“Dogs chase their tails because they are bored”

This may be the scenario…

You brought home a 6-week old puppy and looked forward to enjoyingthe companionship. Raising puppies is joyful; soon you find it amusing when thepup started chasing it tails, along with some biting and chewing on the tail.This probably looks funny and silly and brings laughter to people, and it islikely for owners to assume that dogs are doing it for the sake of fun. As thepuppy grows up, you being to find the behavior disturbing, the frequency oftail chasing has gone up and some damages to the tail has been done…

now…what options do you have?

Is it ?

A. Use aversive techniques to reframe the dog fromchasing and chewing its own tail

B. The dog is seeing its own tail as an alien,let’s chop it off

C. Evaluate possible medical cause, and book yourappointment with a behavior vet

The dog would beg you to choose C, but not many would have theirwishes granted, so you end up with a tailess dog keeps on chasing the invisible/shortened tail,and dog that got harassed for chasing tail never ever thought about quitting…whatis going on?

It is oversimplifying the problem to call it an act derivedfrom boredom, repetitive behavior such as tail chasing and pacing has long beenstudied in confined domesticated and wild animals, it could be originated frompoor conditioned and inappropriate environments. However, the etiopathogenesisfor these behavior is probably far more complicated, and evidence suggest thereshould be different mechanisms between initiating and maintaining thesebehaviors.

Abnormal behavior should never be neglected for theirpotential in physiological distress. For conditions such as Acral LickDermatits and Psychogenic Alopecia which used to be considered primarilybehavioral, now have a good possibility of being primarily medical. Theetiology of tail chasing behavior is unknown, some considered it a form ofidiopathic epilepsy, others consider it a type of obsessive compulsive disease,and also it should never be overlooked for focal neurological diseasesinvolving in the area of the sacral and coccygeal vertebrae (e.g. trauma,neoplasia, neuroma at tail docking site, infection, etc.) as a possibility thatcauses the abnormal behavior. A genetic cause may be considered in somespecific breeds, bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Daschund, ShibaInu, and German shepherd dog for their high prevalence. No association has beenfound; however, between tail chasing and genetic CDH2 locus, which isassociated with canine flank sucking compulsion. In one study, 7 out of 7affected dogs showed abnormal EEGs, and compulsive tail chasing was also foundcorrelated in one dog that had hydrocephalus, which showed seizure-like EEG.

What do you look out for?

Clinical signs usually first start to exhibit at as early as3-6 months, occasional brief episodes of tail chasing may be considered normalbehavioral activities for some dogs, When tail chasing lasts for minutes; occurs multipletimes per day or per week; is uncontrollable; leads to self mutilation; and/oris accompanied by other bizarre behavior, it is considered pathologic andcompulsive.

What should you be aware of?

An animal that discovers that its behavior results inattention—whether good or bad (e.g.being yelled at)—from its owner may continue to perform the behavior even afterthe inciting cause is alleviated.

References:

1. Shell, Linda. “Compulsive Tail Chasing.” VeterinaryInformation Network. 23 Apr. 2003. Web. 2 June 2015.

2. Tynes, Valarie V. “10 Life Threatening Behavior Myths.” DVM360. DVM 360, 1 Sept. 2008. Web. 2 June 2015.