Tail Chasing / Spinning / Hucklebutting
Good Morning,
I have a 4 month old Bull Terrier puppy whom, despite my tireless efforts, continues to chase and bite his tail unless I am right in his face playing with him. We acknowledge that sometimes when he gets excited, most often during the evening, he will "hucklebutt" around for a few moments, which in his case, does not involve any tail chasing or spinning. That part does not worry me too much.
What does concern me is the increasing amount of time he spends chasing, and when he catches it, chewing on his tail. I can tell when he gets that look in his eyes as he's about to start, and I will shout a firm "No" to him, which momentarily grasps his attention, but he then immediately resumes the behavior. I have tried diverting his attention with a plethora of toys, chews and affection. If I simply give him a toy, he acknowledges it, but goes right back to chasing. These things seem effective only if I am participating in the activity with him, but moments after I stop, he continues to chase. I feel bad for scolding him if this is something that he cannot control, although I feel that giving him a toy or affection to divert his attention is only rewarding him for chasing. Is that wrong?
Also, another problem with scolding him is that it only seems to increase his want to chase. He will simply walk further away from me and start up again. If I give him a swift smack on the behind, it's now "go time" where he will bite and attack me only stopping when that becomes a bore for him, to which he will then start chasing again.
I have also tried the "shaker" method (shaking rocks in a can), which just gets him overly excited. I have tried spraying him with a water bottle, again, seemingly only provoking him to jump and bite. Basically, anything aside from sitting down and playing with him just puts him into attack mode. And this method does not seem to be solving them problem.
He also continues this behavior once he is put in his crate. This seems to be the time when he is actually able to "catch" his tail by pinning it up against the interior of the crate. There is now a raw spot forming in the area where he is chewing.
I have talked with my vet about this and the only help offered has been a survey and saliva sample mail in package to a university performing a study on the behavior, which I'd be happy to participate in, but does nothing to aid in the prevention of his chasing. Or, to simply medicate him, which I am not a fan of, especially if this can be corrected in a more natural way.
If there is anything else anyone could suggest, I would be immensely grateful. I care so much for my little bullet head, terroristic behaviors and all! He is who is, and I don't want to change him, I just want to prevent the onset of any obsessive compulsive behaviors.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I sincerely appreciate in advance any advice offered!
What does concern me is the increasing amount of time he spends chasing, and when he catches it, chewing on his tail. I can tell when he gets that look in his eyes as he's about to start, and I will shout a firm "No" to him, which momentarily grasps his attention, but he then immediately resumes the behavior. I have tried diverting his attention with a plethora of toys, chews and affection. If I simply give him a toy, he acknowledges it, but goes right back to chasing. These things seem effective only if I am participating in the activity with him, but moments after I stop, he continues to chase. I feel bad for scolding him if this is something that he cannot control, although I feel that giving him a toy or affection to divert his attention is only rewarding him for chasing. Is that wrong?
Also, another problem with scolding him is that it only seems to increase his want to chase. He will simply walk further away from me and start up again. If I give him a swift smack on the behind, it's now "go time" where he will bite and attack me only stopping when that becomes a bore for him, to which he will then start chasing again.
I have also tried the "shaker" method (shaking rocks in a can), which just gets him overly excited. I have tried spraying him with a water bottle, again, seemingly only provoking him to jump and bite. Basically, anything aside from sitting down and playing with him just puts him into attack mode. And this method does not seem to be solving them problem.
He also continues this behavior once he is put in his crate. This seems to be the time when he is actually able to "catch" his tail by pinning it up against the interior of the crate. There is now a raw spot forming in the area where he is chewing.
I have talked with my vet about this and the only help offered has been a survey and saliva sample mail in package to a university performing a study on the behavior, which I'd be happy to participate in, but does nothing to aid in the prevention of his chasing. Or, to simply medicate him, which I am not a fan of, especially if this can be corrected in a more natural way.
If there is anything else anyone could suggest, I would be immensely grateful. I care so much for my little bullet head, terroristic behaviors and all! He is who is, and I don't want to change him, I just want to prevent the onset of any obsessive compulsive behaviors.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and I sincerely appreciate in advance any advice offered!
