Basic information about your Dog’s tail

The tail is actually an extension of your pet’s spine – it’s simply more flexible and mobile. It is attached to the sacrum, which is a bone at the base of the spine.

The tail has bones called the coccygeal or caudal vertebrae that get progressively smaller along the tail. They have small joints and discs between each bone that cushion them.

There are blood vessels and nerves along the tail, as well as muscles that control the movement of the tail and are also involved in the defecation process in both dogs and cats.

What is the function of the tail?

The tail of dogs is one of the most curious parts of the body of dogs because although everyone sees it, few know its function in-depth and it is not something that is usually talked about very often. Well, it not only helps to know the mood of your pet, but it also fulfills other relevant functions that we show you here.

To Communicate

Our best friend has not yet found a way to talk with his owners or with other animals and therefore has to use his body to communicate in the dog language that is so difficult for us to learn.

The tail of the dog says a lot about the animal. In fact, for those who “speak and interpret” the language of dogs, it is enough to look at the position and movement of the tail to know what the dog is thinking or feeling.

Dogs communicate with a very particular language, a doggy language, in which the tail plays a decisive role in using body language to ask for something or for us to understand their feelings.

Alone or combined with postures or movements, the tail substantially helps the dog to express its intentions and helps us discover the messages it wants to convey.

As he positions and moves the tail, it will be what your dog wants to tell you. The tail reveals the dog’s mood and is the mirror of his emotions. The position of the tail reveals moods and so do his movements.

Taking as a basis the state of relaxation of the animal, we can read the body and tail and then infer the state of mind. If the tail is higher than in its corresponding relaxed state it means alert and/or security. The animal is showing its authority. He is that dominant dog and it will be difficult to make him change his mind. On the other hand, if the tail is lower than in the state of relaxation that corresponds to it and bending it on the belly it shows fear and insecurity.

However, when dogs want to communicate with each other, by waving their tails they manage to spread their smell so that other dogs know that they are in a certain place or that they have passed by; something similar to marking territory or even a technique to attract thanks to some glands that are located under the tail. That is why dogs smell each other; they have unique smells that allow them to be recognized as if they were their fingerprint.

Some Tail Movements and their Meaning

• Relaxed tail and slight movements: it means that you are calm and calm.
• Waving tail with wide and rapid movements accompanied by the hips: the dog is happy. It is the attitude that a dog often adopts when its owner comes home.
• High tail and slow movements: contradictory emotions. It implies agitation, happiness, and joy, but also impatience and nervousness.
• Stiff tail up: The dog is self-confident and has a proactive and diligent attitude.
• Horizontal tail: this means that the dog is alert. And it is good to be cautious.
• Tail horizontal and with slight movements: it can mean a greeting or nervousness.
• Tail very low, between the legs, sometimes with short movements: it shows submission or fear.

To Get Their Bearings

Just as felines do with their whiskers, the tail of dogs fulfills an orientation function, since it allows them to know the breadth of places or the distance between objects or people, either inside the home or when they are on the street; It is for this reason that dogs whose tails are cut off begin to have these types of problems.

To Express Emotions

As we mentioned earlier, this is one of the most common functions, as it is the most obvious; It is about the movements that the dog makes with its tail when it is going through a certain feeling, for example, it will hold it up and completely still in a state of alert, it will put it down and put it under its legs if it feels fear, it will beat it desperately in the face of great happiness, or he can simply lower it and leave it still when he is calm.

To Keep the Balance

Another of the things for which the tail is useful for dogs is to maintain balance, a function that cats’ whiskers also fulfill, in addition to the one that we had previously mentioned; This is because it is the continuation of his spine, so he needs it to avoid falling when he makes certain turns or movements.

Why shouldn’t a Dog’s Tail be Cut off?

Specialists agree that tail docking in dogs is a totally unnecessary custom, as well as cruel since most practices are for aesthetics. There are some countries that prohibit this practice which is punishable by law providing protection to animals against this change in the physical appearance of the animal, in this case, the dog. Apart from the atrocity of mutilating any living being, the tail is important. So why shouldn’t it be amputated?

1. Because it would be like cutting off our hands. As mentioned before, dogs use their tails to communicate. They will transmit a lot of emotions through their tails such as happiness, fear, confusion, etc. According to specialists, if you cut off the dog’s tails, they will not be able to transmit their emotions and this can be related to human hands. When we speak, we use our hands also to communicate.
2. Because it causes them problems. Experts affirm that many times after this happen to a dog, their behavior change, i. e., dogs can feel emotionally bad for this.
3. Because they will have a worse balance. The tail is part of the dog because they need it and it is there to fulfill a function and one of which is to maintain their balance. When the dog is running, jumping, coming, and going, the tail helps to balance their body so definitely, they need their tails in the same way that we need our fingers.
4. Because it hurts. People have the belief that the smaller the dogs are, the less pain they will feel since the tail is just cartilage and this is a lie, for this reason, they decide to cut off their tails when they are 2 or 3 days old. It has been proven that puppies suffer during this procedure experiencing not just stress but also pain. This has been shown with 50 puppies that had their tails cut off and all of them cried and yelled during the process because of the wrong belief that they do not need anesthesia. It is important to demolish the myth that dogs (or any other animal) do not feel pain in these practices.
5. Because it can be dangerous. The amputation of the dog’s tail is not a simple cut, in the amputation cartilage, nerves, blood vessels, and other tissues are sectioned in addition to the skin. This amputation can cause atrophy and degeneration in the pelvis, in addition to triggering problems with fecal incontinence.

