A Dogs Tail

[TheCheekyMonster]

Gus has had a few issues with his tail, it has split because he hits it on everything quite hard and its difficult to get him settled enough to not do the damage, any way the vet said we had 3 options, take it back to the healthiest vertebrea, graft the skin so it covers the piece thats missing or tape it up for three weeks and see how we go.... So I took the third option and it worked... until I took the bandaging off for more than 10 minutes... he had split it again....The force in which he whacks his tail against any object is crazy, its enough to give you bruises and I dont know how to change this.

So, my question is how does this effect him in the ring if we decide to take his tail back to the healthiest vertebrea?

Edited July 3, 2012 by TheCheekyMonster

[Rebanne]

I think it could affect him quite badly. Even if you have a letter from the vet stating why his tail is docked.

[The Spotted Devil]

I don't have a lot of showing experience but I would tend to agree with Rebanne.

I have actually taught Zig not to wag against walls/objects and he rarely does it - problem is I can't really explain how I taught it although rear end awareness exercises such as in the video have probably helped. I guess I just praised him when he moved his rear end away from the wall. It also happens in particular circumstances so I can work it into our training.

[TheCheekyMonster]

It would not be a lot, it would be about an inch off the tip... and in no way do I want this, but I need to think about the health and comfort of my dog beyond all else... hmmm thanks TSD I will have to give this a try....

hmmmm I will need to do some serious thinking.

[TheCheekyMonster]

I don't have a lot of showing experience but I would tend to agree with Rebanne.

I have actually taught Zig not to wag against walls/objects and he rarely does it - problem is I can't really explain how I taught it although rear end awareness exercises such as in the video have probably helped. I guess I just praised him when he moved his rear end away from the wall. It also happens in particular circumstances so I can work it into our training.

Ziggies tail is not too bad.... Gus's leaves bruises on my shins... and it is more so when he comes in through the door... its just full force whacks on everything... but I do see what you mean

[SparkyTansy]

I think it does depend on how far back it's taken. if it was taken back only a little, he could appear to have a slghtly shorter tail, particularly if it still tapers... but then there is a risk of him splitting it again.

[TheCheekyMonster]

I think it does depend on how far back it's taken. if it was taken back only a little, he could appear to have a slghtly shorter tail, particularly if it still tapers... but then there is a risk of him splitting it again.

Yes this is true, which is what im weighing up at the moment, thoeretically the judge should not take the tail into account considering he was born with a perfectly normal tail and it's only due to medical reasons that it needs to be taken back..... I dont know, this sucks big time.

Edited July 4, 2012 by TheCheekyMonster

[Rebanne]

I think it does depend on how far back it's taken. if it was taken back only a little, he could appear to have a slghtly shorter tail, particularly if it still tapers... but then there is a risk of him splitting it again.

Yes this is true, which is what im weighing up at the moment, thoeretically the judge should not take the tail into account considering he was born with a perfectly normal tail and it's only due to medical reasons that it needs to be taken back..... I dont know, this sucks big time.

the tail won't taper, it will most likely be blunt. No way around it, you would be showing a docked dog in a breed that has never been docked. And if everything else was equal a judge will go for the dog with the correct tail IMO. it's a real bummer for you. Any way you can think of that Gus could wear something on the tail for most of the time? A hair roller taped on?

[TheCheekyMonster]

I think it does depend on how far back it's taken. if it was taken back only a little, he could appear to have a slghtly shorter tail, particularly if it still tapers... but then there is a risk of him splitting it again.

Yes this is true, which is what im weighing up at the moment, thoeretically the judge should not take the tail into account considering he was born with a perfectly normal tail and it's only due to medical reasons that it needs to be taken back..... I dont know, this sucks big time.

the tail won't taper, it will most likely be blunt. No way around it, you would be showing a docked dog in a breed that has never been docked. And if everything else was equal a judge will go for the dog with the correct tail IMO. it's a real bummer for you. Any way you can think of that Gus could wear something on the tail for most of the time? A hair roller taped on?

Yes he can, which is another thing to look at, I guess if that doesnt do much damage than we can continue to do that, and the vet did say they can shave the bone into a point.

[SparkyTansy]

Sorry I didn't mean the end would taper, I mean that if it's not taken far back, it might still taper from top to bottom quite well and not give away too much, particularly if/when the hair grows back over.

one of mine is tipped and it tapers quite nicely and the hair grew back over the tip... although probably not so good is the only time you can really notice it is when she's next to my girl with a complete tail... so not so good when in the ring with other dogs.

