Choclolate Lab With "Happy Tail" Injury - Any Hope?

Have you tried the Elizabethan cone to keep him from getting to it (if that's an issue).  Or keeping him kenneled for the majority of time while it heals?

This happened to my shepherd mix years ago, before vet wrap.  I dressed his tail, put a tube sock over the dressing and then used duct tape to hold it on.  Now, vet wrap is cheap and readily available, but in those days the vet chuckled at my ingenuity, told me to keep it clean and dry and hope for the best.

If the tail is seriously infected though, it could be better to do a partial dock.

Now that's a good idea...brilliant (tube sock and duct tape)!  I'll bet that stayed on.

I am running out of tail to stick the duct tape to -  did you stick it to his tail or his back?  Sam's tail is almost bald because of all this wrapping.  I was thinking of a sweater with an extra sleeve - two for his back legs and one for his tail!

I would hate to see a lab loose any part of his tail as they use them so much.

Is he hitting his tail on anything specific (walls, coffee tables etc)?  Is the wrapping just coming off or is he taking it off?   Have you gotten a second opinion from another vet?

Monroe has never had happy tail but he did have swimmer's tail.  I've known others that kept their dog in a padded area, so that the tail wouldn't get reinjured, for a while.  Part of the problem is that it is so hard to keep them still! 

I have consulted with 2 vets in one practice, and a vet that we love that is in a different town.  They all seemed to think that the tail would heal, but did not have any very useful suggestions as far as getting it to heal.  One vet did tell me to get pipe insulation and then wrap his tail and put a sock over it, but I just don't see how that would stay on, he wags so darned hard that cyntrifugal force would pull it right off!

The reason it won't heal is that the bandage keeps coming off (he simply wags it off, never bothers it himself) and then the wounds break open.  Then he sprays the house and my clothing with blood until we can tackle him and re-bandage.  When we finally get a bandage to stay on, then the wounds do not have much air circulation which promotes moisture and not healing. 

 One vet suggested putting table sugar on the wounds, but I have never heard of that and then he might really try to lick his tail!

The dog whacks his tail on absolutely everything, chairs, walls, floor (wags while sitting) his cage, and doors on the way in and out.  If I could tie him to a tree for 3 weeks in the open air then it would heal.

Keeping him separated or in a padded area is out of the question, he would bark himself silly and feel punished - we have another dog and 3 kids/lots of activity.

 I agree that taking the tail off is a terrible option.

Oh - and for Van Morrison - I see you have a choc. lab and a pointer - that's what we have too!

I look back now and shudder, but I did what I could figure out for poor Duke and the vet thought it was quite inventive!  Dukes tail was never still, and I'm thinking the tip of it got shut in a door....that's what it looked like.  His poor tail hurt and he'd lay there looking at me with those mournful eyes when I treated it, but he never ever even whispered a growl. 

I really LIKE the idea of pipe insulation!  That's a great one.  You might need to cut a bit out at the opening to make it more roomy, but gosh, that would be awesome protection.  And just use VET WRAP......you can buy it for humans now too, but someplace like Tractor Supply it is CHEAP.  This is like duct tape, but without the sticky.  It sticks to itself only.  And it comes in nice wide sizes.  Look in the horse section of a tractor supply for it. 

Clean the wound, dress it with human grade sterile dressings and whatever ointment the vet recommends....Triple antibiotic for people is a good one.....and use rolled guaze to hold the dressing in place, then you can put a piece of tape on THAT, cover with the pipe insulation and then vet wrap the whole mess in place from below the injury to above it.  Yes, it might heal faster open to the air, but, I know with Duke it had to be covered because he kept hurting himself worse with the tail that wouldn't stop moving.  As I recall, the dressing change happened daily.

Of course, if you can't get this healed, unfortunately you might have to look at amputation.  You don't want the dogs overall health to suffer from a serious infection.

 I have heard that the pipe insulation is beneficial in protecting the tail.  My dog hasn't split his tail open (now idea how he hasn't) but has broken a bone in his tail and my vet was all gloom and doom instantly.  He has healed fine and his tail is crooked in that spot and sometimes seems to swell but it's OK.

I wish a member called AuroraLove would chime in - her pitt has had horrible happy tail injuries 

I also vaguely remember something about a tail splint - sort of - it held the tail in a position so that it could heal.  I'll try and see if I can find something on that

 I just saw this thread, but had to chime in because Lexi had her tail docked about a year ago, after having happy tail on and off (mostly on) for the better part of a year and half. I hated to doc the tail, but we were not able to get her's to heal on its own, or rather it would heal and then a day later she would wack it and it would split open again.

Whenever we were letting it heal, I would bangage it in socks and duct tape the end of the sock to her tail, then vet wrap it for extra cushion, then more duct tape. We changed the bandage daily to keep an eye on the cuts and make sure they were healing, but it was an uphill battle.

Looking back, I would make the same decision again, even though it was terrible. I cried for days. For us, it came down to Lexi's tail always being injured and in pain, or a serious surgery/recovery and the rest of her life without the constant pain/bandaging/etc.

Hopefully, you can get it to heal on its own and you won't have to go with docking.

Has anyone tried using a bellyband as an anchor for the tail bandage?