dog tail problems

    • Puppy

    dog tail problems

    I am having a problem with my dog wagging his tail vigorously which is causing injuries to the tip.  Wrapping it doesnt last long so I cant seem to protect it long enough for it to heal.  I am looking for ideas on how to protect it. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    I remember a thread about this a while back....

    Oh!  Here it is:

    http://community.dog.com/forums/p/76986/599190.aspx#599190

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    I don't know what the other thread says, but......pad it good,maybe with a tube sock and then use vet wrap to hold that on.  And, odd as this might sound, TALK to your dog, and tell him why you are torturing his tail.  They understand a lot more than we think they do, and if you explain that the wrapping is to help his tail feel all better, you may be surprised at how well he leaves it alone.  A good "leave it" command comes in mighty handy as well.

    • Puppy

    Thank You,  The other thread helped to give me ideas on how to get this healed.  I will also try the tube sock and hope it doesnt slip off dispite the vet wrap. Anything I put on tends to slip off within a few hours depending on how tight I wrap it so I am playing with that as well.   Telling him to "leave it"  works as long as I am home.  So we will see. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    We had a little "dust up" here this afternoon and I had to take my own advise.  Poor Tyler got the short end of the deal and after cleaning wounds, I felt the need to dress one of his legs.  We were going out, so I TALKED to him, told him how important the dressing was to keeping the wound clean, and that I wanted him to leave it alone.  Came home an hour or so later, and yep, the dressing was right where I put it.

    You might have to use way more vet wrap than you normally would, just cover the danged tail in vet wrap!  I had a shepherd mix years ago whose tail got caught in a door, and this was BEFORE vet wrap.  No tape would stick, and I actually ended up using duct tape on the poor guy.  He was good about it though and the tail healed just fine.