Dog Community

wierd one...

Posted : 11/17/2006 12:07:17 PM

ok, so as I've mentioned before, inside the house my dog is ALMOST pleasant to be with. The only thing that's starting to worry me is his tail, like any other dog, when he's happy or excited, he wags it. The problem is that lately what has been hapenning is that given his size, he wags it so hard that when the tip of it hits a wall or something it starts bleeding. So theres a particular hallway in my house that is about 3-4 ft wide that has blood brushstrokes every time he walks by there with his tail bleeding. What I do is the second i notice it's bleeding, and sometimes even before, I wrap the tip of the tail with a piece of gauze and some porous tape. Here's the question, is the tail movement something involuntary for them, or is there a way to teach him NOT to wag it?

Now it's not like he has these episodes of euphoria when the whole bleeding tail thing happens, he's just a dog being a dog, no extraordinary excitement really. I'm guessing the tail wagging is not something that can be controled, so my next question would be if anyone has a suggestion as to what/how to wrap around the tip when he's inside, a "tail sock" if you will.

espencer

Posted : 11/17/2006 12:46:47 PM

I think the tail should not bleed that easy, maybe you should check with your vet to see if there is nothing wrong like a skin problem, maybe you could have some cushion in the wall at the same level as his tail [

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esteban ley

Posted : 11/17/2006 1:05:15 PM

well...he does smack it pretty hard against the wall, and he's shorthaired. Besides since the first time he started bleeding that wound has not had opportunity to heal since it opens up every time he hits a wall or something.

zsrg;lb ksr'pfjsoprej dfsg;va bjpskopa]

Posted : 11/17/2006 2:35:15 PM

When Rory was a pup she was the queen of tail bleeding. She busted it open countless number of times, blood squirting all over! Then when you try to badange it up, they get excited, wag again adn off comes the bandage, that is if they dont rip it off first.
The good news is it gets better as they get older. But even know she has a bump on the end.

You need to do whatver you can to keep it bandaged, I used square gauze pads and medical tape but be careful of the hair, sock coem in hands as covers. The vet cant sew it up, tehre isnt much they can do expcetp amputate it if you think its neccessary. I put neopsporin on it twice a day and here's the biggie.....
Dont get yoru dog excited, ha ha! I know that sounds hard, we'd have friends come over and we'd say "ignore the dog" I felt so bad but it was for her own good. Good luck

espencer

Posted : 11/17/2006 2:37:00 PM

Too bad you can not make him wear a boxing glove like in the cartoons hehe [

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zsrg;lb ksr'pfjsoprej dfsg;va bjpskopa]

Posted : 11/17/2006 2:46:53 PM

Oh I forgot the vet did say you could also tie the tail to the back leg. I never tried it with Rory cause I know it wouldnt last long

Alisia Jezierny

Posted : 11/17/2006 3:20:22 PM

I'd talk to your vet about it. The golden retreiver I had as a kid used to do this, too, and at one point hurt himself so badly that the vet suggested we dock his tail... in the end we decided not to do it that time, but agreed we would if a serious injury occurred again. Luckily, that one time was the worst he ever hurt it, and as he grew older, he calmed down and didn't beat his tail against walls as hard... good thing, too, could you imagine how silly a golden would look with a docked tail? Anyway, the tail bleeding could be minor stuff, or it could be serious, only the vet can tell you if amputation is necessary.

spiritdogs

Posted : 11/17/2006 5:20:09 PM

Padded walls? [sm=lol.gif]

esteban ley

Posted : 11/17/2006 5:44:00 PM

hmm...padded walls... as if people didn't already think we're not right in the head.....

espencer

Posted : 11/17/2006 5:56:34 PM

Well it was the first thing i thought about, since is not really a behavior or training problem then brainstorming is important, a better idea would be welcome [

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spiritdogs

Posted : 11/17/2006 6:19:50 PM

ORIGINAL: eley

hmm...padded walls... as if people didn't already think we're not right in the head.....

Well, on a serious note, you could wrap it using some rolled cotton and Vetrap. Just be sure you don't wrap tightly enough to stop the circulation!

whtsthfrequency

Posted : 11/20/2006 11:52:47 PM

If it looks like he is bleeding easily, I would be wary of docking.

Jeff Lampert

Posted : 11/21/2006 12:01:31 AM

i don't know what your living/working situation is, but i bet if you could find the time to get into a routine of intense walk/run you would be able to keep the pooch more calm at home, hopefully resting alot, and the wound on the tail could heal. i know it is tough, but if you ran your dog before work in the morning, and then again after work, he/she would probably spend alot more time restin in the house, than romping around hyper and wagging the tail.. jsut a thought!

esteban ley

Posted : 1/10/2007 10:56:55 AM

Well, the tail situation got bad. I had been putting gauze and sports tape on the tip to stop the bleeding, but still, even after a three mile run, obedience work and some other activity, the tail movement is a LOT. The wagging finally caused a fracture on the very tip (I'm almost certain, he's at the vet waiting for her to have a minute in between consults to get checked). As soon as I control the bleeding on on part of the tip of the tail and we start seeing it heel another part gets injured, my guess (the vet had already mentioned) is that he's going to have a few inches of tail amputated.

By the way, the actual inuries don't happen inside the house, they happen when he's outside and wags his tail against a wall or something, it's inside that we notice them, all the blood splattered on the walls wasa pretty good hint that something was off.

jones

Posted : 1/10/2007 11:30:49 AM

Stanley Coren says that tail wagging is a deliberate act of communication - a dog will not wag its tail alone in a room he says. So I think you could possibly train your dog not to do it... but I expect it would be hard, because it's a habitual behavior so tied to emotion & excitement.

My MIL's dog had a tail amputation resulting from an injury years ago... it makes you feel bad for her looking at a Lab mix with half a tail but she is totally fine.