Happy Tail

[Pheebs]

Nawwww bless him. Maggie's exactly the same. Have only skimmed the thread (apologies) but if he's not used to crate training may I suggest you line the inside of his crate with padding as well as the crate wire seems to be the #1 source of tail splitting for our happy little camper :laugh:

[TheCheekyMonster]

Nawwww bless him. Maggie's exactly the same. Have only skimmed the thread (apologies) but if he's not used to crate training may I suggest you line the inside of his crate with padding as well as the crate wire seems to be the #1 source of tail splitting for our happy little camper :laugh:

I have a k9 pro soft crate its awesome because he doesn't hurt his tail in there, but we have a very very small laundry which is where the two dogs sleep and unfortunately there are just so many narrow entrances to the house he cant help himself..... we have one amazingly compliant dog who the only problem is she hates possums and gets excited by car rides, but is the best snuggle bug and nothing phases her too much... and then there is Gus the child who has worms constantly wriggling and moving and whacking his tail and just never chilling out. where did I go wrong!!!

I was actually thinking of giving him the snip, but I want to start agility and tracking with him, so not sure how that will go

Edited June 7, 2013 by TheCheekyMonster

[Dame Aussie]

Awww Gus, he really tests you doesn't he?! :laugh:

When do you find he is at his calmest?

[Rebanne]

He actually frustrates me to tears sometimes because as a dog owner you try to do your best and you hate to see them bleeding or what should be painful, or when you just cant understand the behaviour or why its happening.

This is what happens when I go to greet him in the morning and afternoon, I open the laundry door, he will jump on top of Nala to get to me turn around in circles whack his tail everywhere and hop up and down on his front legs, he will either try to bolt through any gap to get through to the rest of the house or I will say toilet real quickly so he diverts to the back door to the yard so they can go out.

Afternoons, I come home Gus is at the kitchen window whining until I open the back door, he will then do the same as what he did in the morning except jump on me this time and then both dogs will proceed to play very roughly, only in my boyfriends and my presents do they play really rough and boisterous, I will give him as many pats as I can until my thighs and shins start to really hurt from the whacking I will then put them both in the laundry to calm down before letting them into the rest of the house. When I open the laundry door he will bolt through the kitchen and try to get into the hallway but I will call him back and close the laundry door so the space he has is limited (this time is usually when the most tail damage is done) I will ignore him and do what I have to do in the kitchen, wash dishes make dinner and he will sit on my feet and lean on the back of my legs and shake ever so lightly, I will give him a pat at this stage because I know this is as calm as he is going to get, we are always conscious to do things with minimal fuss and very calmly slowly and quietly but you know its annoying not being able to just walk around in your house without getting the dog excited, or talking without getting him excited and I have no idea why his like this.

I have a k9 pro soft crate its awesome because he doesn't hurt his tail in there, but we have a very very small laundry which is where the two dogs sleep and unfortunately there are just so many narrow entrances to the house he cant help himself..... we have one amazingly compliant dog who the only problem is she hates possums and gets excited by car rides, but is the best snuggle bug and nothing phases her too much... and then there is Gus the child who has worms constantly wriggling and moving and whacking his tail and just never chilling out. where did I go wrong!!!

I was actually thinking of giving him the snip, but I want to start agility and tracking with him, so not sure how that will go

castration? won't make any difference to him doing agility or tracking and quite possibly won't make any changes to his behaviour at home. Honestly this dogs needs to learn to chill, bolting through the house, bashing people out of his way, jumping on the other dog, he sounds seriously stressed to me. Maybe get a behaviourist in to look at his overall behaviour and get some sort of plan happening.

[Staff'n'Toller]

- Crate Games DVD.

- Talk to The Spotted Devil about the sorts of things she does with Ziggy.

- Invest in some brainwork toys that the dogs can do separately whilst in crates if they involve food.

- Swimming.

- Running alongside a bike.

- Look at his diet and see if there's any potential factors increasing hyperactivity.

- Remove his food bowl and drip feed his food to him making it contingent on good calm behaviour only.

[TheCheekyMonster]

He actually frustrates me to tears sometimes because as a dog owner you try to do your best and you hate to see them bleeding or what should be painful, or when you just cant understand the behaviour or why its happening.

This is what happens when I go to greet him in the morning and afternoon, I open the laundry door, he will jump on top of Nala to get to me turn around in circles whack his tail everywhere and hop up and down on his front legs, he will either try to bolt through any gap to get through to the rest of the house or I will say toilet real quickly so he diverts to the back door to the yard so they can go out.

