Happy tail anyone??

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

Well, after two years and constant bum wagging/tail flailing...she's finally done it. I came home on Friday to blood spatters EVERYWHERE from where Buddy Girl's tail has split from one too many bangs against the hallway walls. I'm going to see about bandaging it with the help of the techs tomorrow at work but I've seen a few dogs never "recover" from happy tail and one who actually had to have his amputated!

Anyone have any good suggestions of how to keep this from happening, what to do now that it has happened and any cleaners to get the blood off the walls while leaving my fresh paint job intact?

*sigh*. If only she wasn't so gosh darn cheerful all the time.

[pblove]

for your walls, try some peroxide, spray it on then wipe immed with a white cloth or white paper towel.
I put peroxide (60%)and water (40%) in a sprayer bottle and use it for a lot of 'hard to' cleaning, plus it is a disinfect.

[Adrianne]

A bit of bleach and warm water washes walls easily (I have white walls).

I did a search of an old post with home remedys for happy tail. I hear this one works rather well.
http://www.pitbullforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=123856&hilit=+happy+tail#p1718159

[Alyssa]

You also can splint the tail down to one of the dog's hind legs ... that way it simply can't wag until it heals.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

You also can splint the tail down to one of the dog's hind legs ... that way it simply can't wag until it heals.

Ahhh thats a good idea!!!

Thanks everyone...I tried the bleach first on the white walls but that just seemed to take off the outside "crust" while still leaving a brown stain. Which is why I used a magic eraser which is why I now have blotches in my fresh paint.

[Savage Destiny]

Riddle is constantly breaking her tail open- its worst when we are petting or paying attention to her. Usually what I try to do is give her butt scratchies instead of petting the front end. That way I can steer the butt away from things so she can't hit her tail constantly.

[Scarsmommy]

Princess battles with Happy tail for almost 2 years.. we used to put liquid bandaid on it and then wrap it and for at least a week try our best to keep her calm so that it would heal. And we would try our best to not get her excited when she was around something that could break it again. It took awhile but its been about a year now since her last happy tail. And for the walls we used the Mr clean magic eraser. It truly works wonders.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

And for the walls we used the Mr clean magic eraser. It truly works wonders.

That's what I used but now when you look at the walls from a particular angle, you can see every spot that I cleaned with it! I JUST finished painting that room too

[Scarsmommy]

that was the down side to it.. we ended up repainting the wall with a glossy paint so that it would come off easier.

[cbr117]

My pit just LOVES people, as I'm sure yours does too. Whenever we come home and she's been left alone in the house, she goes crazy wagging her tail saying hello. She whips her tail around so hard that a month or 2 ago she opened a wound on the tip of her tail. She got some blood on the walls which is how I discovered the wound in the first place. I do my best to keep her tail from banging into things like walls, chairs, etc., but its quite difficult as I'm sure you could imagine. It's been a month or 2 and it still hasn't healed. Actually last night, she opened the wound again.

As a pit, the open wound doesn't phase her in the slightest and she just keeps on whipping it around. what can I do to protect the tip of her tail? I tried wrapping it with some gauze but it slips right off the first time she wags her tail. Any suggestion?

[Adrianne]

try using search and typing in "Happy Tail" you'll find tons, this is an extremely common issue in bullies.

[cbr117]

Is there some kind of bandaging I could use that will stick the tail but not have to use actual tape which must be a real pain to remove.

[Alyssa]

Again, splint the tail to the hind leg until it heals.

Just take a roll of bandage and wrap the tail alongside one of the hind legs so that it's just along the thigh.

That way they can sit easily, go to the bathroom normally, and even wag the hind end normally, but the tail is controlled and immobilized until it heals.

[Alyssa]

Just make sure it's not too tight so that circulation isn't cut off. And vet wrap sticks to itself, not to hair.

But again, you want snug, NOT tight.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

Okay so the splinting to the leg thing is out for me because by the time I've made her settle down enough for me to TOUCH her tail (she thinks me touching her tail is a game...always has...) I'd just have to un-tape it so that she could potty.

So I just finished making the prettiest bandage complete with cling, tape and pink vet wrap, stirruped it with some more tape and stood up only to watch it fly across the room.

Attempt #2 has been much more sucessful. Just a small amount of cling with some tape to hold it on and *touch wood*, so far so good even after a wrestling session with her brother!!

And my vet recommended a good idea as well! You know the light foam insulation with the slit cut into it that they use to insulate pipe? He suggested a small piece of this with a very light covering of cling and tape. So far my cling and tape is holding but I might try the insulation idea if this fails!

**Disclaimer: wouldn't recommend the foam idea to dogs who would eat it. Who needs a foreign body on top of a happy tail?