melz85

ok have ordered one, thank you very much =)

well we went to the vet this afternoon and saw a different person to the last one who didn't seem to know much.. he just said to give her antibiotics and keep the collar on her. He spent most of the appointment time out of the room reading her records and getting anitbiotics, didn't really want to talk/listen to us. only spent a minute or so checking her tail before he kinda shuffled us out the door.. seemed really busy. ugh. well $80 later we have 7 days worth of antibiotics. :-\ I want to get one of those Jafco muzzles to use instead of the collar, I measured her nose is 9cm long and 28cm around so I think size 3 will best best but when I choose size 3 on the website it says "The selected product combination is currently unavailable." Also the site says "K9 Pro will be closed from 3pm on the 18th Jan and reopen 9am 1st February 2011." Bugger. The vet only had the type of muzzle someone here said not to get, I checked the pet store too and all they had was the same, and some hard plastic ones that look like she could easily get her tongue through to lick at the wound. Is there anywhere else that sell the Jafco ones (or something similar, something she can drink with it on and not get her tongue through it) in Aus?

she has a couple of soccer balls that she chews on and runs around with. We have stopped giving her bones because it sets her off, she starts trying to "guard" them, instead of eating/chewing them she will sit near them and grow/lunge at her tail. She used to sneak inside and steal soft toys quite often, but has stopped that. She also used to chew shoes, seat cushions off the outdoor chairs etc. She seems to have grown out of that now. She's not allowed inside the house, (we rent, otherwise I'd let her!). We have a large semi-enclosed veranda type thing out the front where we spend a lot of time, especially in the evenings and she is allowed in there, she sleeps there

thanks again for your replies. I have just gotten back from a walk with the dog + kids, I took the e-collar off and just had a leash on her. She didn't once try to get at her tail during the walk, and after we got back I left it off and sat outside with her for 20 minutes or so while she had a drink and a pat then lay in the shade to rest. She didn't even LOOK at her tail - until my toddler ran off around the other side of the house and I went to bring him back, gone for less than a minute and by the time I came back she had opened the wound on her tail up again :D I thought the same thing about the white tip too originally, unfortunately that tip is long gone, she has taken an inch or so off it. That might've been what started it originally tho The muzzle looks like a good idea, certainly better than that huge annoying collar, I never even considered a muzzle as I didn't realise a dog could drink with one on, it gets very hot here so very important that she can get water easily. I might have a look at ordering one or see if I can get one from the vet. Will have to try the t-shirt "anxiety wrap" too, thanks

Hi thank you very much for all your replies. I have an appointment with the vet this afternoon. I have heard that this is quite common in ACD, though I'm not really sure how much ACD she has in her, I'm just going by what the lady who we got her off told us. Her mum was a white staffy x and apparently her father was an ACD, I only saw the mother. Has anyone had their dog on these "mind" drugs and how well did they work for you? Does the dog have to stay on them forever? Other than the fact I'd probably have to sell a kidney to pay for it, I'm also worried about the side effects. Not sure which particular drug the vet was recommending we put her on but reading a little bit on drugs that are commmonly prescribed for this it is quite scary. Will ask the vet for more info this afternoon. By reading the reply from rajacadoo sounds like amputation can be successful. How long did it take to heal? Did your friend try these "mind" drugs first? I guess the vet probably wouldn't do this until after we try drugs. Will see what they say. I walk her as often as I can, usually around 40 minutes most days, the the shops and back or just around the streets. but I guess maybe she needs more than that? Once school starts back up she will walk with me to take my daughter to school which is about 40 minutes there and back, twice a day. We take her out to the river a couple of times a week so she can run around. We have a reasonably large yard where she runs around with the kids most of the day. She has a soccer ball that she loves to chase so most evenings we go out and kick it around the yard to each other while she is "piggy in the middle" she seems to love that. She has to live outside (landlord's rules) but we spend a lot of time outside on the verandah, which is where she mostly lives/sleeps. I am a stay at home mum, so she's never home alone for long. As for the ecollar, the one we originally had was given to us by the vet, she said it was the correct size for her. But we found she could reach the tip of her tail if she tried hard enough so I went back and asked for the next size up. It does go a few cm past her nose but a couple of times I have caught her with it pushed flat against the ground, holding her tail down and she can just reach the end. She has a bucket to drink out of and can easily do so with the colar on. She can eat out of her bowl with it on too but I take the collar off to feed her. I've never been told they shouldn't have them on while unsupervised? but when she's unsupervised is the time she really needs it on :-\ Anyway I will see what the vet says this afternoon. Thanks again for all your replies