Afternoons, I come home Gus is at the kitchen window whining until I open the back door, he will then do the same as what he did in the morning except jump on me this time and then both dogs will proceed to play very roughly, only in my boyfriends and my presents do they play really rough and boisterous, I will give him as many pats as I can until my thighs and shins start to really hurt from the whacking I will then put them both in the laundry to calm down before letting them into the rest of the house. When I open the laundry door he will bolt through the kitchen and try to get into the hallway but I will call him back and close the laundry door so the space he has is limited (this time is usually when the most tail damage is done) I will ignore him and do what I have to do in the kitchen, wash dishes make dinner and he will sit on my feet and lean on the back of my legs and shake ever so lightly, I will give him a pat at this stage because I know this is as calm as he is going to get, we are always conscious to do things with minimal fuss and very calmly slowly and quietly but you know its annoying not being able to just walk around in your house without getting the dog excited, or talking without getting him excited and I have no idea why his like this.

I have a k9 pro soft crate its awesome because he doesn't hurt his tail in there, but we have a very very small laundry which is where the two dogs sleep and unfortunately there are just so many narrow entrances to the house he cant help himself..... we have one amazingly compliant dog who the only problem is she hates possums and gets excited by car rides, but is the best snuggle bug and nothing phases her too much... and then there is Gus the child who has worms constantly wriggling and moving and whacking his tail and just never chilling out. where did I go wrong!!!

I was actually thinking of giving him the snip, but I want to start agility and tracking with him, so not sure how that will go

castration? won't make any difference to him doing agility or tracking and quite possibly won't make any changes to his behaviour at home. Honestly this dogs needs to learn to chill, bolting through the house, bashing people out of his way, jumping on the other dog, he sounds seriously stressed to me. Maybe get a behaviourist in to look at his overall behaviour and get some sort of plan happening.

It is what im doing, lol just hanging out for our appointment date, but thought I might get some band aid solutions until then, just to make things a little less "wanting to strangle him!" He is a bright dog ever since he was a pup he was very attentive but the reward is never great enough for him to choose to do the wanted behaviour... food is gold for him so I trained every day morning and night with food, he would get what I wanted him to do during those sessions but applying them with distractions just went over him, I tried to introduce distractions slowly but I guess I did it allll wrong and then I gave up so I have now asked for help, probably a little too late but we'll see how it goes.

@Aussie3 he is calmest when sleeping! and on the end of my bed with the rest of the fam after he has been told to chill out a good 10 times lol.

@staff' n Troller" I play crate games with him every night he knows what a crate is, but if the option to be on me is there he will do that which is why I need to zipp him up in the crate, I have some brainwork toys, Kongs, Puzzles but I cant feed both dogs together or near eachother so its sometimes difficult to have food stimulating activites but whenever the chance presents itself that what I do, swimming he loves, running along side a bike? I havent tried yet how do you teach them to do that without making you fall over?, due to purines his food is very basic and he is fed by scattering his kibble and whole egg all over the back pattio and garden whilst Nala is inside. I got blood work done for hyperactive thydoid but nothing came back.

If someone saw my dog they would think I neglect him, his very hyper and really skinny and it couldnt be further from the truth I feed him bucket loads and try to stimulate him mentally and physically every day... even though in the last few months I have just wanted to give up surely raising a mentally & physically healthy dog is not this difficult.

Edited June 7, 2013 by TheCheekyMonster

[mixeduppup]

I met a crossbreed with a docked tail, apparently it was a shocking tail splitter and they opted for docking. It was very cute and his little knobby tail would wag constantly still.

[Katdogs]

I have nothing to offer but sympathy! We had one foster Lab a few years ago now who had a very happy whippy tail It bled so easily and one night our hallway looked like a scene from CSI with splatter everywhere - I'm still finding marks in corners and up high!

He went to a home with no other dogs and lots of space, but if he'd failed as a foster I think docking would have been a fair option. He just had so much energy to burn it had to leak out somewhere and in his case it wriggled into his tail!

[TheCheekyMonster]

I have nothing to offer but sympathy! We had one foster Lab a few years ago now who had a very happy whippy tail It bled so easily and one night our hallway looked like a scene from CSI with splatter everywhere - I'm still finding marks in corners and up high!

He went to a home with no other dogs and lots of space, but if he'd failed as a foster I think docking would have been a fair option. He just had so much energy to burn it had to leak out somewhere and in his case it wriggled into his tail!

