He'll end up eating himself!

[eljaybee1956]

Jeeves, 14 month old blue roan and tan boy, has recently started the rather annoying habit of chewing on his tail, or one of his ears (doesn't matter which one - whichever he can grab hold of). He was neutered about two months ago, but this behavior is only recent. I'm a bit worried he will end up eating himself, (I know that is not physically possible - but it seems that what his intention is) or at the very least have an ugly looking tail. He is washed every Sunday and I ensure that there is no shampoo left on him anywhere, rinsing him until the water runs clear.  He has been groomed and the feathering around his ears has been cut. Is this tail/ear chewing normal?

[EmmaA]

How does his skin look? Try parting the hair and see if it looks irritated. Bathing every week sounds like quite often, the washing could be drying out his skin. I only bath Eric about once every 4 months and he is only smelly when wet. I let any mud dry on him and brush it out.
I would take him to the vet to check it out and if everything is ok it might be a behavioural thing.
I hope gorgeous Jeeves is ok 

[minimoo]

dont think he should be bathed that often , i would pop him to vets in case its anything medical but i would def not bath him so often . even once a month is too much really , once a week is far too much he wont have any oils left in his fur 

[Joules]

dont think he should be bathed that often , i would pop him to vets in case its anything medical but i would def not bath him so often . even once a month is too much really , once a week is far too much he wont have any oils left in his fur 

I agree - Coco only gets a proper bath every couple of months unless she has rolled in something stinky.  It can really dry out and irritate their skin and strips all the natural oils out of the coat     Would get the vet to check him over too though 

[Mudmagnets]

Smudge goes to the groomers about every 3/4 months and that is the only time he is bathed, like Emma I wait for any mud to dry and then brush it out. (Obviously if he went into anything disgusting, then I would wash him inbetween grooms.

[SkyeSue]

Awww...bless...I think its comical when they chase their tails and try and eat themselves!!! Just kiddin, obviously best to get it checked out, just in case. No advice to offer, other than agree with everyone about NOT bathing and for all the reasons everyone else has said.

[Ninasmum]

IME it does sound like something is bothering him and would definetly take him to the vets to be given the "once over".

Also, try to cut down the baths and when you do shampoo him use a natural dog shampoo or even puppy shampoo, just in case this does irritate him.

[ludo]

Jeeves, 14 month old blue roan and tan boy, has recently started the rather annoying habit of chewing on his tail, or one of his ears (doesn't matter which one - whichever he can grab hold of). He was neutered about two months ago, but this behavior is only recent. I'm a bit worried he will end up eating himself, (I know that is not physically possible - but it seems that what his intention is) or at the very least have an ugly looking tail. He is washed every Sunday and I ensure that there is no shampoo left on him anywhere, rinsing him until the water runs clear.  He has been groomed and the feathering around his ears has been cut. Is this tail/ear chewing normal?

Please don't be offended but I wonder whether this could be mites?  From what I have read ear mites can migrate to the whole body and can cause this type of behaviour    Dax used to do this to his feet between the toes and his legs    I purchased Neem shampoo for mange, mites and fleas - wonderful stuff!  It's not cheap at £9.99 a bottle but after using it a couple of times the nibbling stopped completely - I also use Thornits in his ears like many others on here    Try this link for the Neem products - would be worth a try 

http://www.mekuti.co.uk/neem.htm

[elaine.e]

William developed dry, scurfy skin last summer. His coat looked OK but if you parted it you could see little flakes of white. He started nibbling one of his front paws and his flanks as far back as he could reach. I still don't know the cause. I took him to the vet who put him on a low dose of steroids for 30 days to stop the symptoms and I bathed him twice with Coatex shampoo and used Thornits on both front paws and at the base of his tail and he's back to normal now.

I didn't get the vet to do any tests as it's cleared up, but I wondered if it could be mites of some sort. Our agility training in summer is in a grassy paddock and the shows are on grass as well of course. William doesn't roll in anything disgusting and doesn't roll when we're on our daily walks in the New Forest where the grass is very short because of all the animals grazing it. But he likes to roll in slightly longer grass in the summer at agility shows and anywhere else we go. So I wondered if he picked up some mites through that?

The Coatex shampoo is very good and I use Thornits on his ears regularly.

[ludo]

William developed dry, scurfy skin last summer. His coat looked OK but if you parted it you could see little flakes of white. He started nibbling one of his front paws and his flanks as far back as he could reach. I still don't know the cause. I took him to the vet who put him on a low dose of steroids for 30 days to stop the symptoms and I bathed him twice with Coatex shampoo and used Thornits on both front paws and at the base of his tail and he's back to normal now.

I didn't get the vet to do any tests as it's cleared up, but I wondered if it could be mites of some sort. Our agility training in summer is in a grassy paddock and the shows are on grass as well of course. William doesn't roll in anything disgusting and doesn't roll when we're on our daily walks in the New Forest where the grass is very short because of all the animals grazing it. But he likes to roll in slightly longer grass in the summer at agility shows and anywhere else we go. So I wondered if he picked up some mites through that?


There was a thread on here in the summer and apparently harvest mites are prevalent in the summer months - I think August time in particular - the little blighters make the dog feel very uncomfortable - I think I need to stock pile some Neem shampoo before then 

The Coatex shampoo is very good and I use Thornits on his ears regularly.