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Why does my golden chase her tail?

6K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  Agent099 
#1 ·
We obtained our 1 yr old female golden (Dakota) when she was 4 months old. She came from a breeder out of state and then belonged to an older couple who decided they could not care for her and re-homed her (yeah for us!). We don't know much about her first 4 months of life, but I do know that when she came to us she was an active 4 month old who was adorable when she took her naps and a monster (active) when awake :). She was and still is fearful of some loud noises (lawn mowers, my vacuum seal food machine, large sudden sounds, etc.); however, amazingly enough, she doesn't mind thunder. She is also a bit shy when meeting people for the first time and is submissive around other dogs who are her size or bigger and even some smaller dogs who are spunky.

Ever since she joined our home, she has chased her tail til I think she's gonna fall down dizzy! She is obsessive about it at times. When she first came home, we crated her during the day while we were at work and we crated her in our room, by our bed, at night while we slept. She likes to chew everything in sight and counter surfs like a pro, so leaving her on her own is dangerous! About a month ago, we decided to allow her to roam free in our bedroom at night. She didn't do bad the first couple of nights, but I think that is because it was a weekend and she had been active all day and was tired out. Weeknights are bad. She won't settle down and wants to play with us as we are trying to sleep. She goes into this tail chasing thing ON THE BED. This is not a slow, leisurely tail chase either. It's a fast spinning motion and she doesn't care whether she steps on us or not. If we attempt to stop her, she play bites us (not hard) and just continues. If we do get her to lay down, she will bite one of her back paws. I know she's bored and probably hasn't had enough exercise (although she has been outside in our very large backyard for hours and swimming in our pool). We've tried walking her in the evening, but it seems to spin her up rather than calm her down (maybe too close to bedtime?).

I know she probably just needs more exercise, but the tail chasing is disturbing us... it's almost like she is obsessed or possessed! LOL I'm tired of getting stepped on by a 65 lb dog at high speed and the wet tail in my face is rather... umm... gross! :yuck:

We just bought her a really nice dog bed and it's right at the end of our bed. It wasn't cheap... very comfy. I've tried making her sleep on it or the floor instead of the bed, but she either gets back up on our bed when we fall asleep (which is fine if she behaves, but sometimes she just stands over us panting like she wants us to get up and play!) or the other night we woke up to the sound of fabric tearing... she chewed the corner off the brand new bed!!! :mad: Most nights I'm having to get up in the middle of the night to put her in the crate so that we can get some sleep.:(

Has anyone had similar problems with their golden?? Is this a specific trait for them? This is my first golden... previously I had rottweilers and this golden is so different from my rottie!
 
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#2 ·
That kind of obsessive tail chewing is NOT normal. Could be something physical, the vet can check that. And some dogs have OCD and need to be treated for that.

You say you know the dog needs more exercise. How much is she getting? If she gets lots of exercise, does she still chase her tail?

If you've got a chewer, I say let her sleep in her crate at night. It sounds like she would be better off.
 
#3 ·
I would suggest you to take your dog to exercise often and see if the frequency of tail-chasing is reduced. If not, it might be better for you to take your dog to the vet for a check up. I think early finding of anything is better than not knowing or finding late. I hope everything turns ok for you and your dog. Good luck!
 
#4 ·
I am afraid there is no miracle cure for Dakota. :no: You need to do one of two things.
1- Ensure she gets enough exercise every day - a walk in the evening is not going to cut it. You need to take her to a park or your yard and have her play fetch for a good amount of time.
2- Keep her crated other than the weekend - and that will lead to other more disturbing problems.

As for the general chewing problem there are some dogs that just never seem to get past this. My dogs are reasonably trained and none of them can be left with a soft chew toy - especially if it has a squeaker. They will destroy it seconds.
 
#5 ·
Yes, she seems to chew with the intent to destroy. It's funny... there is one or two toys she will not or has not destroyed and she seems to want it that way! I've bought identical porcupine squeeky toys and she destroyed the pink one and has played (properly) with the purple one for more than 6 months. Weird.

We do keep her active outside with playing fetch, etc. Plus we have a very large yard for her to run and hunt in and a pool that she has taken over. She can swim whenever she wants and does so frequently. I wish I had her energy!

I'm going to try for an earlier walk (not late evening), at least in the winter when it's not so hot, really tire her out (our walks are fairly long). During the summer it's just too hot to walk unless the sun has gone down. She is either spoiled by the pool or overheats quickly.
 
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