The Talking Tail! - The Doctor Is In!

 Did you know that your dog's tail is one of the best ways he/she communicates with you?  Think about the different emotions and varied degrees of expression that come through your pup's tail. Well, you need to know what happens when that means of expression is cut and how the communication continues!

Today I have to let all of you know about the horrors that can happen to your furry best friend who has his/her tail docked.  Below is a very sad picture of my good friend, Pixel Blue Eyes.  She and her mommy are on a very special mission about educating people, and hopefully, changing what I think is a totally unnecessary practice: Tail Docking.  There is nothing beautiful about this practice, and it often times is very painful and detrimental.  

Here is some information taken directly from my friend Pixel's blog. Please read it carefully.

"There are many symptoms and behaviors that a dog can exhibit when they are having docked tail pain. Some might seem unrelated, but they are. Here are just a few signs that a puppy or adult dog is having pain, irritation or difficulties with a docked tail:
1. Biting, licking, 'chasing' or whining at the tail or back end. Scooting or rubbing their bottoms or tails on the floor or against a piece of furniture.
2. Hiding under a bed or in a crate. Isolation from the family or laying alone in a back room.
3. Delayed or difficulty potty training, either on paper or outside. Often difficulty having a normal bowl movement (BM), including running away from a BM as it is occurring. Pixel is 5.5 years old and she still sometimes runs away from her BM's while they are happening.
4. Unexplained potty accidents, even if they are potty trained. If you are paper training and you occasionally have rogue locations where pee or poo will occur. Sometimes they have trouble holding it due to the cut tail muscles. They rely on the entire tail for this body function so it can be hindered with a docked tail.
5. Redness, inflammation or scaling at the tail nub tip. Before Pixel's surgery to try and correct her tail pain, would get seriously red and inflamed at times. Now it gets red after she has 'gone after it' due to pain & discomfort.
6. Sudden and unexplained moments where the dog leaps, jumps, or catapults themselves off of a bed/couch/chair and either runs away or goes after the tail. Leaping up suddenly then leaping down again off the furniture is often a sign they are getting sudden stabs of pain or stinging at the tail nub and are trying to 'get away' from the source of discomfort.
7. Sulking, having head down, and acting like they are in trouble or are being punished for no apparent reason. Dogs often associate the stabbing, stinging pain as something that is being "done to them" so they might very well feel they are being punished when they feel it. It's very psychologically traumatizing for them.
8. If someone goes to pet or touch the dog near their back end or tail, is there occasional crying out, yelping, or even nipping at that person (or another pet  if that pet gets too close to the tail). This can occur when someone is trying to either pick the dog up or move the dog for whatever reason.
9. Refusing to come when called, even though the dog knows and usually obeys that command. When you try to call them, they might sit in a bed, on a rug, in the corner, etc, just looking at you while you are calling them, trying to get them to come to you. This can be an infrequent occurrence where other times the dog obeys with no problems or hesitation (again, this refers back to them either thinking they are in trouble when they are hurting or that you are the cause).
10. Playtime, happy reunions, and/or meal time excitement getting interrupted by a sudden tail biting episode. Getting excited over a loved one coming home or a fun play time, can often cause a sudden bout of pain or stinging that results in yelping and 'going after' their tail. Excitement runs through the nerves in all dogs tails (or tail nubs) as they wag with joy, so docked tail dogs get 'punished' (in their eyes) for being excited."


This is some very valuable information.  I hope you follow Pixel's Blog  - No Tails Left Behind and Facebook Page as well.

Please join our campaign by visiting, liking and sharing Pixel's social media sites.  Send out Tweets as well!