Can the Tail Break?

Yes. The tail can break in different ways such as in a traffic accident or when someone closes the door and the dog’s tail is in the middle, it can also break when someone steps on them too hard or even when the dog jumps and falls badly to the ground.

Depending on the severity of the fracture, sometimes surgery is necessary but in others, it usually heals on its own. After some months, it is possible that the tail is more sensitive, especially where the fracture happened. You will notice that your dog will not allow you to touch his tail and if he feels pain, he will try to bite you as a signal of protection.

Take your dog to the vet for an X-ray to remove any complications.

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It should be highlighted that the dog’s breed or size does not have anything to do with the number of nipples they have. And you may be wondering why dogs have so many nipples, and the answer is simple: because they have many puppies, depending on the size, they can have from 2 to 10 puppies. In this way, the female dog can feed all of them.

What Color and Size should a Dog’s Nipples be?

Dogs, both female and male, have nipples in the chest and belly area. You will notice that these nipples are very small, much like a bumpy wart, and are rounded in shape. If your dog has short hair, you will notice his nipples quickly; however, dogs with long hair have more hidden nipples.

On the other hand, the nipples in female dogs tend to change in size when they are nursing their puppies due to milk production but will reduce when the puppies are no longer dependent on the mother.

As for the color of the nipples, generally, they tend to be pink with whiter tones, and also, there are dogs with darker nipples depending on their breed and coat color. However, it is important that you pay attention to your dog’s nipples since if you notice that any of them are darker in color, it could be an infection. For added peace of mind, take your dog to the vet for a checkup.

Can a Dog have 9 Nipples?

Yes, there are dogs that have 9 nipples, since, although in principle they go in pairs (they are symmetrical), sometimes the tenth nipple does not develop well.

But it is also possible that your dog has only 7 nipples. This means that a male or female dog can have an odd number of nipples.

Can Dog have 8 Nipples and then Go Down to Only 6?

No, that’s not possible. The number of nipples in a dog is constant throughout its life, whether it has puppies or not, breastfeeding or not, young or old.

If you think that your dog has varied in the number of it, then that is not normal. You should take your dog to the vet for an examination.

Hypertrophic Nipples

Hypertrophic nipples are simply nipples that reach a size larger – sometimes much larger – than normal.

These nipples occur mainly in female dogs, although they can also occur in some males, although they are usually smaller.

The breed is also important since they can be seen frequently in certain breeds such as bloodhounds and in others, it never appears, such as podencos, which indicates that it is likely that they have a genetic basis. You need to pay attention if your dog sleeps on hard surfaces because it can influence its appearance.

These big nipples have two problems. The first is reproductive since some become so large that newborn puppies cannot suckle from them since they exceed the size of their mouths. This means that part of the breast will not be functional and the puppies cannot have their food during lactation.

On the other hand, they often become a problem when hunting. These nipples hang a lot and constantly rub against the floor, so they are always irritated, inflamed, and bleed, which causes a reaction by the tissue that increases their size, causing them to grow even more.

Large nipples are not a pathology, they are rather a characteristic, but since they become a problem when going out to the streets, sometimes it is necessary to propose a solution. Whenever possible, keeping the nipple is best, but when it is constantly damaged, it can be considered surgical removal.

In general, it is a simple procedure and does not require a long postoperative period, although the function of a section of the breast is lost during the lactation of the puppies.

It is important to differentiate these nipples from breast tumors. With mammary tumors, a totally different policy is followed, they should always be removed and the dog closely monitored.

The main difference between a hypertrophic nipple and a breast tumor is the hardness of the tissue. While the former is soft and flaccid, the tumors are hard and firm.

Mastitis in Dog’s Nipples

This inflammation in the breast tissue can cause pain, heat, redness, fever, and even chills. In addition, sometimes it can also cause infection and alter the shape of the nipple or breasts.

To achieve an accurate diagnosis of mastitis, it is necessary to evaluate the clinical history of the animal and perform different diagnostic tests. In addition, it must be taken into account that mastitis usually appears during the postpartum period, pregnancy, and even, sometimes, during psychological pregnancies.

Some of the clearest symptoms that show mastitis in dogs are:

• No weight gain of the puppies since they depend directly on the quality of the mother’s milk (due to the pain that the mother feels, she stopped feeding them).
• Inflammation in the localized area.
• Hemorrhagic secretions
• Pain, ulcers, and hardening of the breasts.
• Formation of abscesses and glandular gangrene.

It is important to establish an accurate diagnosis and for this, it is necessary to carry out some complementary tests such as microbiological cultures of breast milk, ultrasound of the mammary glands, and laboratory tests. In addition, it is common for the color of the milk to be altered and painful glands to be felt in the area.

Mastitis is a disease that affects not only the dog that suffers it but also the litter. Therefore, the established treatment must act quickly so that the puppies can begin to acquire the necessary nutrients as soon as possible. On the other hand, it is important to consult with a veterinarian if it is advisable or not to continue breastfeeding after the mastitis cure, otherwise, you should help by feeding the puppies with a bottle every 3 hours and with formula milk.

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