[TheCheekyMonster]

well might as well take his balls while his under .... I'll see what I can do before I really need to do that

[Showpony]

well might as well take his balls while his under .... I'll see what I can do before I really need to do that

Hi,

Pointers do this all the time........I had one which had the last joint removed, this still looked like a tipped tail......but didn't hinder her in the ring at all, she was a multi class in Group, Royal CC and Speciality winner.

One other dog I had that would continually whack the end of his tail and would then open it up and spray blood everywhere........I taped a hard plastic hair roller onto the end of his tail......this meant it wasn't enclosed in a moist bandage which made the skin soft.......he did try to chew the roller off, so I smeared chilli paste on it.......I had to to this for about 4 weeks but the tail healed well and I also stop the over the top greetings I would get when he came inside by teaching him to sit

[TheCheekyMonster]

well might as well take his balls while his under .... I'll see what I can do before I really need to do that

Hi,

Pointers do this all the time........I had one which had the last joint removed, this still looked like a tipped tail......but didn't hinder her in the ring at all, she was a multi class in Group, Royal CC and Speciality winner.

One other dog I had that would continually whack the end of his tail and would then open it up and spray blood everywhere........I taped a hard plastic hair roller onto the end of his tail......this meant it wasn't enclosed in a moist bandage which made the skin soft.......he did try to chew the roller off, so I smeared chilli paste on it.......I had to to this for about 4 weeks but the tail healed well and I also stop the over the top greetings I would get when he came inside by teaching him to sit

Excellent tips!! thank you :) much appreciated

[Airedaler]

What breed is Gus?

[TheCheekyMonster]

What breed is Gus?

Dalmatian

[dotdashdot]

Dallies are so smart, I would definitely give the rear end awareness training a go, like TSD suggested. It's all about shaping, rewarding the behaviour you want. The book '"don't shoot the dog" has some good tips.

I'm glad Cleo doesn't have a whipper snippet tail, it hurts and she hits it bloody hard but it's never split (touch wood)

[Bisart Dobes]

Gus has had a few issues with his tail, it has split because he hits it on everything quite hard and its difficult to get him settled enough to not do the damage, any way the vet said we had 3 options, take it back to the healthiest vertebrea, graft the skin so it covers the piece thats missing or tape it up for three weeks and see how we go.... So I took the third option and it worked... until I took the bandaging off for more than 10 minutes... he had split it again....The force in which he whacks his tail against any object is crazy, its enough to give you bruises and I dont know how to change this.

So, my question is how does this effect him in the ring if we decide to take his tail back to the healthiest vertebrea?

Oh your poor boy . Being a breed that isn't normally docked I would think it may affect results.

But I can only share my experience with one of our girls who had a full tail. She had a split, open & bleeding tip of tail (about 10cm was affected) - after alot of battles with vets they removed the affected part of the tail as in their view it would heal up and she would be a happy dog again. Not the case - the shortened tail was worse than the full tail and we had a poor dog consistently in pain with an open bleeding tail and vets who just took forever to "do the right thing for the wellbeing of the dog" - eventually she was docked to normal length and she has never looked back. No trouble with it ever again and a happy happy dog :).

My point for you is that taking the tip off probably won't change him injuring his tail tip. I can only say - do the right thing for your dog (& I hope you can continue to show him).

I have seen somewhere a dobe person o/s made a brace for their dogs tail as it continuously damaged it as well - it went around the belly and then holds the tail down to level with the rear leg line.

I have a friend who had pointers years ago and she told me when my girl was going through this that they used to tape thumb thimbles to the tip of their dogs tails - tried that and no go with our girl but it would depend on the dog.

Best of luck with it.

[TheCheekyMonster]

Gus has had a few issues with his tail, it has split because he hits it on everything quite hard and its difficult to get him settled enough to not do the damage, any way the vet said we had 3 options, take it back to the healthiest vertebrea, graft the skin so it covers the piece thats missing or tape it up for three weeks and see how we go.... So I took the third option and it worked... until I took the bandaging off for more than 10 minutes... he had split it again....The force in which he whacks his tail against any object is crazy, its enough to give you bruises and I dont know how to change this.

