It might be difficult to see, but the tail lights up when you have a dash available. At the beginning of the gif you can see a fake (inputting dash with no direction). This does not consume the dash, though the tell is the angle of the dash reported will be in the direction you're traveling. You might also notice that blue wins in the spat above the couch because it's mario/joust rules rules baby.
I like the idea of there being a mode where you try to catch the red dot, muscling your competition out of the way. Perhaps trying to catch the most mice? Hit the yarn ball into the basket? First to the top of the bookcase?