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Question

My lab has an open sore at the tip of his tail that he re-opens every time he wags his tail and hits something. He has had this for a few weeks. In the last few days, he has also developed sudden dry flaky skin around his eyes.

Submitted: 275 days and 1 hours ago.
Category: Dog
Value: $9
Status: CLOSED
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Age: 1; Male; Breed: labrodor retriever

Already Tried:
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Accepted Answer

I would plan on seeing your vet for the flakey skin in the eye area as this could be a sign of a skin issue such as mange mites or ringworm.

With the tail you should be able to treat that at home but may need antibiotics to encourage healing.

You can control the tail so it has time to heal and regrow the hair, instead of reopening the injury as he wags it, a number of ways.
You'll need to do more than one thing to help with this.
First for healing the tail tip up there are a few solutions one of which may work for your dog.
Key is that you do not cover the sore area up but leave it open to the air to be easily treated with antibiotic ointment.
A good bandage material for this is vet wrap but it can be done with gauze or cloth adhesive tape too.
Method number one you put a bandage with 'tails' on it around the tail above the injured area. You put this on so as to not cut off circulation and tie it off so it cannot clamp down more and cut circulation off.
You leave two long tails of bandage and with that you make a loop around the upper thigh of the dog and tie it off loosely.
Now your dog's tail is loosely tied to the upper thigh which will allow the dog to move the tail for pottying but not to bang it on the wall.
You can treat the tail easily and neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment will soften the scab, promote healing and aid in hair regrowth.
Method two is also done above the area that is injured. You put a wide ring of material that is thick and soft around the tail and bandage it on. I've seen this done with a section of the 'funnoodle' pool toys which is a hard foam product. You slice the section of funnoodle in half make sure the hole in the center is big enough to go around the tail and bandage it onto the tail.
When this is in place the dog will still wag like crazy but the tail doesn't hit the wall just the funnoodle does. Again the sore is open to be treated easily.
If you don't have a funnoodle then foam rubber may work. You want something thick so the tail never hits the hard area just the protection does.
Method three you find a plastic bottle with a mouth opening large enough to go over the tail and cut the bottom off of it. Where you cut the bottle protect the sharp edges with a layer of tape. Slide the bottle up the tail making sure it covers the area that is sore. Tape the mouth of the bottle to the tail. Again wagging will only hit the bottle not the tail but treatment might be a little bit harder and wagging a bit noisier.
I've used the tie the tail to the upper thigh method with good success on Great Danes as I've never been sure I wanted to add a 'weapon' on a 'tail of death' that might be hitting me :)
Once the tail is healed and the hair grows in you should try for as much softening of sharp edges as you reasonably can do.
You can add corner protectors like are used for homes with toddlers to reduce repeat injuries.
You can limit the dog to being in rooms where there is only soft furniture and no hard corners too.
Hope this helps you!

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Expert: NancyH
Pos. Feedback: 99.5 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 2/21/2009

Dog Expert:Rescue, Train,Breed,Care

30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics

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