You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Tail chasing in dogs is a common problem with a variety of causes

In young puppies chasing the tail around and around in circles is a game with few detrimental effects. It only lasts for a few minutes - until the puppy is distracted into doing something else. At this stage of life tail chasing can be regarded as normal behaviour.

However, animal behaviourists now believe that repetitive tail chasing in adult dogs (particularly in German Shepherd Dogs and possibly Bull Terriers) may be a form of obsessive-compulsive behaviour similar to recently described disorders in humans.  In humans this type of behavioural problem is associated with changes in the brain - which may also be present in dogs. In any event the habit can be difficult to break in dogs, unless an underlying cause can be identified.

Tail chasing may occur as a "displacement" type of behaviour in dogs that are unable to express their normal behaviour and successful treatment requires a detailed analysis of the problem to identify precisely what circumstances cause the dog to behave in this way. If specific stimuli can be identified these need to be removed if possible. 

In some cases this type of behaviour may be associated with another disease such as epilepsy or skin disease. Treating the disease may solve the behavioural problem. 

Veterinary treatment involves one or more of the following measures :

• Identify any environmental or other stimuli that precipitate the tail chasing behaviour - and prevent the dog from being exposed to them
• Treat any underlying disease problem
• Specialist behavioural techniques can be used :
  • Desensitisation - repeated exposure to any stimuli until the animal fails to respond to them
  • Counterconditioning - introduce incentives for the dog to change it's tail chasing behavioural habit into another form of behaviour
• Drug treatment - various forms have been used with mixed success eg anticonvulsants, hormones.

Your veterinarian will be pleased to examine your dog if it develops this problem.

Updated October 2013