Why does a dog chew itself: fleas, allergies and other reasons

Why does a dog chew its tail?

Many people, seeing such a spectacle, think that it is funny, and the dog is just playing. Indeed, this often happens in puppies who are not fully aware of their body parts. However, what to do if this happens to an adult dog? In this case, you need to carefully monitor your pet. Most often this becomes a sign of the presence of some kind of pathology.

Typically, a dog may chew its tail for several reasons:

Parasites
Inflammation of the paraanal glands
Eczema or ringworm
Tail injuries
Neurosis and psychological trauma
Boredom
Allergy
Poor nutrition

The dog is chewing his tail

A dog chews its tail: treatment for fleas

The fact is that in the area where the body transitions to the tail, there are a large number of sebaceous glands that attract parasites. It is in this area, as well as near the ears, that fleas can be found. Accordingly, they are active there and can bite the pet. This is why the dog chases its tail in an attempt to fight off parasites.

It sometimes happens that the dog chews this area until it bleeds. The easiest way to get rid of it is to use special shampoos. Fortunately, there are now a huge number of remedies for fleas and other parasites in veterinary pharmacies. But, try not to wait for parasites to appear in your dog, but try to prevent their occurrence. That is, it is necessary to wash the dog with flea shampoo for prevention. Once you remove the parasites, your dog will most likely stop chewing his tail.

List of flea remedies:

Bars - antiparasitic drops for dogs
Actofit - bioinsecticide
Hartz Drops 3in1 against fleas and ticks for dogs
Repellent spray Outdoor with aloe vera for dogs
Bayer Advantix anti-parasite drops for dogs

Beautiful pet

The dog is chewing its tail at the base: what to do?

Inflammation of the anal glands often occurs in dogs. Tail chewing along with rolling on the buttocks are the main signs that the dog is bothered by the anal glands. The dog doesn't ride his anus because he's having fun. This is the cause of a serious illness. The fact is that inside the intestines there are glands that produce a certain secretion. It is this mucus that facilitates easier passage of feces.

In addition, mucus from these glands protects the anus from the penetration of pathogenic microorganisms from the outside. In this case, you need to contact a veterinarian, or clean them yourself. Another sign of inflammation of the paraanal glands is the appearance of mucus or an unpleasant odor from the dog's anus. Usually, you can often see some green or yellow clots that are located around the dog’s anus. This is one of the reasons why your pet may chew its tail.

Initially, the owner may simply not pay attention to how his dog was able to pinch his tail in a door or during games. But increased attention on the part of the pet to its tail, as well as whining and licking in this area may indicate injury. The dog is trying to get rid of the source of pain and shows the owner that something is wrong with his health. Try to feel the tail and look for any wounds or damage. If you find any wound, you need to treat it with an antiseptic and wrap it with a bandage.

The dog chews its tail until it bleeds

Is it possible to stop a dog from chasing its tail?

The owner can prohibit the dog from biting its tail, but this is the worst solution to the problem. An obedient dog will most likely follow the owner’s orders, but there may be negative consequences:

aggression;
the emergence of the habit of swallowing objects not intended for food;
compulsive walking in circles;
violation of the dog's trust and attachment to its owner.

In addition, the owner cannot be with the pet around the clock and control it. In the absence of the owner, the dog may injure itself.

The problem should be given attention and solved with the help of a specialist, not prohibitions.

Important! Just because the dog obeys its owner, itching, pain and other unpleasant sensations will not disappear.

Ways to get rid of a bad habit

First of all, in order to wean your pet from this habit, you need to analyze the situation and understand why exactly this problem occurred. The owner of the animal can determine the presence of injuries, nervous strain or stress himself. But if the problem lies in parasites or some kind of inflammatory process, then the help of a veterinarian is needed. First of all, you need to carefully examine the animal for abrasions, wounds, rashes and other symptoms of disease. You need to examine the entire body, including the paws, head, torso and other parts.

Important! If the dog runs after its tail while playing, you can smear the tip with something bitter, such as mustard. This will quickly wean your pet from playing such a game.

If tail biting is caused by stress, you need to find the cause and eliminate it or reduce stress to a minimum. If one of the household members offends the dog, you need to take a closer look at its behavior. A dog in the company of a person he dislikes will not behave as usual. An attentive owner will immediately sense something is wrong in the pet’s behavior.

In the most dangerous situations, a dog can seriously harm itself. Only a veterinarian and an animal psychologist can understand why a dog bit off its tail. Dogs, like people, face mental health problems. In this state, they behave inappropriately and may try to hurt themselves.

