Thread: Ongoing tail issues

My Viszla damaged his tail at 6months of age, just the very tip a tiny split, but boy did it bleed. With a non stop wagging tail the house looked like a murder scene. We took him to the vets and they wouldn’t do any thing. He kept opening it up for a couple of months and I took him into the vets 3 times and all they could do was say leave it and it’ll hopefully stop, nothing they knew of that would stay on to stop the bleeding.
After a couple of months eventually it healed up but he has done it again this time about 2cm down from the tip on the side, has any one experienced any thing similar and got any ideas how to cover it or get him to stop damaging it, his tail is always wagging around and the thing is like a whip, I see how he damages it he only needs to wack it on a corner or coffee table.

Sorry to hear this @rusl has he been docked?
Unfortunately if he keeps doing this he may have to be to stop this from becoming infected.

Not much else really that you can do. If it gets really bad you will have to ask the vets to do this for the animals welfare, but I'm not sure on the NZ laws.

Ive seen over here in the UK Cocker spaniels which needed this done.

Scotland has banned tail docking and here some vets ask to see a firearms license before they do it.

Very cruel imo if its a working dog.

American hunters use tail protection on their pointers, perhaps have a look at the likes of gun dog supply?

Thanks @mikee I will look into that, @Slideshow docking is banned here I believe, I asked the vet and they said no way and if they did they would only take an inch off it so what’s the point.

Yeah, the largest issue with these tail wounds is the continually repeated impacts on the wound from tail wagging. Without absorbing these impacts the wound will not heal.
So first get him one of those big 'funnel-like' collars so he can't chew the dressing off.
Then go to K Mart or some store that sells that drawer rubber 'mesh' that you put on the bottom of drawers, ie, they stop knives sliding around in the kitchen drawers.
Put some antiseptic and some sort of primary dressing on the wound if the Vet thinks it's necessary.
Then rap that rubber mesh around the tail about 4-5 times and have an 'over hang'. Then duct tape the front end of the rubber wrap onto the tail and along the side of the join (the overhanging rubber tip acts to absorb impacts).

Bit of a hassle with that bloody big collar thing they have to wear....but the protective wrap will only last 1 minute if you don't use one.

@rusl When l was guiding in the US it was common for the pointers to have tail protectors on while Pheasant shooting in the corn fields, as the corn stalks would make their tails bleed . If your Vet has not informed you of tail protectors l would take that as a pretty good sign to find another ,there will be many different varieties Neoprene tail protectors were the new fad while l was there ,but if you look up the Blaze Orange ones that were used for easy sight of the dog & extremely popular it will open a worm hole of choices, from memory they were called Lewis Bright Sights ,but commonly called LBS so have a search for both .

I actually thought about trying them on my GPS /Header X as he has a crack up pointing style on Deer of raising his tail slowly like a flag pole, the closer we get to a Deer he is working ,the straighter up in the air it gets & then when he see's it or knows he is really close the tail goes like a Rattle Snake in a short little quiver & a Blaze Orange color on the tail would be easily seen in bushy gullies etc ,but as he grew out of his puppy coat he developed a bright white tip

If you can stop him chewing it, I would try some of that bandage stuff the horse people use to bind horse legs and tails for jumping and breeding. An Elizabethan collar would be the most effective stopping him chewing the bandage off, but a bit of a pain with them having it on.

A bit of wound advice.

The brain surgeon Harvey Cushing in the 1920s and 1930s discovered that, to stop bleeding cold water would stop it but then it starts bleeding soon after by reflex, for same reason your ears go red and painful when you come in from the cold. Warm water, about 41 degrees however also stops bleeding but does not have the vasodilation reflex afterwards that causes re-bleeding. Dipping bleeding tail in a mug of warm water in other words will help stop bleeding unless it's a big vein bleeding - veins won't contract.

Once bleeding stops, dab dry, push the wound edges together and apply superglue over the wound covering half a cm on each side (NB not in between skin edges - interposing glue stops skin edges growing together again). The formulation of superglue used in clinics and the stuff you get in the $2 shop is very similar.

Amputating the damaged end is the only permanent solution.

You need a better vet who is actually interested in the dog's welfare. If you have no luck finding one who will take the issue seriously, then someone from the Working Spaniel Club is likely to be able to advise on a suitable Vet, as tail-splitting is becoming more common since docking was banned.

Originally Posted by gqhoon

Amputating the damaged end is the only permanent solution.

You need a better vet who is actually interested in the dog's welfare. If you have no luck finding one who will take the issue seriously, then someone from the Working Spaniel Club is likely to be able to advise on a suitable Vet, as tail-splitting is becoming more common since docking was banned.

I use a plastic hair curler taped to tail,Protcsts but still lets air in to dry/heal

Originally Posted by nick

I use a plastic hair curler taped to tail,Protcsts but still lets air in to dry/heal

If they worked for Hilda Ogden, they will work for a dog...

Document the injuries, keep photos etc. from memory they can dock the tail for welfare reasons but they need “proof” like others have said try a different vet, as it is a welfare issue

Originally Posted by nick

I use a plastic hair curler taped to tail,Protcsts but still lets air in to dry/heal

Wouldn't last through the first blackberry bush on any of my dogs.

Originally Posted by rusl

Thanks @mikee I will look into that, @Slideshow docking is banned here I believe, I asked the vet and they said no way and if they did they would only take an inch off it so what’s the point.

they take inch off today...in six months another inch,and so on till its docked properly... they likes to charge like wounded bull...I do wonder if can cauterise it...like they do with ya snoz if keep getting blood nose???

look for Ollie and Fiona in vets in teawamutu or tekuiti Ollie is there somewhere..he is far and away the very best dog vet Ive ever had pleasure to deal with and hell of a nice guy...was our neighbour in Geraldine and I took my cocker over to him with thistles in his eyes,got told off for not taking him over to house night before...Nugget stood on table and ollie opened eyelids and plucked out all the crap,Nugget never even flinched,complete trust in vet..Meg my big black bitch is very wary of people and she too loved Ollie.if anyone else reading this finds out where they are practicing now,please let me know.