Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog health - Ask members * If your pet is vomiting-bleeding-diarrhea etc. Vet time!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old May 21st, 2006, 08:42 AM
mpleleaf's Avatar
mpleleaf mpleleaf is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 5
Question Golden retreiver is eating her tail

I have an eight month old female golden retreiver, named Dakota. She is very active and healthy but she has an issue with her tail. When she is laying down she likes to chew the tip of her tail. It's to the point that it actually looks as if someone has given her tail a hair cut. I am not sure why she's doing it or how to stop it. Any suggestions.... I want my baby to have a beautiful tail. Is she missing something in her diet? Maybe just bored? If you have had this happen to your dog and have any thoughts, please help us...
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old May 21st, 2006, 08:47 AM
jesse's mommy's Avatar
jesse's mommy jesse's mommy is offline
Slave to the Wigglebum
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 3,114
Have you been to the vet yet? It could be an allergy. There's no fleas right? Have you done anything so far? When did this start? It could be something neurotic or some kind of anxiety. Do you have a picture you can upload? Maybe some members have experienced this before.
__________________
Stupid People Have Stupid Children, Hence All The Ignorance In The World!

Last edited by jesse's mommy; May 21st, 2006 at 08:58 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old May 21st, 2006, 09:02 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10,287
It has been seen in zoo animals that boredom will sometimes make them mutilate themselves.

How much hard exercise is your dog getting? An 8 month old golden is normally pretty high energy.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old May 21st, 2006, 11:04 AM
mpleleaf's Avatar
mpleleaf mpleleaf is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 5
No I have not taken her to the vet yet. I was hoping that somone else had experienced this and would be able to offer some insight. I don't have a picture but I can tell you that she is trimmimg the ends of the hair so neatly that my husband thought that one of the kids or I cut the hair with scissors. We regularly deflea her so that is not the problem. She gets lots of excerise. We have a large piece of propery and she runs constantly. Nothing has really changed in her environment. No changes at home. We only noticed that the tail was looking trimmed within the last few weeks. We don't actually see her eating it so we have to assume she is doing it through the night. She does like to eat things out of the ordinary so we have to watch her closely. She also eats her dog toys rather than playing with them. Even a tennis ball will be stripped bare of the covering if we don't watch her......Hope this helps
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old May 21st, 2006, 02:01 PM
mafiaprincess's Avatar
mafiaprincess mafiaprincess is offline
Performance Spaniels
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Whitby, ON
Posts: 2,395
Still sounds like boredom. Do you take the dog out and do stuff, or does it just run around on the property on it's own? A lab is really high energy. Running by itself isn't generally enough.
__________________
CRB Houdini's Apple Cider RXMCL AGDC AADC MSDC MJDC RNT CL3-F CL3-H EXJ Bronze
Stanton Acres Out Of The Ashes SGDC RNMCL MJDC ADC CL3-F CL3-S CL3-H
Stark Naked Burn it to the Ground
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old May 21st, 2006, 02:26 PM
rainbow's Avatar
rainbow rainbow is offline
-
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Beautiful BC's Kootenay Country
Posts: 34,757
I agree with mafiaprincess....you do need to spend some quality time "with" your dog to help prevent boredom.

Also, what are you feeding her?
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old May 21st, 2006, 03:11 PM
Prin Prin is offline
Senior member
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 28,492
I agree too. Sounds like this dog needs a good full-out play session more often. A dog running on its own and a dog playing with you are not the same. Dogs need the interaction.

What do you mean by you deflea her regularly? Does she actually get fleas and you give her meds for it or do you just deflea just in case?
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old May 21st, 2006, 03:32 PM
Puppyluv's Avatar
Puppyluv Puppyluv is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Montreal
Posts: 1,854
I don't know.... it may not be boredom, it may be habbit. Layla has always been a tail chewer. (She used to chase it too, but once she figured out that it's stuck to her butt, she gave up.) She has never had lack of exercise since I got her, and since she litterally started chewing the first day I got her, I think it is something that she started before I got her. I've seen thevet about it: no allergies, no fleas, nothing. Like your girl, she only ever chews the very tip of it, so that instead of tapering to a point, it's blunt ended.
This may be your case too. Has she always chewed on it or did this start recently?

That being said, it may also be a dietary deficiency. What kind of food is she eating?
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old May 21st, 2006, 06:17 PM
JessXx's Avatar
JessXx JessXx is offline
Long Term Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Edmonton,Ab,Canada. Oilers Town
Posts: 263
Theres lots of things it could be but I think your dogs tail is itchy... and heres some tips I have for you... of course taking your pup to the vet is the best idea, but here you go...
Your dog may be allergic to its food, it happend to shyla... and she lost a lot of hair because of it. She was allergic to the chemicals in the food so we fed her either canned or home-made food... maybe you could try that.
It could also be that your dog is bored, try getting more toys and things that interest your pup.
Try bathing your dog regularly to reduce any itching.
Fatty Acids can help reduce itches.... so marine oil can help with that.

Things it could be...
Fleas, Airborne allergies like pollen etc., ticks or lice.....
Theres many things it could be but I recommend seeing a vet, because I also would love to see pics of your puppy with a healthy tail and body good luck to you and your puppy
__________________
Proud mommy of
:love: Shyla- my american Husky (girl)-3yrs
Pepsi- My tabby kitten (girl)- 1yr
My cockatiel Jayson- 3months
Hailey- My cockatiel-2 years :love:
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old May 21st, 2006, 07:28 PM
mpleleaf's Avatar
mpleleaf mpleleaf is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 5
Thanks for all of your ideas. We did change her food recently..possibly around the time that this started. We do have a large piece of property as I stated before... but she is NEVER outside alone. We are always with her playing and throwing toys for her to retreive.. after all that is what she does best. She gets a bath on a regular basis because she LOVES the water and will wait in the tub for us... We deflea her as a precaution, but have never seen fleas on her. We use the Advantage drops. We do have lots of toys and things to play with, which she eats if we don't watch closely, so I really don't think boredom is the answer either.. maybe I will take her to the vet and see what he thinks..
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old May 21st, 2006, 09:57 PM
JessXx's Avatar
JessXx JessXx is offline
Long Term Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Edmonton,Ab,Canada. Oilers Town
Posts: 263
Hi,
Theres also a possibility that maybe you are drying out your pup's skin by washing it too much... hopefully its something small like that!
Its a very good idea to take your little one to the vet let us all know what happens...
__________________
Proud mommy of
:love: Shyla- my american Husky (girl)-3yrs
Pepsi- My tabby kitten (girl)- 1yr
My cockatiel Jayson- 3months
Hailey- My cockatiel-2 years :love:
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:56 AM.