Why Is My Dog Chewing The Hair Off His Tail?

Your dog is doing this because he is itchy and feeling discomfort on his tail. There are a number of reasons why this could be happening. Fleas are the number one cause for itching and for a dog to chew the hair off his tail. Other usual causes of a skin irritation are allergies, mites and ticks.

Fleas: In one day, one flea can bite your dog almost 400 times. One female flea lays hundreds of her eggs onto a dog. A dog might become over sensitive to the saliva of fleas and will develop dermatitis due to a flea allergy. This can cause anaemia in your dog if left untreated.

Allergies: A dog allergy will either be a food allergy, an environmental allergy or a contact allergy. A food allergy occurs when a dog is sensitive to a certain ingredient in their food. An environmental allergy usually involves a dog inhaling certain allergens. A contact allergy involves any allergen touching a dog's skin. When a human gets an allergy they get a runny nose. When a dog gets an allergy they get an itchy skin.

Mites and ticks: A tick infestation occurs more rarely than a flea infestation, but the consequences are more serious. They can give a dog Lyme Disease or Tick Bite Fever. They have to have an injection at the vet otherwise it may prove fatal. Ear mites and mange mites cause irritation and intense itching to a dog. This must also be treated promptly to prevent a serious health problem.

Other causes: There could be an underlying condition for a dog's itching, for example cancer. Damage to the nerve endings that are caused from disease or injury can also cause extreme skin discomfort. A dog that has experienced any psychological trauma through confinement or abuse will probably pull out its hair compulsively. Any case of hair pulling or skin chewing must be taken to the vet. There are effective treatments for a dog's flea control.

My male pit bull does the same exact thing. He has skin and flea allergies. I have not found anything to give him to completely make him stop. I actually just bought some spray last night to try.....it is to prevent itching. You might could try that. You can give your dog children's benadryl, just call your vet for the dosage. Try a special shampoo. I don't think you have to take him to the vet....unless the condition does not get better after you try stuff you can do at home. Try all of these and maybe it will get better.

There are many reasons this might be happening. It could be a "hot spot," or a place where he is in the habit of chewing, and just being irritated by his continued chewing. It could be a nervous condition and again just a habit after an injury. Spraying a product called "Bitter orange" on the tail can work if this is the case, but not knowing details on what is going on it's very hard to tell.
It could be fleas. It could also be worms if he is chewing under his tail. It could be an anal gland that needs to be expressed if he is also dragging his behind on the floor. It could be allergies. There are a plethora of things it could be.
You really should take your dog to a vet to get further information on his condition.

I have a Staffie who from time to time just attacks his own tail (he has broken bones in it a couple of times, and each time its like "OUCH! Duhhhh I remember why I shouldn't do that, it hurts !" )

It's at least nine months since he did it last so I'm guessing it's going to happen again any day soon :-)

(If it doesn't I'll simply consider myself lucky rather than try to work out what old "Dr Half-wit" thought he was doing biting his own tail )



I defy anyone to accurately explain this dogs behavior (its not my dog BTW) I swear the dog doesn't know so how could anyone else ?

:-D

Dogs eh ?

How old is your dog?  Puppies often chase and bite their tails for no reason.  Get the dog a chew toy and the puppy will bite that instead.  However if this continues and the dog is older or obsessed with chewing and scratching then he may have worms.  Worms are common in dogs, especially puppies and should be treated by a veterinarian.

My dog he s 3 years old he keeps biting his tail almost the whole day....nd its not because he s lonely or trying to have fun with his tail...I don't know wats irritating him so much on its tail...he does even let me touch its tail..

He could just be bored, but most reasons for chewing or scratching are allergies, fleas or other parasites.... I would see a vet just to make sure it's nothing serious and then treat from there...

My dog will bite his tail and whine like if somethings there but there isn't any sores or other unknown things...I just wonder if something is causing his tail to hurt or feel crazy cause he just chews on his tail and its worrying me ..

Some dogs chase there tails cause it is fun to them.. All dogs enjoy chasing.. Also they could do it out of just being bored. Now if he his biting his tail like chewing could be a hot spot or fleas.. But biting it, he just likes it .. Heheh "