Keeping a dog is not just about having fun and being affectionate to your pet, it also means constant attention to its health and regular visits to the veterinarian. If a person is not ready to face such difficulties and solve them, it is better to abandon the idea of getting a puppy.

A dog chews its tail due to allergies, lichen, eczema: what to do?

Options:

Allergy. Oddly enough, pets also suffer from allergies. This especially often happens if the owner experiments with food, or mixes natural nutrition and food. It is advisable not to do this, and choose one thing for your friend. After all, very often food ingredients interact with natural food and can cause food allergies. Due to this, the dog’s skin in the tail area can itch, so he bites it, scratches it, perhaps even until it bleeds. Typically, allergies appear as red, dry spots, but the skin in these areas does not go bald, but is covered with hair. You may notice a small amount of dry skin or even crusts hanging from the ends of the coat. The dog has to be brushed more often because dry crusts appear.
Lichen. This disease also often leads to the dog chewing its tail. In this area, the skin usually becomes bald and bald spots are observed. In this case, immediate treatment is necessary. It is best to consult a doctor, because there are several types of lichen, which are caused by fungi, bacteria, and viruses. It is unknown what pathogen is present in this type of lichen. That is why it is best to consult a doctor who will conduct appropriate laboratory tests, during which you can find out what caused the lichen. After this, adequate treatment is prescribed. Most often, local drugs are prescribed in the form of ointments and antiseptics, with the help of which the tail area and lichen are treated.
Eczema . This is one of the types of skin diseases, which also belongs to lichen, but is not transmitted if there are children in the house. In most cases, all the lichens that dogs suffer from can be transmitted to people, but eczema is not the case. It occurs as a result of an allergic reaction. Therefore, in this case, the dog must be given antihistamines. Local ointments are applied to this area. Often, corticosteroids or topical antihistamines, which are sold in the form of a gel or ointment, are used for this purpose. Often a dog may chew its tail out of boredom. Therefore, try to diversify your pet’s leisure time, walk with him more often and have fun.

Cute puppy

Why does an animal bite its paws?

There are many reasons for this pet behavior. Veterinarians have counted more than 10 cases in their practice that lead to this behavior. Let's look at the most common ones.

Cause	Image	Description
Poor claw condition	If the owner neglects to trim the nails, the animal may feel unwell. The claw begins to bend, preventing the animal from walking normally, causing pain and discomfort. Most often, the dog suffers from itching in the toe area. That is why she bites them, trying to rid herself of unpleasant sensations
Itchy paws	There can be a lot of reasons for this. Most often this is a consequence of lack of proper hygiene after walking. Itching can occur in both long- and short-haired dogs.
Tangles	Hair rolls up and pulls on the pads. You can notice that the animal's gait has changed
Mechanical injuries	If the animal often spends time outside, it is possible that the pads on its paws were injured. This is how the dog tries to relieve itself of pain.
Reagents	During the winter season, a huge amount of reagents appear on the streets of large cities. And contact with the skin of harmful chemical compounds can cause itching and burning.
Contact allergy	Environmental pollution is a real problem not only for people, but also for animals. Spilled chemicals, construction mixtures, gasoline and motor oil on asphalt can cause allergies on the paws, causing pain, burning, cracking of the toe pads
Fungus	The dog can become a target for the development of fungus. The cause may be contact with a carrier, being in a damp room, infection
Subcutaneous mite	A subcutaneous mite that gets on the limbs while walking causes itching. The animal tries to relieve the ailment with the help of its teeth.
Neurosis	Lack of vitamins, nutrients and minerals can lead to neurosis. The animal needs to have something in its mouth to feel calm. This bad habit in dogs echoes the human habit when people bite their nails.
Other reasons	Due to poor circulation, a sedentary lifestyle or poor diet, the animal may develop inflammation of the nail bed. It causes joint pain and numbness in the fingers

The dog bites its hind legs and chews its tail - what to do?

Oddly enough, dogs also have nervous breakdowns, just like people. This often happens after moving or experiencing some kind of fear, perhaps fright. Think about it: maybe someone scared your pet, hit him, or he got into a fight with other dogs in the yard and was seriously injured. Quite often, the reasons for chewing the tail are precisely mental illnesses and increased excitability.

