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happy tail
/ˈhapē tāl/
Despite the name, happy tail is anything but. In fact, it is the bane of a dog owners’ existence.
It can turn your modern-farmhouse into a modern crime scene is 0.25 seconds.
You know when you whack the living you-know-what out of your funny bone and it’s not actually funny? Well, happy tail is the same… no happiness whatsoever
What is happy tail?
Happy tail is classified as the complete demolition of your walls, furniture and decorations via a swinging tail that moves a mile’a minute, resulting in injury to the last few inches (or so) of your dogs’ tail.
Repeated collisions with hard surfaces like walls, corners, tables, crates, and just about anything else you can think of can also prevent it from healing.
Injuries include (but are not limited to):
- broken bones 🦴
- bone bruising 🥊
- infection 🧫 🦠
- open wounds (cuts and/or scratches) 🩸
- bald patches 👨🦲
- excessive licking or biting 👅
Great Danes are not the only breeds prone to suffering from this condition. Other breeds commonly affected by Happy Tail Syndrome are Greyhounds, Pointers, Dobermans, Boxers, Pitbulls, and Dalmatians.
Although a controversial practice in today’s world, tail docking, along with ear cropping, was performed shortly after birth as a preventative measure to keep this from happening.
How do I treat happy tail?
First and foremost, it is important you don’t let the damaged tail go untreated. Not only will you continually be cleaning up blood from your walls and furniture, but it also leaves your dog at risk for infection. Here are a few things you can do to help treat and prevent happy tail.
#1 clean the affected area
To help prevent the appearance of infection, you will first need to clean the affected area. If there is a considerably large wound to the end of the tail it may warrant a trip to the Vet for stitches to heal properly. Please contact your Veterinarian at your discretion.
- According to the VCA Animal Hospital, “Warm tap water is recommended for cleaning most wounds. Warm saline (salt solution) may also be used.” You can create your own salt solution by adding approximately 5mL (one teaspoon) of salt or Epsom salts to 500mL (two cups) of warm water. “In some cases, your veterinarian may recommend using a dilute cleansing solution of chlorhexidine, a surgical soap, or an iodine solution to help remove debris.” The VCA also lists a variety of other substances that should NOT be used like rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil, and many others. You can read the full article HERE.
- Antibiotic ointment, such as Neosporin, can be applied to help prevent infection.
- Using superglue on the affected area isn’t permitted, but there is a pet-safe alternative called EMT gel that can be used instead.
There is a very thin layer of skin that covers the bones of the tail. With that being said, there is a greater chance of the infection getting into the bones of your dogs’ tail which can lead to sepsis and even death. It is within your best interest to contact your Veterinarian if you are seeing signs of infection (redness, swelling, foul odor, pus, etc), or if the tail has not healed within two weeks.
#2 allow the tail to heal
There are several different methods you can try to help heal your dogs’ happy tail, however I wanted to share the one that worked best for us. After the tail is clean, the next step is to keep it clean and protected to prevent re-injury.
For this next step you will need:
- paper tape
- vet wrap
- non-stick gauze pads
- & a pool noodle
After applying antibiotic ointment to the tail, take a non-stick gauze pad and place it gently around the affected area. Secure in place with paper tape. Pro tip: place a piece of tape gently over the end of the tail to keep debris from entering the bandage.
Next, you will want to UNROLL about 8-10 inches of the vet wrap and gently roll it back up without pulling it taught. This will ensure that you do not make the wrap too tight. If you do, this can cut off circulation to the tail and cause it to become necrotic (the tissue will begin to die), and eventually the tip of the tail will fall off entirely.
Now that you have the vet wrap loose and ready to go, gently wrap it around the tail, pulling it as gently as possible. It should be tight enough to stay on, but not too tight making your dog uncomfortable. Secure at the top with paper tape.
Now that you have a nice, clean bandage on the tail, grab your pool noodle and cut it to where it will cover the majority of your dogs’ tail. I used an Xacto knife to cut it in a spiral, but you can use a regular kitchen knife or a sharp pair of scissors. After that is cut and ready to go, wrap it around your dogs tail and you are good to go!
The pool noodle is malleable enough to prevent it from becoming too tight on the tail, and it provides enough cushion to prevent it from getting re-injured.
If you are more of a visual learner, check out this step-by-step video I made when Dior had happy tail:
#3 what if that doesn’t work?
If you’re anything like me, you will do whatever it takes to get your dog to their happiest, healthiest state… but sometimes things happen that are out of your control.
After about six months of changing Dior’s tail bandages multiple times a day, giving him antibiotics twice a day, and all of the other things I tried to get his happy tail to heal… I was unsuccessful and eventually, infection got the best of it.
Despite my continued reluctance and our veterinarians hope for my continued treatments, my boyfriend and I finally decided that it was in Dior’s best interest to have his tail amputated. Thankfully, the majority of Dior’s tail was healthy and my Vet only had to remove about 6-inches of it.
So, if your dog has happy tail and your continued efforts are not making a difference, partial or full tail amputation might be something to consider!
Closing thoughts on Happy Tail Syndrome:
A dogs’ tail is constantly on the move – making it a very undesirable and difficult place to treat if something were to go wrong. But how could you possibly be mad at a dog for being so…happy!?
There are several ways you can try to treat happy tail and prevent it from happening, but if it comes down to it, amputation is always a solid option to consider.
I was extremely worried that altering Dior’s tail would drastically change his balance and overall personality. There was one time I wrapped his tail to his hind leg to prevent him from potentially breaking something valuable in my grandmother’s not-so-extra-large-breed-friendly home & you would have thought I just picked him up from a night at the bar. He was acting totally sloshed and off-balance LOL.
But, none of that happened. What he lost in physical tail, he gained back ten-fold in personality and his little nubby tail is something I am totally (maybe weirdly) obsessed with!
Hopefully that is something you will be able to avoid if you follow these tips and tricks – but if not, I promise you won’t love them any less (and vise versa)!
Chat later –
