Our 16mth Westie keeps biting the base of his tail, it makes it wag. We've looked and there is nothing there, so why does he do it?
Many thanks

Dogs will often bite the base of their tail if their anal glands are impacted.  Your vet will check him out for you ;)

Is it my imagination or have we had a spate of these possible anal gland problems this week?  Is this a time of year that makes them worse I wonder?

If you do a search on here there is also another reason why they bite their tail, for the life of me I just can't remember what it is called....My dog Junior use to do that and now his fur has all grown back.

I wonder if it is the way we feed our dogs. I have owned 6 dogs over the last 45yrs and have never come up against the health problems my pup has now. Yes Anal Gland problems and also cystitus. 4 lots of anti biotics over the last 7 months. Seriously considering not feeding complete food and going back to raw.

Complete foods have been the most commonly used food for dogs for several years now and these posts have only been in spate for the last few days so I don't feel there can be anyconnection :) Personally I feel it is just one of those blips we get on here occasionaly like when everyone is suddenly looking for a beagle pup or whatever.

I presume your pup has 24 hour access to fresh water.

Could it be flea eggs?  I've always found fleas to be around the back of the neck and the base of the tail (unless a monstrous infestation).  Not neccessarily going to be visible fleas when you look there but the eggs are laid there.  Not giving advice here, perhaps phone the vet and ask.

CG

Laura,

Biting the base of the tail is a common allergic reaction and allergies can appear at any age.  Could be a reaction to pollen, molds, grasses, food, soap or cleaner residue left on rugs/furniture, and the list is endless.

Stacey

LOl I found the thing I was looking for its called Tail Gland HyperSplasia


[link http://www.geocities.com/curlycr.geo/tail.html]tail gland hypersplasia

Angus the Westie does this "base of tail" biting too. We've taken him off tinned food and feed him chicken and veg (home made) which seems to be curing it. I also bath him using a small amount of Nizarol shampoo as this is anti-fungal. I've read that Westies are prone to yeast infections of the skin and I think this is what Angus is sufering from.  So far he's not biting / scratching so much and I'm hoping that the home-made food and Nizarol shamppo will rid him of his skin allergy.

Regards

John