# brushing tail



## stoushr (Jun 1, 2008)

having a hard time trying to get to brush his tail. first of all, he hates it!! second, it always looks like a mess, after i brush it, it is ok, but never a nice clean flowing tail. never soft or clean looking. 
maybe a different brush?


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

What kind of brush are you using? 

A slicker and a metal comb are good choices (...use both...).

Touch his back. Feed him a treat. touch a little further down his back. feed a treat. Repeat until you are touching the end of his tail. Then repeat with short strokes...and more touching/pulling, and gradually work up to actually brushing. 

Any time he moves away or seems distressed, go back a few steps, use less touching/pressure. Use the best treats you can and do this at a calm part of the day.

Look up the "Tuckers Nail Trim" video... even though we're talking about tails, the same process is completely applicable


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Have you ever tried trimming his tail? I trim our boys' tails about once a month to give them a nice and neat appearance. For brushing, I just use a regular slicker brush on their tails.


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## stoushr (Jun 1, 2008)

i use both, but it seems his hair always is like coarse like or knotted like.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

Tucker adores being touched and brushed. However, go near his tail and butt feathers and he will gently lay is teeth on your arm. I found the easiest way to do this without the gentle, "Whatchadoin back there?" Is to start stroking his inner thigh and then brush him out. For some reason the thigh stroke relaxes him. Tucker has always been rear-end reactive and I sometimes wonder if his previous owner used a hose to clean him off. When he came to live with us he was deathly afraid of the hose. He also wouldn't let us touch his tail without reacting, but we can touch it now. The brushing is where I use the thigh stroke...


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Grooming the tail makes all the difference in the world. I can't stand a scraggly, ungroomed tail that drags the ground on a Golden. Trim it like a show Golden's tail (actually pretty easy and quick to do it at least good enough for a pet) and it will make a huge difference.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Daisy is very sensitive about her tail. She hates for me to brush it. I have to be very, very gentle -- otherwise she'll express her anal glands :yuck:


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## Griffyn'sMom (Mar 22, 2007)

Griff isn't fond of having his tail brushed either but I do have better luck if I get him to lay on his back and brush his belly, then the tail, belly, tail, etc. until it's done. Also, cowboy magic helps reduce snarles and makes brushing a breeze. 
I've never trimmed his tail - it needs it but I'm afraid I'll butcher it. :curtain:


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## Muddypaws (Apr 20, 2009)

Cowboy Magic just massage it in and I use a pin brush and then a comb. I am lucky both of mine love being brushed and don't mind at all. Use a thinning shear hold the tail straight out at the tip and just trim the long hair following the natural contour of the tail. You just want to neaten up the tail not cut it. Brush a little, just a little every day and tell him what a good boy he is, reward and stop. Keep it fun and positive, before you know it you will have 5 minutes in and the tail nicely groomed.


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

Lucky hates his tail touched, brushed or anything. I'm afraid it gets neglected.....

I trim it to help cut back on tangles. And I brush it while he's laying down. I pin it to the ground and brush against the ground. He seems to deal with it better that way.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I use a pin brush after spraying with Ice in Ice to moisten the fur. My boys really have gorgeous tails and Towhee's is shaping up to be a nice tail too.

To trim, I brush the tail, run my hand down the tail with a loose fist gathering the fur. I stop about 1 inch below the last tail bone, kind of twist the fur and trim straight across with shears. Comb again, and gather the fur into a pom pom shaping with thinning shears so there are no straggling hairs. Then I gather into a larger pom-pom and trim with the thinning shears again. It actually takes longer to describe it than to do it I think 

I never had much luck shaping a fan tail free hand and this method is the method used on the Erik Stickland video  Beautiful tails with no artistry needed !!


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Ranger doesn't like his butt feathers or his tail brushed too much either. He just sits down to express how he feels about it but is better with a pin brush than anything else. I usually gather the hair or put my free hand on the roots to minimize the pulling effect, just like I do with my own hair. 

When I was brushing my hair today, Ranger came running in and started poking me with his nose excitedly. I had no idea what he was going on about until I noticed him staring at my hair brush...he was asking me to brush him! He's never done that before!


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