers, they do a little but what they do do is seem to use their tail to "feel" things like when you give them scritches they sort of wrap their tails around to contact your hand and they like it when we grab their tail in play but otherwise they wag are somewhat muted most of the time.

Yes! Finnie would do this when we practiced heeling…that tail of his had to be touching me at all times! He’d of been a good obedience dog if he didn’t bark when excited (in other words all the time!).