The American Beagler Forum

Well I went ahead and finally banded the tail on my bitch two Sundays ago. Researched everything posted here about the subject and did it just as everyone says. Didn't fall off, the band got loose, but the tail beyond the band was dead. So, squeemishly I nipped off the end close as I could to the band. She never flinched or showed any discomfort throughout the entire process start to finish. My question is this. When you trim the dead portion off, what remains is a small nub the length of the width of the band protruding from the healthy portion of tail remaining. I didn't want to go any closer to the band than that for fear of getting into live tissue, and pain. Will the skin heal over this nub or will it always protrude? Thank you for any help or input in advance.
Aubrey

Ive had 2 that did the same thing. I nipped all of it including where the band was. They yelp one time, then it is over. the hair and skin grows ob=ver that way. I dont know if it will or not if you dont remove the rest.

i did mine the same way, the hair grew back around it, no flesh or bone is showing

Aubrey: You are fine for now. I would not do anything more at this time. Any dead tissue should sloth off. Once it heals and the hair begins to grow back, inspect the end. If there is bone protruding at that point, nip it off then.

Hey guys thanks for your input. I'll let it go for awhile but will keep an eye on it. First time jitters got me a bit nervous on this one, wanted to fix any of my screw ups before it turned bad on me. If worse comes to worst, i guess I could band in the next joint or two higher. For now we'll see how this turns out. Thanks again.
Aubrey

I would think the bone needs to be severed at or before the ending of the skin for the docking to close and heal. Leaving the bone protrude only creates a source or weak point for reopening and infection to enter.
I would find the joint nearest the live skin and nip it off there and hope for the best that it heals over.

Sometimes it takes 2 weeks or longer for the tail to fall off. I have cut them off several times like you did. Nothing is changed. The remainder of the dead tissue, bone etc. will still fall off at the same place that it would have if you hadn't cut it off.

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The reason I band my dogs tails if to stop them from beating the ends up and slinging blood. I am not always running the dogs at the time they are banded. I band puppies to prevent this happening later when they are hunted. My 12 acre starting/running pen is full of blackberry briars, sericea, multiflora roses and cotton tail rabbits. It will eat some dogs tails up quickly. Some dogs carry their tails higher etc. and hunt hard without beating their tails up. I usually keep 40 to 50 dogs trying to preserve my bloodlines. I only dock the ones that need it and not all of them.

My female has an active tail, bleeds bad. Hard to keep it from getting bad. Ran her every other day for those two weeks before I snippped it off. Looked like a dried up black n mild cigar and the band was loose. Looks good now, healing up quite nice. I think the end is still gonna slough off. No sign of infection. Kept her on antibiotics and antiseptic ointment on the end of her tail. I wouldn't hesitate to do it in the future.
Aubrey

Had one i banded thursday , fed this afternoon and noticed he must have pulled the band off. 6 month old pup, tail was not black yet ,kinda grey so was scared to cut it off yet. Got another band and rebanded it and spayed with blue spray. Any advise what i should do next ? Do you think it will bleed bad if i snip it now after only 3 days.

Do NOT clip it off until it looks like beef jerky past the band! I would give it a week to 10 days before cutting in hopes that it will fall off. Occasionally you have a beagle that is determined to remove the band. You just need to be more determined! I normally put two bands - it seems to work a bit faster and makes it harder for the dog to chew it off.

i checked him this morning and he had done pulled it off and eaten the dead part of his tail off up to where it had been banded. Clean cut , so i put some nu-stcok on it to help it heal . no bloeeding or infection at site.

That was nice of him! As long as he did not eat "extra", that is fine.

Was a clean cut by the pup , starting to heal nicely today .