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April 19, 2011

Recently, my GSD started chasing her tail. We were thinking about breeding her soon, but now are not sure due to this. Is she ok? What can I do to stop this?

Full Question:

Ed,

You have been most helpful in the past. I read an article on your web site regarding 'tail chasing' where you indicated that the dog is just 'nuts'. We have a beautiful year old bitch Gretchen. She is walked miles every day, heels like second nature; has plenty of space to run; plays aggressively all the time with our male GS. She is not crated, and is rarely left alone. She just started pacing and chasing her tail in the last month. I am at home all day and she is ALWAYS with me; so attention isn't the issue; I bring her everywhere with me. I am concerned as our plan was to breed this bitch at the end of this year. Is it your suggestion to put her down? Is there no other option? Should I be playing with her more aggressively? Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Jan

Ed's Answer:

While this is an obsessive issue it can be controlled through training.

We don’t allow it. The instant we see a dog do it (I am talking about our house dogs) we verbally correct them and stop it. They can learn that this is unacceptable behavior. In extreme cases you can use low level stimulation with remote collar training.

We have a couple of Mals that would have done this if we had not trained them not to.

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