dougie now

what might help is 2 planks of wood, and some duck tape. fix the planks onto the dog (so its like a wooden dog sandwich), that way the dog cant bend and reach the tail.
or you could get the tail docked, but dougie might be too old to get that done, and i think most vets only do it to certain dogs - my spaniel has got a docked tail as its a working dog, otherwise it would get cut to shreds on brambles and barbed wire.

When I left school I worked in a vets as a nurse for several years. We reluctantly docked tails and dew claws on 5 day old puppies, eyes not  yet open and the vet used little plier like pincers and no anaesthetic. The squealing was horrid. It still goes on today.

Docking is ilegal - unless you have a vetenary note to why it has been done, the vet has said its the last thing they will try for doug but has warned me if we do have to dock it it will not solve the problem, they said if the whole tail goes he will get his back leg or something - the problem wont go away he will find something else to satisfy his obsession. Its a tricky one but im working hard with training and different methods to stop the habbit - but everyone has said it has to get worse before it gets better sooo lets hope this is the worse as we were doing soooo well - we will get there in the end!

for those who are interested in dougs little problems

Tail is almost healed now which is nice - it looks an odd shape and covered in scars and is hairless but no more bandage which is nice. Still wearing his collar until we can stop the issues with spinning however the licking is going to new extremes.
He has a new diet special vets one (v expensive!!) in the hope he wont stop refusing food and also to help his gut as his tests show he has issues with his tummy and digestive system. More tests for him in 2 weeks time to see if the new diet is helping and im hoping it will.
OCD treatment starting after we've controlled the diet.
He is doing very very well with training his trick list is getting ever longer - we are now sit, down, stand, paw, other paw, jump through a hoop, dance, twist, weaving in and out the legs, roll over, we are working on play dead and also target work. He is very good at stay and wait and we are working hard on heel. Sooo even though he has these issues and is a total lap dog he requires human contact more then a 'normal' lakeland wants hes doing very well.

Ahhhh bless  

I hope you insured him................

from day 1 oh yes we did - spent a fortune on him to date just going through the claims now!! Hes been expensive but worth it

When is Joel starting to give him surfing lessons  

Oh I have a vision   

dougie isnt a fan of the sea the waves scare him, but not sure now hes getting bigger if the sea isnt sooo scary but only time will tell.

he does enjoy chewing joels leash and stands on his surfboards when they are in the house, he also is attracted to his wetsuit but i cant think why hed want to be within 30ft of his suit and boots!!