The American Beagler Forum

What is the best thing to put on the dogs tail to keep it from getting beat up when they go in the brush.

One of my males tails gets really bloody everytime out. And tonight it was so bad that blood was just pouring out onto the floor when i brought him in the garage. I put some EMT gel on it and it stopped. Then i put some bag balm on it and wraped it with VetRap. If i rap it before i go out it falls off from the briars getting stuck to it even if i rap duck tape to that and the hair on the tail.

Is there any thing you can put on it or do to it too keep it from getting beat up??

if mine do that i bob them.........

Black Tape.

Unless its causing him to become anemic or see that it is causing him so much pain that it causes him to lose hunt or not hunt as hard, I personally wouldnt worry about it. I have a couple here that are 4 yrs old and they probably havent had hair on the end of their tails since they were 10 months old. They have beat their tails so much the hair just doesnt come back, but it doesnt seem to affect them.

If it effecting the dog's health, have the tail cropped.

I have a gip that had this problem when she was younger. It got to the point that the blood loss was effecting her and she would break down in the afternoon of an all day hunt.
By the end of January she wouldn't go into the brush, she would stick her head in and sniff around but wouldn't go through it unless running a rabbit.

I tried taping with all types of tape. That was a pain having to re-tape every hour or two. I also tried every type spray, lotion, balm, new skin, etc. and it didn't help.

The tail didn't bother her last year because I didn't hunt her as often in rough cover. I have other good dogs now, so if it starts to bother her this year I'll leave her at home until it heals.

Here is a picture of a taped tail after about an hour.
(Also if you check her running gear you will easily notice a major fault)

Thats some blood right there, ya'll sure you didn't accidentally pepper her instead of the rabbit?

That isn't the worst I have seen her.
I had her taped up that morning of the picture.
One day she laid down on me about noon. She was weak and shaking from running hard and blood loss.

That day she had blood slung up on her face. I checked her out to see if she had cut her ear to get that much blood on the front of her.

SilverZuk wrote:If it effecting the dog's health, have the tail cropped.

I have a gip that had this problem when she was younger. It got to the point that the blood loss was effecting her and she would break down in the afternoon of an all day hunt.
By the end of January she wouldn't go into the brush, she would stick her head in and sniff around but wouldn't go through it unless running a rabbit.

This is whats starting to happen. I guess i'll have to leave him home to let it heal for a few days.

If anyone else has any advice let me know. Also how would i get the tail cropped??

SilverZuk, My dog was worse then that and he was only running for about 2hrs.

I've seen a few dogs lose hunt and endurance from sore and bloody tails.
Keep the tail medicated with medicated creams, balms, etc. to help it heal.

I would take the dog to the vet to get the tail cropped.
Some say band it, some say chop it, others say to the vet.
Myself and the ones I trust are not familiar with the banding process and are not going to try to learn as we go.

No matter what you do, the dog is going to have to take it easy for a while to heal.

I don't see where the hounds tail is overly long, but looks as if there has been some tail chewing going on...
She must be a real tailwhipper for sure...
I don't think the creams and balms are best for healing during active hunting times, you want the hide to toughen and leather up in texture, not stay soft. I think the foot or pad treatments would serve you better for this. Tough-coat or Pad-heal might be better or if I had one that look like that, I'd dip the tip of her tail in the jar of pinetar befor we let out...

She is a tail whipper.
I agree abour toughening it up. The methods I tried didn't work (tape, lotions, sprays, balm, etc.)

Anyone pick up on the fault in her running gear?

Patch, Were can you get some of this pine tar??

SilverZuk, What happend to her front left foot looks like she has an extra toe or sumthing.

This beagle has a "short toe" on her front left. I wouldn't think it would slow her down but, it can be passed to her offspring. I think that I too would possibly amputate a small portion of her tail if she is going to whip it back and forth and cause it to bleed. It must be painful and if she is getting weak from loss of blood her endurance would be affected. For HER sake have a vet do it.

Leah

The fault is called a "high toe".
It does effect her running. If they run hard all day, she will start dropping and nursing that foot when she gets a chance.

She has other faults that I would never pass on, so I had her spayed.
Her biggest fault is in her running gear and overall conformation.

She is a great rabbit dog for those morning that other dogs can't seem to put it together. She will snort around on a track and eventually produce a rabbit when all other dogs quit the area and moved on. She is medium speed and keeps the track between her front legs. Other dogs will break down and she will come chopping along and run right through a check area and never break stride. We laugh on those days at how she blows the other dogs out. When scenting conditions are good, she is just running trying to keep up the whole time. She doesn't contribute to the pack once the rabbit is up and moving or in a really hard check.

pink ointment from Canada for tail whip and ripped pads...........will heal nice or what I do for tail whip is Castration bands(on tails that are bleeders) The end of the tail will fall off in 2-3 weeks with no pain. Have used this method several times and works fine. Sean