Why does my dog chase his tail?
This is a question that we often get from sitter and owners who work with Rover. Help the community out by answering them in our forum!
This is a question that we often get from sitter and owners who work with Rover. Help the community out by answering them in our forum!
Behavioral problems. Dogs can develop compulsive disorders. They will also chew or lick themselves a lot. Anxiety also plays a big role.
A quick and more expensive answer would be to tell you to consult a animal behaviorist or trainer.
But, for the sake of the Q&A, assuming the behavior is not problematic, it is very common for dogs to chase their tails.
Playful dogs may find this as a fun activity to deal with over-excitement (think, self-regulation), or simply a fun activity to do now and then. An anxious dog may be chasing their tail due to generalized anxiety, fearfulness, or uncertainty. It can be a good thing to engage your dog while they are chasing and to bring them back to a human interactive game (fetch, find-the-treat, etc) if you are seeking to strengthen your bond with your dog.
Could be a behavior they picked up when they were young, and they just never got around to taking a bite out of their tail to learn that it is actually attached to their bodies. That, or it's a behavioral issue learned from being indoors too long at a time, almost driving them mad.