they have an enzyme involved that only activates at temperatures below their core body heat, so only fur in places that stay relatively cold get pigmented. canine tails getting darker at the tip might be a similar thing, just a coincidental trait in a common ancestor that never got selected against (or just coincidentally mutated away) except in painted dogs and maned wolves.
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in reply to @alyaza's post:
I'm not sure it's known (or agreed on, anyhow) why coyotes have a distinctively tipped tail. Worth noting though that (I realize this isn't the thrust of your post :P) since it is not universal in e.g. wolves or domestic dogs, it's possible that its appearance in wolves and dogs comes from coyotes specifically and not a general trait of all dog-like objects.
I haven't done any poking around to see if tail coloration for wolves varies geographically as, for example, melanism does, though.