Yeap that sounds like Gus..... there is just so much blood that comes out! CSI crime scene is a pretty good explanation.

[Dame Aussie]

That would drive me nuts. I'd be so stressed all the time about him being in pain or getting an infection

I'd probably dock if it was me, but can understand that would be a last resort.

[BlackJaq]

I don't want to be a negative Nelly but it sounds like there might be more issues than just the tail splitting here. Docking will fix that but it won't make Gus any more settled or calm. I think maybe consulting with a trainer or behaviourist (K9 Pro is often mentioned here though I have no experiences myself) might be worthwhile to try and get a handle on the excitable, hyper-active behaviour and if those thing are taken care of there may or may not be an issue anymore.

If you are happy with his behaviour then obviously docking will probably solve your problem for you though. I just know that personally, I would go crazy with a dog bouncing all over my house.

ETA: I would also fast track the agility thing or whatever, it sounds like he really needs a job.

Edited June 8, 2013 by BlackJaq

[cali]

there is a dog at the kennel I work at right now, she had gotten the end of her tail slammed in a door, to allow it to heal without damaging it further by wagging, the vet stitched a syringe tube to the end of her tail. I'v never heard of that before, but it seems to work, so I thought I'd throw it out there lol

[TheCheekyMonster]

I think I will wait till after my behavioural consult till i consider docking, because I too think most of it is behaviour related being very wired doesnt help his already playful behaviour his a dally after all, they are pretty active to begin with but he is a few levels up from active I think. I have wrapped a sponge hair roller on the end for now and ill just need to keep it on until another solution comes about, but yes infection is always my main concern that and sometimes his blood will get near my face, once I thought it got in my eye and it freaked me out its not the most hygienic thing to have slashing around.

[Dame Aussie]

Good luck with the consult, let us know how you go :)

[teekay]

No advice for poor Gus's tail but I am reading Fired up Frantic and Freaked out by Laura VanArendonk Baugh at the moment and working on teaching Luka to be calm.

So far he is making some great progress using a mat which he is learning to lie calmly on in various situations. The book describes how to add distraction in very slow increments so it's really easy to follow.

Maybe worth a read.

Good luck

[TheCheekyMonster]

No advice for poor Gus's tail but I am reading Fired up Frantic and Freaked out by Laura VanArendonk Baugh at the moment and working on teaching Luka to be calm.

So far he is making some great progress using a mat which he is learning to lie calmly on in various situations. The book describes how to add distraction in very slow increments so it's really easy to follow.

Maybe worth a read.

Good luck

I was going to buy this book but didnt know if it was any good! thanks for the heads up ill give it a go.

[Nic.B]

I have been through this with Fern and understand how difficult it can be.

I used the roller and vet wrapped Fern's tail consistantly. My vet mentioned that if it continued docking (not a full dock) would also be an option.

Perservered as I love Ferns expresive tail :) She was very young at this stage and I hoped that her tail tip would "toughen up" over time. Thank goodness it did :)

We still have a very occasional split, though nothing like we experienced previously. It heals very quickly.

Keeping Fern calm and relaxed indoors was important (and a commitment) along with training.

Thank god for drop!~ The kids still say at times "mmuuuummmm Fern smacked me" :laugh:

Good luck TCM and Gus :)

[TheCheekyMonster]

I have been through this with Fern and understand how difficult it can be.

I used the roller and vet wrapped Fern's tail consistantly. My vet mentioned that if it continued docking (not a full dock) would also be an option.

Perservered as I love Ferns expresive tail :) She was very young at this stage and I hoped that her tail tip would "toughen up" over time. Thank goodness it did :)

We still have a very occasional split, though nothing like we experienced previously. It heals very quickly.

Keeping Fern calm and relaxed indoors was important (and a commitment) along with training.

Thank god for drop!~ The kids still say at times "mmuuuummmm Fern smacked me" :laugh:

Good luck TCM and Gus :)

What drops?? is there a magic calm potion!! hahah nah I'd never consider drugging him, he just has so much personality and its a love hate relationship at the moment but I too have spend a fortune on this tail so I want to keep it for a little longer lol, but yes I think if we control the calm we can some what control the tail.

[BlackJaq]

I think they meant "drop", as in, the command "drop" (to your belly)

[TheCheekyMonster]

I think they meant "drop", as in, the command "drop" (to your belly)

Oooooooww!! yea that didnt work for us either haha still kanga tail