What should I do? - Page 1

I'm sick to the heart because my 9 month old male has started chasing his tail again. (Tail chaser posts about 3 months ago.) He's been doing okay uptil about 3 weeks, and now he seems to be catching up on lost time. He hasn't mutilated himself yet, but he cant wait to get in the garden and chase his tail. This behavour started about 2 weeks after I brought him. I immediately phoned the seller that bought the pups up (the breeder has had the litter brought up by someone else) and he gave me a few tips that would (apparently) stop this behaviour. Nothing worked. It was better, but hadn't stopped. And because he always seems to think of what his tail is doing, he hardly eats, he has lost alot of weight. I've been numerous times to the vets and they want to give him medications to "help" him. The seller was always informed of how the dog was doing. As I asked for a replacement (I payed for a breeding quality dog), the seller had a fit and told me to go *ç"+ myself! The question now is, is there hope for a dog with such cumpulsiv disorders to live a normal life in a "normal one-dog family"? Or would it be better putting him to sleep? I hate thinking that such a young dog has got such a problem, but I'm at a nerves end and don't know how to help him.

Did they check for a infected anal gland problem? It may be allergies as well, what did the vet tell you anything physical should be ruled out first.With the weight loss etc. it appears something more than a bored dog is going on.

This dog is physicaly ok. He is trailing every other day, is more than up-to-date on his biting work and obedience is fine too. He lives with us in the house, and is 95% of the time not alone (because of his tail!)He is over-protective towards me, and is very aggresive if someone tries to do something that he doesn't. He is very loud mouthed, but at the same time he is no hero. He is not my first dog (I've worked for nearly 20 years with dogs- and with problem dogs)and I've never met a dog like him before. The Vets have explained to me that he is mentally disturbed(!) and doen't know what to do with his tail! But how can I help him. He's making the whole family nutty!

Some dogs chase their tails when there is a nerve ending or pinched nerve problem in their hips or back, Generally caused from leaping and jumping and coming down wrong. They chase it because it gets tickly like when your foot falls asleep and wakes up. I would look for a good Chiropractor, some human Chiros will work on dogs. Have your dog adjusted and see if he shows improvement. I had a female when i was growing up that seen a Chiropractor 1 time a week and she never chased her tail again, she up to this point literally chewed part of her tail off. There is a dog lemon law if you wish to go after the breeder for the contract on the "Breeding quality" dog you where to get, not the neurotic dog you say you have. I hope you change your mind about putting him to sleep, you just need a vet that checks all possibilities, and don't give up!

Thanx, I'll try that one out! All those who have had this problem would know what I'm going through. Putting him to sleep is a no no at the moment, but sometime I wonder what's going through his grey-cells!

I agree rule everything out it gets expensive for sure start with the obvious and go from there. Marlene

Have you taken him to a behaviorist? I think this is probably an obsessive-complusive disorder, it will be on-going, never cured and may require medication and behavior modification for his entire life. If he spends all his waking time worrying over his tail, that could cause a weight loss. If you have a vet school near-by they should have a behaviorist on staff or can give you a referral to one. There is also a chance that he might be experiencing a form of neuropathy that is causing him discomfort. That would be hard to disgnose I think and the vet would probably need to rely strickly on his symptoms. I really feel for you, I can tell you like this dog; otherwise he'd have been gone long ago. If he were my dog, I'd try some meds before doing anything permanent. Not the most ideal thing, but better than the alternative. I would not consider this dog a good candidate for breeding.

Taking him to a chiropractor sounds like good advise to me. Can't hurt.

This guy is surely not get anway near a female on heat, never mind letting him mate one! There are days that I think I'd even do the deed myself, and then there are days that he is such a cuddly baby, that I feel bad about even thinking of putting him down. I really thank you all for your good ideas. Today was one of the bad days! I'll get over it. I'll do some (more) research so that I can get this guy sorted out- before I need getting sorted out;-)

This is quite common in service dogs (military)and was usually to do with boredom or stress. In these dogs there appears to be no cure, however if the dog damaged it's tail, then the tail was docked (as per gundog length) . this usually stopped the behaviour but sometimes the dogs went on to other neurosis. In this situation I think you need to consider the value to the breed of not breeding from him and maybe, keep him as a pet.