Urgent--Willow's hurt

OH Willow, you poor thing!
Duke says to tell Willow that he bites his tail ALL of the time.  DH and I think that he blames his tail for anything that goes wrong. Just yesterday Duke ran into a wall while playing with Daisy.  Right away he started growling and barking, chasing his tail trying to attack it!  He finnally gave up and left his tail alone. 
 
Lori, I hope that she is okay... let us know if you take her to the vet!
 
Give Willow a treat from Duke, Daisy and I!

Hey Lori,,, did you read what joon said???? Better pamper Willow a little bit....maybe a lot!!!  LOL!

I just imagined Willow with her tail splinted and in a sling and chewing on a hydracodone bitart, the generic equivalent of vicodin. Poor thing. I hope she gets well quick.
 

Awwwwww, Willow!  Get better soon, sweetie!!

Hey Lori,,, did you read what joon said???? Better pamper Willow a little bit....maybe a lot!!! LOL!

 
Yes, but she's pampered every day.  There's a song my DH's band wrote and it goes, hey, little miss prissy. . .what can I do for you. . .and there's another one called, high class brat. . .Willow tunes for sure. 
 
Anyway, DH said that the poop is still soft and she was licking the tail constantly tonight while I was working.  I looked at it and it's all open again.  I didn't spray it with that stuff I bought because it's like a small puncture wound and it says not to use it on open wounds.  And, it's open again.  So, looks like I'm going to have to take her to get it checked.  The tip is barely hanging in there, I think she's going to loose it. 
 
I'll update after I speak with them in the morning.  Oh, what fun, another trip to the vet.  That woman is going to change her number on us! 
 
 

chewing on a hydracodone bitart, the generic equivalent of vicodin.

 
That's me, Ron, not her! 
 
Thanks everyone for being concerned about her.  I truly appreciate it!!!

I'll update after I speak with them in the morning.  Oh, what fun, another trip to the vet.  That woman is going to change her number on us! 

 
 
I doubt it...I think I put my vet's sons through college.
barbara

Sorry I still can't figure out how to do the quote thing.
barbara

Hey, Willow - We thought only those stoooopid hounds did stuff like that.
Sioux & Sequoyah

NO, you dipwad herders, it's Mastiffs that wag their tails bloody.  We just knock stuff off of coffee tables...
Maska

It isn't nice to make fun of Willow - she's a fine girl that just got a bit carried away. At least she can still circle without falling over.
Dancer

I'm not even s'posed to have a tail, so I would never bite mine.  (Shame on you Sequoyah, how would you know what it's like - you  don't have one)
Fergie

Glad she's ok Lori.  Aren't you glad you only live with Willow and not the brat pack I live with?
[sm=lol.gif]

Yes, but she's pampered every day.  There's a song my DH's band wrote and it goes, hey, little miss prissy. . .what can I do for you. . .and there's another one called, high class brat. . .Willow tunes for sure. 

Heheheh,,,,somehow I KNEW she was pampered on an every day basis!!!  
Somehow we do that when we love our pups,,,huh???
Sounds like a great song for Bubby also!!!

Hey, Willow - We thought only those stoooopid hounds did stuff like that.
Sioux & Sequoyah

 
Nope, stooopid chow does it on a regular basis.  I think she needs you Anne.  Seriously, she redirects her aggression to her own tail!!  Help!! 
 
Well, DH is going to bring her tonight at 6pm.  The doctor is in surgery this morning so I can't take her myself.  I go to work later.  The secretary felt bad for her!  Ha!  She should feel bad for us.  We can't stay out of that place for more than a month in three years! 

Anyway, she does  need to go she's messing around with it constantly, her tail is all soaked, [:'(]

Hi everyone.
 
Well, the vet called me at work.  She shaved the tail and cleaned it up.  She did need some antibiotics.  She's got a cone for TWO weeks. 
 
She also thinks it's time to put her on an anti anxiety medication.  DH suggested trimming her tail back but she (the vet) seems to think she will re-direct her aggression to another part of her body or to something else entirely if she can't get to the tail. 
 
DH doesn't agree.  I don't know what to think.  I don't want her on unnecessary medication but I trust our vet and I don't think she would be suggesting it if she didn't think it was needed.  On the other hand, now she'll be on pills for the rest of her life.   I can understand why she's anxious, look where she came from.  But, I'm still worried about harming her system from pills. 
 
What do you all think?  Does anyone use any type of anxiety medications and if so how did they work, were there side effects?? 
 
Thanks!!

Lori-
Did she say what med??
I felt the same way you do about meds, but my parents dog was so anxious, out of control and hyper at times and they put him on an med that helped him tremendously. He actually was able to go off it after about a year. It helped him while they worked on some training and behavioral issues with him. This may not need to be a long term deal????
 
If you trust your vet, maybe this is something you can try short term??  How old is Willow?
 
Is she feeling better?   I hope so. .. []  Poor baby!      

Sorry Lori, I can imagine how you feel.  What medication are they going to prescribe?  There are quite a few different ones and some seem better/safer than others and from what I've read, it can take some time to find the best one.  There was a good article in Whole Dog Journal a couple months ago about the anti-anxiety meds for dogs.  There was a pretty good thread going about them too related to 4th of July.
 
Geesh, just having to make her wear the cone for 2 weeks must make you cringe, but hopefully between that and the meds, she'll get that tail healed up.
 
As a side note, I thought I remembered you were considering getting another dog some time back.  Just something to think about, but some of the fights that my two girls have had were definitely redirected aggression.  Once was when we were having landscaping done and the workmen started up a jackhammer.  I'm not sure which of the dogs reacted, but they got into a pretty bad fight.  Since Willow has this too, it's something to keep in mind if you decide to bring in another dog.

We've had redirected aggression fights, too. Those were the ones that got serious.

Poor little Willow! I'd PM Callie. She knows LOTS of good stuff for anxiety.

Lori, I am glad that Willow's tail is cleaned up now. When Duke was about 8 months old he had really bad anxiety. He would make him self sick over everything. I go to a holistic vet and she gave me some holistic meds to give duke. They actually worked. And after a few months we were able to slowly take him off of them. But even if he needed to stay on them it would have been totally fine. They were called "Free & Easy Wanderer Plus".

Anyways, good luck!