It is the sign of a cur or that the dog is intimidated.
It is the sign the dog is amped, geeked-up, and wants to nail something.
It doesn't mean a damned thing, one way or the other.
In my experience the tail fuzz has always been coupled with puppy-ish behaviors like growling or barking. As the experience level increases the fuzz has subsided. I've only had one gyp that showed that sign not make the grade. Thinking back, the fuzz was prevalent in majority of our starts. But, all our Carter females whined and cried throughout all their athletic endeavors. I think you make the assessment based on your lines characteristics.
I have noticed the raised ring on pits for many years, usually occurring when they go on point or really getting into something. My best guess is, it is caused when the tail muscles having mobility are contracted to the point the muscles are adhered to the tailbone structure too tightly to move. Thus, causing the skin to stretch at this furthest mobile point, raising the hair to vertical.
Interestingly, one old line of dogs of Howard Teal had a tendency to throw a screw tail occasionally. It was noted by a few at that time that some of those dogs that did not exhibit a screw tail, would have three raised rings when they went on point.
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