# Sensitive about his tail?



## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

It's not uncommon for some dogs to be sensitive about their tails. I know that Brandy fights me about brushing hers. She's very submissive but she'll try to mouth me quite sternly and move away. 

Young children should be instructed to stay away from the tail because you just never know when a dog will react as you describe. 

FYI -- there are 13 bones in tails and they can be broken. So some of what you see may be instinctive.


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## ID_Hannah (Jun 8, 2006)

I wouldn't worry too much if this is the only situation that you've seen Barkley act this way. Although I am sure if was upsetting to have him do that so unexpectedly! I would say that perhaps Barkley is sensitive about his tail due to the incident with the other dog. But also, I think about 90% of dogs I've ever worked with were sensitive about their tails. 

I was raised with a sheltie (known nippers) and she nipped me often when I was little. I'd often go complain to my parents about her "being mean" to me and when they inquired what I'd done to prompt her nipping it usually included pulling her tail or ears, etc. And this always ended up being a lesson about how you were suppose to treat dogs. I learn quite well from that sheltie how to respect dogs.

I'm not suggesting you let Barkley nip your two year old, but I would use this incident as the starting of a lesson for him about how you need to be nice to dogs and respect them. Too many times children will end up getting nipped or bitten more severly by a friend or neighbor's dog because they thought they could behave roughly with them like they could their dog! I guess I'm saying that I wouldn't necessarily make Barkley off-limits if this isn't a behavior you've seen before, but maybe make his tail off-limits. Sometimes with really small children, adults have got to run some defense for the family dog.

As for Barkley, I'd spend time with just you and Barkley and groom him all over his body. Fool around with his ears, his paws, and then carefully his tail. Brush it, examine it, etc. This will give you a better idea if you have more of a problem forming here, if he acts aggressively with your gentle prodding. Or if he's just sensitive about that area, if he just tries to distract you or move away uncomfortably when you're working on his tail. I hope everything goes well with Barkley and there are no more nipping problems!


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## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

Samson also doesn't like me brushing his tail....which is too bad, because it's usely what needs it the most....


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## Tianna0423 (Mar 21, 2006)

I'm glad that Barkley isn't the only one. I got scared there for a minute. 
Anyway, since this was a first for me, I'm going to sit my kids down and explain how they should pet Barkley. 
Patrick seemed curious about Barkley's tail since it's always wagging. But, I'm going to keep a close eye on Barkley and Patrick because they both look for each other, and enjoy being together.


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## Tianna0423 (Mar 21, 2006)

ID_Hannah said:


> As for Barkley, I'd spend time with just you and Barkley and groom him all over his body. Fool around with his ears, his paws, and then carefully his tail. Brush it, examine it, etc. This will give you a better idea if you have more of a problem forming here, if he acts aggressively with your gentle prodding. Or if he's just sensitive about that area, if he just tries to distract you or move away uncomfortably when you're working on his tail. I hope everything goes well with Barkley and there are no more nipping problems!


We all participate in Barkley's grooming except for Patrick because he doesn't know. Barkley doesn't mind me touching his tail, but maybe that's why he reacted different with Patrick . I will talk to my kids about it. I don't want any problems.


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

A child's touch is definitely a different feel from an adult's touch. Perhaps that's another reason why Barkley reacted differently.


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## jimmy_n_golden (Jul 8, 2006)

well my Max bit off tip of his tail is that normal?


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## Tianna0423 (Mar 21, 2006)

You can't be serious... I wonder what made him do that?


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## sashac (Mar 13, 2006)

I definitely wouldn't consider him "aggressive" because of that - it seems pretty reasonable for dogs to be touchy about their tails. If someone came up and grabbed my rear, I'd be touchy too!LOL.

Kids seems to be a bit jerkier with their movements without realizing it, and without us even noticing - he may have accidentally even tugged a little, or perhaps it felt to Barkley like a tug was coming, and he reacted to protect himself. He may even be nervous if he knows someone (a child) is coming up behind him, where he isn't able to see what's going to happen next, and kids can be sudden. 

All in all, he seems pretty normal and I wouldn't worry - just be careful with the dog/child interactions. I also agree with ID_Hannah; one of my friends was sure to touch her golden puppy ALL OVER a lot, when he was young, just to get him used to being handled in all sorts of ways, and it seemed to work. Maybe it will work with Barkley too.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I agree with everyone that Barkley is not aggressive or showing any tendency towards it. Sounds like a normal reaction. Lucky HATES having his tail touched. 

But I'm a little different I suppose in this thinking....if Lucky actually nips my kids for any reason he's in big trouble. That was an absolute no, no. If he hurt them with his teeth while play rompping he got sent to his crate. When he nipped my girl during a food aggression thing, he got into big big trouble. That time he was chased to his crate. 

I wanted the communication to be clear that he was not allowed to bite my kids. For him that philosophy worked out very well. He is exceptionally gentle with them. A lot of this "don't make the kids cry" training came from his early playbiting. 

I only mention this as it is very hard to keep kids away from tails. Its necessary to teach the kids how to behave around dogs, but you might whatch for opportunities to teach Barkley that biting children is not acceptable.


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