Comments
How much excercise does he get on a daily basis? as it sounds to me like he is bored and needs more stimulation.
i would take him for short 15 min walks around the block and play with him out in the yard (yes even in the snow!) try encouragine him to chase you out in the yard thru the snow, tos a ball around in the house for him to chase after, make him a flirt pole to chase, if you have a tree in your yard make a spring pole for him to play with.
got a treadmill? see if he would have some fun climbing on while its on a low low speed (no more then 20 minutes a day though!)
do you have a clicker? you could try the box game which goes like this:
grab a box, a clicker and a baggy of treats.
set the box on the floor and every time your pupy interacts with the box, click and treat, if your puppy looks at the box-click treat, puppy touches the box-click treat, puppy climbs into the box-click and treat.
see what kind of behaviors your puppy teaches himself doing this.
the only rules to this game are NO LEADING HIM O THE BOX! as in no pointing at the box, no touching the box, no kicking the box ect.
i did this with Chimera who within about 2 minutes understood that by looking into the box-she was ewarded and basically learned to bob her head up and down. once your puppy catches on to one behavior you can begin reward other behaviors such as touching the box with his nose, nibbling the box, stratching at the box, climbing into the box ect simply by clicking and rewarding the single behavior.
you can also do basic obedience or teaching him a new trick every week.
SHE occasionally chases her tail and less frequently spins, mostly when she's "starving" for dinner. She still is somewhat "snappy", mostly at HIM ... Thankfully we are/ have managed to curb her biting at us. But she is still snappy.
The reason for the preamble, from my humble experience, is that breeding, genetics, could / may have little to do with the different characteristics....seeing as they are brother & sister... Unless she's more like mom, who we have met and is highly energetic but a big kisser.. And he's more like his dad?
But I can't see ( in our case) that it has anything to do with treatment, diet, genetics, exercise time, "alone" time, etc. because they both get exactly the same... And he is so laid back, kissy, non aggressive, LOVES other dogs, 5 lbs heavier, stronger.... So those factors are not "altering" his behaviour , ... So what's the difference, what's the cause?
( In our instance) I can only see it being FAMILY, the way bullies make up the family... They're not pets, they are family members, and the way they fit INTO the family is key... Eg. We have a ( pretty frail ) grandma living with us, and SHE ( our bully) is totally tender with her, sidles up to her softly, tail wagging, and softly kisses her, never nibbles or pushes.... Whereas she bundles into everyone else overpoweringly... She has accepted that grandma is a weak old lady, no threat, and she needs not compete.... But she is frustrated that she needs accept that she is only one rung above granny, beneath her brother, beneath my wife, beneath me... And it troubles her to accept that place.
BT's are so smart, they just can't accept "any-old" like regular dogs, they have to comfortably accept their position in the family hierarchy ... In the case of our girl, because she is so feisty, we have to get her to accept her position otherwise she'll constantly exhibit "nuts" behavior... She'll never dominate her big "dumb" brother. Which is why we are trying to give her more love than HE gets, so she is happy with the post... But it's tough.
I could be wrong but how does your boy see himself in the whole structure of family things? Possibly he is just dissatisfied with the way things are panning out, like our girl is ?
For what it's worth, that's my ten cents worth.
It's very common to see a young Bull Terrier puppy chasing his tail. It's actually more common than not especially for a puppy of his age. Any worries over obsessive compulsive behavior is premature right now. Around 90% of adult Bull Terriers that develop unnatural behavior patterns like Tail Chasing derive from lack of attention, exercise, and training from their owners. Most often stress and boredom are the route causes. Many of these dogs are crated for far too long for an active dog like a Bull Terrier and there should be no surprise as to why one would develop issues.
Telling a 4 month old puppy to "Stop" doing something he shouldn't be doing is like telling a cow to "Sit." It's just not going to happen. As Danielle explained above, you're going to need to provide a little more reinforcement to curtail unwarranted behavior. Your Vet most likely has ZERO experience with Bull Terriers and knows little about common characteristics within the breed. Good luck with the saliva sample. :-?
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com