So, my question is how does this effect him in the ring if we decide to take his tail back to the healthiest vertebrea?

Oh your poor boy . Being a breed that isn't normally docked I would think it may affect results.

But I can only share my experience with one of our girls who had a full tail. She had a split, open & bleeding tip of tail (about 10cm was affected) - after alot of battles with vets they removed the affected part of the tail as in their view it would heal up and she would be a happy dog again. Not the case - the shortened tail was worse than the full tail and we had a poor dog consistently in pain with an open bleeding tail and vets who just took forever to "do the right thing for the wellbeing of the dog" - eventually she was docked to normal length and she has never looked back. No trouble with it ever again and a happy happy dog :).

My point for you is that taking the tip off probably won't change him injuring his tail tip. I can only say - do the right thing for your dog (& I hope you can continue to show him).

I have seen somewhere a dobe person o/s made a brace for their dogs tail as it continuously damaged it as well - it went around the belly and then holds the tail down to level with the rear leg line.

I have a friend who had pointers years ago and she told me when my girl was going through this that they used to tape thumb thimbles to the tip of their dogs tails - tried that and no go with our girl but it would depend on the dog.

Best of luck with it.

Yes my show trainer did the brace thing with one of her dalls, the thing is im not home during the day, and because he is so accident prone I know that will cause some trouble.... man if only i could lock him up in cotton wool!!, or take him to work.... I long for a job where my dog can come with me... at the end of the day I need to teach him "Calm" I think that will reduce the issue by far... when he sees me of a morning and evening his a loose cannon... maybe a game of ball or tug before he comes in the house... I dont know but I feel for him!

Although Gus is a very nice looking Dal, I just dont think he was meant for showing... his too much of a free spirit and if I could compare him to a child his a mixture of the one climbing on rocks, grazing his knees and the asthma kid who is allergic to everything.. maybe this is just a puppy thing and he will grow out of it.... but i also dont want to disappoint his breeder and all those who see his potential!! gaa such a mind boggling decision.

Edited July 5, 2012 by TheCheekyMonster

[Rebanne]

Not the case - the shortened tail was worse than the full tail and we had a poor dog consistently in pain with an open bleeding tail and vets who just took forever to "do the right thing for the wellbeing of the dog" - eventually she was docked to normal length and she has never looked back. No trouble with it ever again and a happy happy dog :).

My point for you is that taking the tip off probably won't change him injuring his tail tip. I can only say - do the right thing for your dog (& I hope you can continue to show him).

Best of luck with it.

I am lucky in that my greys haven't suffered from happy tail but from my reading, once they do get it, it's a never ending battle until the tail is docked quite short. As Bisart Dobes says, they often keep injuring it until the tail is docked quite short. I have read of multiple surgery being done on greyhounds. It has been advised to go up two or three vertebrea to get the best result, not just to the nearest healthiest one.

I think I would persist with finding a way to keep the tail intact and if that means taping, protecting for months rather then weeks, I would be giving that a go first. Or dock it short and realise the dog's show career is over.

Also when I say my dogs haven't been affected, my bitch did open her tail tip up once, I taped a toilet roll tube onto it and that was it. Not a true happy tail at all thankfully.

[TheCheekyMonster]

Not the case - the shortened tail was worse than the full tail and we had a poor dog consistently in pain with an open bleeding tail and vets who just took forever to "do the right thing for the wellbeing of the dog" - eventually she was docked to normal length and she has never looked back. No trouble with it ever again and a happy happy dog :).

My point for you is that taking the tip off probably won't change him injuring his tail tip. I can only say - do the right thing for your dog (& I hope you can continue to show him).

Best of luck with it.

I am lucky in that my greys haven't suffered from happy tail but from my reading, once they do get it, it's a never ending battle until the tail is docked quite short. As Bisart Dobes says, they often keep injuring it until the tail is docked quite short. I have read of multiple surgery being done on greyhounds. It has been advised to go up two or three vertebrea to get the best result, not just to the nearest healthiest one.

I think I would persist with finding a way to keep the tail intact and if that means taping, protecting for months rather then weeks, I would be giving that a go first. Or dock it short and realise the dog's show career is over.

Also when I say my dogs haven't been affected, my bitch did open her tail tip up once, I taped a toilet roll tube onto it and that was it. Not a true happy tail at all thankfully.

Thanks :)