Adviсe:

Try to show your dog that chewing his tail is bad. Such manipulations are carried out only if you are sure that the dog does not suffer from any infection, his anal glands are clean, there are no fleas, ringworm, or allergies. In this case, the reason is precisely in the dog’s psyche. You need to buy a rattle or just put some pebbles in a tin and seal it with tape.
As soon as the dog starts chewing his tail, you need to throw this tin can to scare him. Thus, a conditioned reflex will arise that will indicate that chewing your tail is bad. This way, if he chews his tail, he will get scared or get hit by a tin can.
The same manipulation must be done with a baby rattle. To prevent the tail from being chewed until it bleeds, it is necessary to put a special cone-shaped collar on the dog. This way he simply won't be able to touch his tail.
Often, owners simply put pants on the dog and hide the tail so that the pet cannot reach it. If the dog reaches the tail, it is necessary to coat the wound with chloramphenicol. This ointment has a very bitter taste, so the dog will have a conditioned reflex that if he chews the tail, there will be a bitter taste in his mouth. The dog sedative Fitex has proven itself quite well. This is a drug that relaxes dogs, making them calmer.

At the veterinarian's appointment

Treatment

If the veterinarian has identified the cause of this behavior, the irritant must be removed. But the method of treatment directly depends on the specific problem.

Neurosis in a dog

Neurosis is understood as a disorder that provokes asthmatic, hysterical, obsessive manifestations. Symptoms can be extensive, including paw biting.

Neurosis can manifest itself in the form of paw biting

To cure neurosis, it is necessary to eliminate the cause of stress. Every owner probably knows when a dog falls into this state.

Perhaps the animal is frightened by a walk during which it was injured.
If an animal has ever been hit by a car, it will be afraid of all vehicles.

A dog chews its tail while eating - what to do?

If the dog really chews its tail and paws because it is nervous, then you need to contact a good dog handler. Perhaps the dog is not physically exhausted, which is why he chews his paws and tail out of boredom.

Adviсe:

It is necessary to competently occupy all the dog’s free time. That is, so that he does not lie in a booth all day, but does business. Walk with him, throw sticks more, and teach him different commands. In this case, the dog will become calmer and more balanced. It is not without reason that the daily routine is very useful for young children and calms the nervous system. The same thing happens with pets.
The dog chews his tail because it is a bad habit, just like children's nails. Consider whether your dog has ever had a tail injury. Usually, when a dog gets sick, the owners really take care of him and spend a lot of time with him. Thus, a kind of connection appears that if my tail hurts, it means that the owner will spend more time with me. Maybe that's why the dog is trying to damage his tail to get your attention.
Of course, if a dog chews its tail and paws until it bleeds, then first of all an antiseptic treatment using peroxide or regular chlorhexidine is necessary. Try to treat wounds and wrap them with a plaster, possibly a bandage.
This will prevent the connection of a secondary infection. Otherwise, if the dog really doesn’t stop getting nervous, chasing its tail, gnawing it until it bleeds, the tail will have to be amputated. Well, as practice shows, in most cases this does not help, since the reason is not entirely the tail, but the presence of parasites or internal problems.
Most often, they are precisely caused by improper feeding and mixing of dry and natural food. Many people believe that this diet is optimal for a dog, but this is not the case. At the same time, economy-class dry food, such as Pedigree, does not provide the dog with vitamins and minerals.

Dear dog
Twice a year, in spring and autumn, it is necessary to give a course of vitamins for dogs. If you don’t want to bother preparing food for your dog, buy super-premium food that will completely compensate for the deficiency of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in the dog’s body. It is best if you cannot figure out the reason why your dog is chewing its tail and paws, contact a veterinarian. Perhaps he will be able to diagnose and prescribe adequate treatment.

Briefly about the main thing

Dogs lick their back and front paws for hygienic purposes. In this way they get rid of dirt and objects left between the pads after walks.
If the procedure becomes intrusive, severe scratching, redness, signs of hair loss and bruising appear on the limbs, you should contact a veterinarian.
The main reasons why a dog chews its paws are neurosis, allergies, mechanical damage to the pads, infection, and exposure to reagents.
For prevention, you should wash your pet after every walk, remove excess hair and trim its nails. In winter, wear boots or use protective wax when walking.

Have you ever experienced your dog chewing his paws? Share in the comments what to do in such a situation, how to help your pet.

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Dogs practically do not have bad habits. But some owners note that animals chew their paws from time to time. Some people think that this is a normal phenomenon. The process of biting paws is attributed to self-care and maintaining body cleanliness. But if the nature of the biting differs from normal licking, and bloody gnawing is observed, it is necessary to solve the problem.

Why does a dog chew its paws?