We have a 15 month old mixed breed dog, believe she is staffy x red heeler + maybe a few other things. We had her spayed at age 6 months. She's a lovely dog, very good around my children, but since she was a pup she has had a habit of chasing her tail. It started off that she would sometimes chase it while she was eating, as though she is "guarding" her food,especially if she was given a nice juicy bone or something. In the beginning it seemed rather "playful" but it started getting worse, to the point where she would lunge at her tail and bite it quite hard, drawing blood. We took her to the vet, (we live in a small town quite far from anywhere else, there is only one vet clinic). They had a look at her and said the only thing they could do was give her medication for her "mind" because she has a mental problem. At the cost of $70 every 15 days. There is no way our family can afford to pay for this. We bought a plastic e-collar and they gave her a shot of penicillin and we took her home. She started to get a little better, the only time she would go for her tail was if she was given a "treat" like a bone or chicken carcass to eat, instead of eating it she would sit near it and "guard" it, attacking her tail when she saw it move from the corner of her eye. So we stopped giving her bones and only gave her dog biscuits and dog roll, and kept a very close eye on her until she had finished eating it. But around christmas my partner gave her a bone and didn't watch her, she bit her tail quite badly, to the point where she actually bit the tip of it off, around an inch or so. She will lick/chew the tail all the time now, food or no food, so I have had an e-collar on her almost 24/7 to try to stop her but she can sometimes squash the plastic cone against the ground and reach far enough to just get at the tip of her tail. I take the collar off a few minutes at a time during the day so she can clean herself etc but she has to be under VERY strict supervision, as soon as she starts licking her tail the collar has to go straight back on. I have been cleaning it every 2 days and applying centrigen or chloromide pink antibacterial spray on the tip. I do not have it bandaged/covered. It does not appear to be infected. She seems happy enough, the e-collar must annoy her but she still runs around with the kids playing like usual. Apart from the tail she is healthy, we keep her wormed, never seen a flea on her, bathe her regularly and her skin/fur looks healthy. Her tail seems to start getting better but sometimes the wound kinda opens up again if she knocks it or gets a chance to lick it. I will keep the collar on her till she heals but I'm guessing she'll probably attack it again one day and we'll be back to square one. A couple of people have said that maybe I should get her tail amputated, but that would be very painful, and I have read/heard that a dog might start attacking another body part eg a leg or something if their tail is gone.. also I don't have a lot of money for vet bills. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle a dog like this?

I'm new here =) Well I hope it's ok to ask this here. I have a 7 month old red heeler staffy x. Recently I have had a bit of trouble with a couple of kids who walk past my house after school on weekdays. They have thrown rocks at my house, and I suspect, also at my dog. I have caught them throwing rocks at my house once, and have spoken to their mother about it, but since then I have caught them throwing rocks again... I am not always here, but my dog is, usually, and it's likely they have done it other times, but I don't know. Now, my dog is very gentle/affectionate towards my children..I have seen these other kids leaning over my fence and patting my dog. When someone walks past my dog will come out to the front of the section to check things out. I have asked them not to touch my dog... but who knows if they will listen. I'm kinda worried about her biting these kids. Not that she has ever done that before but to be frank they're little shites and it wouldn't surpise me if they did somethig that would cause her to bite them. I have a fully fenced property, what would you suggest I do? If my dog were to bite them would I get in trouble? thank you