My German Shepherd Puppy Chases His Tail

by Rudy
(Tampa, FL)

My GSD is a male pure breed 9 months old and all he does is chases his tail, only when he's is running with me, or eating, or sleeping, or inside the house chewing on a bone or toy he doesnt' chase the tail. All other times all he does is chase, chase, and chase.

Total German Shepherd:


While this is a really cute behavior (so most people think) in a puppy, tail chasing can grow into something different all together in an adult dog.

Imagine a grown German Shepherd doing this over and over and over...... and imagine your house with furniture knocked over, stuff strown about because your boy, a 90+ pound male is basically tumbling all over your house, from one end to the other..... not a good thing for you, your possessions or him.

So what you need to do it exercise and play with that baby a whole lot more so that he stops doing this out of boredom. Because if you don't, over time as he ages (if left untreated), chances are really high that this behavior will become a habit and that can be a problem.

in fact, I've had several vets even tell me that this can be a symptom of OCD in pets when left untreated. But it often starts out of simple boredom and not enough exercise.

So, get that puppy into a puppy training class and exercise him until he's good and tired too as often as you can. Speak to your dog trainer about the tail chasing too and see what they suggest you try to stop the tail chasing.

That way you'll be working on your training which you need to do anyway plus addressing the issue of the tail chasing. Plus through the exercise you and your puppy will be getting this will also hopefully cut down on the whole tail chasing issue.

Tail chasing every once in a while IS cute - but if your dog does it all the time when they're not doing something else - then that can definitely be the sign of something else all together. So I'd definitely try and stop it now before it becomes a habit. Good luck.