For most dogs, having their tail touched is a sensitive matter. A dog who likes being pet on their head or back, may yank their tail and spin around the moment you touch it. They then proceed to give you a hurtful look as if to say, “Do you mind? That’s private!”
Most of the time, that’s okay. We simply respect our dog’s wish not to have their tail touched and leave it alone. That can work just fine until a long-haired dog needs their tail brushed, or an injured dog needs to have their tail wrapped. Suddenly, you need to touch that tail and their protests make it very difficult.
Tail desensitization helps your pet become more comfortable with having their tail handled, before it absolutely needs to happen.
Some Tips Before Getting Started
If your dog hates having their tail brushed—is there a reason for it? Do you wait until the tail is tangled and then rip them out with a comb? Do you tug and pull on the hair to get it sorted out? Have small children pulled their tail before?
Sometimes dogs have outsized reactions to having their tail touched because of how their tail has been treated in the past.
If you have to brush your dog’s tail frequently, be gentle when working out the knots in your dog’s tail. If you have kids or young company (or anyone prone to teasing dogs) over, don’t allow them to pull the dog’s tail even if you know the dog won’t do anything.
This is basic kindness, but it’s also a good way to support your dog feeling comfortable with their tail around humans. If people have given them cause to believe having their tail touched will be a painful experience, it will be that much harder to change their ,ind.
Start at the base of the tail
We’re going to start in the exact same place we approached the rear end. The good old booty scratch! You start at the base of the tail, not touching the tail itself, and treat and reward for touching there for 2-3 repetitions.
You might feel the urge to skip these because you know the dog is already comfortable with that spot being touched—but these reps are important. They serve to let your dog know you’re training, treats will be available, and it’s going to be fun.
Your dog has experience with their feet and rear being touched through the same method already, so as soon as you move to the next step they know what’s going to happen.
Move 1” Down
You should be just barely touching the very top of the tail where it meets the body. Watch your dog’s body language closely here. Your dog has a lot of experience with desensitization now, and this is a big clue that work will be with the tail today. How does your pup feel about it?
If your pup shows any sign of anxiousness, try going back to the base of the tail twice, than the very top of the tail twice, and so on. Something like this:
- Touch base of tail and reward
- Touch base of tail and reward
- Touch top of tail and reward
- Touch base of tail and reward
- Touch base of tail and reward
- Touch top of tail and reward
- Touch top of tail and reward
Only touch the top of the tail until your pup is completely happy with it being touched, and only use the lightest, gentlest touches. You can try firmer touches when your pup is completely confident with this.
When your dog is simply looking for their treat when the touch is done, you can move lower down the tail.
Touch Lower Down the Tail
By now you probably know the drill. Once your pup is completely confident with being touched at the very top of the tail, move just a little bit lower down. Again, pay attention to your pet’s signals. Are they fine with that touch lower down?
If they respond aggressively to a lower tail touch, move back up the tail to where they were comfortable, and try again in a little bit. You can variate doing lower tail touches with higher ones to help make it easier on your pet.
If they’re completely fine, you can move on after a session or two at this level.
Keep Going Down
In the same manner, keep working your way down the tail an inch at a time until you reach the tip. If your pet feels uncomfortable, go back up to a spot they are comfortable. Work at that point for a little bit, and then switch between the new area and the familiar one until they are comfortable.
Keep going in this manner until you’ve made it all the way to the tip of the tail.
Proofing
Once your pet is fully comfortable having the entire tail touched, you can try adding different things to the tail routine. If your dog is a long hair, can you stroke down the hair? (It will feel different than touching the dock itself.)
Can you wrap your fingers (very lightly! Don’t squeeze!) around the dock? Can you move the tail very gently? By playing with what you can do to the tail in small steps, and very gently, you strengthen your pets willingness to have their tail handled.
This will also make it much easier when we move on to brushing the tail. For now however, we’re going to move on to desensitizing various parts of your pup’s face to being handled.
Similar Posts:
- Introducing Hindquarter Desensitization
- Touch Desensitization: Feet
- Introduction to Ear Desensitization
- How To Make Your Dog Like Nail Trims
- Introducing Foot Handling
