Very high drive dog biting its own tail - Page 1

Hello everyone, I have an extremely high drive female dog that is biting its own tail and causing damage to it. Her tail has gotten so bad that we have to clean it out everyday and spray it with bitter apple to keep her off of it. If anyone has had similiar problems and found a fix I would love to here from you. Thanks, Kyle

Kyle, She may need a job to occupy her time. If she is spending time alone with nothing to do..biting her tail to the raw flesh may be her passtime for the day. Try more stimulation. There's lots of stuff to stop itching, but I'll bet if she is high drive, she needs more stimulation. Good luck!

Kyle, Wish I could have some encouraging words..... Had one of those. I tired everything--I mean everything. I ended up having to have a Bite-Not collar on the dog everytime I wasn't going to be around to stop the tail chasing. My vet wanted to have it drugged for the rest of it's life. I ended up placing the dog with a family--the wife stayed home. I often wonder if they ended up croping the tail or putting him to sleep. All the research I did indicated a nerve problem. I spoke to all kinds of breeders trainors, etc. One suggested that I teach the dog to chase the tail and reward when he stopped. I ended up bringing the dog with work with me for 4 months trying everything--nothing worked. Only the Bite-Not collar everytime I wasn't going to be around worked. Otherwise if I left the collar off, I would come home to find a raw tail. He would do sommersaults with his tail in his mouth. Good luck with your problem.

When taken beyond the basic "puppy discovers its tail" degree, tail chasing and/or biting is a displacement activity; the dog is experiencing some sort of conflict, and needs to find an outlet for that frustration. Extroverted dogs will displace via objects, people or other animals; introverted dogs turn to self-mutilation of one type or another. In GSDs, this tends to be tail-chasing/biting; in Dobes, it's usually flank-sucking, while Goldens and Labs seem to favor foreleg licking. Unfortunately, there's really no good 'solution' to this behavior. For some dogs, just increasing the amount of time the two of you are actually *doing* something may be enough to satisfy the conflict; agility or flyball training often provides a sufficient outlet for the excess energy for many of these dogs, too. With more hard-core cases, however, usually your options are limited to providing the dog with actual *work* for the better portion of the day (livestock herding, street work, etc.), medicating the dog with anti-psychosis medications, or physically preventing the dog from pursuing the activity (Bite-Not collar or other devices). The problem with the first option is you may have to give up your dog in order to provide that level of activity; with the second, the use of these medications in veterinary applications is still in its earliest stages, so choosing the appropriate drug can be hit or miss (since it still is such in human medicine!!), the meds may affect the dog's coordination and mental sharpness, and its too early to say whether there are long-term adverse effects from these pharmaceuticals. The last option, using physical restraint to prohibit the action, achieves its aim of stopping the mutilation, but the dog's conflict *will* surface in some other manner--perhaps its housebreaking will go to hell, or it will begin to destroy items in its surroundings; it may begin to regurgitate its food only to consume it again and again, it may begin to eat non-food items such as rocks, dirt, hair, paper, and so on(a habit known as pica)...frankly, I think using physical restraint devices for this type of chronic problem is cruel, and the dog would be better off being euthanized if this is what life has in store for it.

Thanks folks for the suggestions. I do schutzhund with Kylie and Dog1 you said exactly what my training director said, "she needs a job". Two weeks ago while doing protection training we put three decoys (our group is fortunate) on the field about 15 yards apart in a triangle pattern. Kylie did a number of pointed, consecutive mid sends in an attempt to release all of that energy. She never showed signs of tiring and her intensity remained constant. Once we got home she was more relaxed than nomal but she would have done more given the opportunity. We have been keeping her crated in the mudd room during the day. When she is in the kennel she does the bark spin catch the tail thing. When I get home from work I immediately check her tale and it is scabbed over and healing. By the time I change clothes to take her out, she has picked the sore back open. She's not quite two yrs. old, does flashy obedience, and recovers quickly when introduced to new situations and challenges. She is more like a Malinois dressed in GSD clothing. I wonder if I could train her to walk on my tred mill?!! Thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions and I'll let you know how it works out. Regards, Kyle

Kyle, go on Google & type in Canine Compulsive Disorder. Lots of info there.

There are some doggie drugs that may be able to break the cycle, but from what I understand tail chasing is a sign of instability and will require a high level of attention to mitigate. I have heard of Prozac working until a plan can be put into place.

Is this the same bitch you requested info on Dino Maineiche for/as possible breeding partner?

Sabre, do you know Dino? And no, its not the same bitch?

We have a few high drive dogs and they will get bored unless worked every day. This is in addition to club. Going to club 2x a week will help only a little bit; what are you doing with the dog on the other days?