At What Age Do Dogs Stop Chasing Their Tails. It seems like every time you turn around your pup is spinning in circles biting at his tail and simply saying Stop it is having absolutely no effect. Tail chasing is a compulsive behavior but if your dog is stressed or anxious he might also be restless might engage in. Just as a human being would when a dog is experiencing an allergic reaction their instinct is to itch and scratch at the skin that is irritated. There is no definitive answer to this question right now.
If you have ever noticed your dog biting down on their tail as if they are trying to scratch at an itch schedule an appointment with your vet to have it checked out. He could be chasing his tail out of boredom or simply because he. This boredom sometimes leads to tail-chasing while in extreme conditions the dog may develop separation anxiety or destructive chewing. Science is still out on the issue of dogs awareness of their own body parts. Just like obsessive compulsive disorder OCD can manifest in humans as obsessive cleaning or counting CCD in dogs can lead to compulsive tail-chasing fur-licking or fabric-sucking. Limber tail syndrome or acute caudal myopathy is a disorder of the muscles in the tail.
While chasing their tail may seem harmless and can provide great entertainment for both you and your dog its also important to monitor this behavior.
However some senior dogs will start as they age and develop psychological problems. This usually affects working dogs. There does appear to be some association. So if you find your dogs condition severe while chasing his tail and doing it more often you MUST visit the vet. So your pup seems to be unable to stop himself from chasing his tail. If not for the conditions listed above there is the risk of them actually catching their tail specifically in younger dogs that are not as tail-aware There are many small bones in a dogs tail that can be damaged or broken if injury occurs.