Why Does My Dog Chase His Tail? Causes, Red Flags and How to Help

Last updated: November 2025

Is it normal for a dog to chase his tail?

Often, yes. A puppy who spots a furry thing following him around and spins after it is doing something perfectly ordinary. Dr. Jerry Klein, chief veterinarian of the American Kennel Club, puts it simply: “In puppies, most tail-chasing is harmless fun and often reduces or stops with age.” For a young dog, the tail is a toy that is always there.

Adult dogs chase their tails too, usually in short bursts. A dog may spin when you grab the leash, when a guest walks in, or when he has been cooped up all afternoon. Vets call some of these moments displacement behavior: a normal action that pops up out of context when a dog is excited, frustrated or unsure. VCA Animal Hospitals says that when tail chasing happens only now and then, in specific situations, and is easy to interrupt, it is usually considered a safe displacement behavior.

The trouble is that “normal” is not the whole story. When veterinary scientist Charlotte Burn of the Royal Veterinary College studied 400 YouTube videos of dogs chasing their tails, she found that about a third of those dogs showed clinical signs. Some chased their tails daily or “all the time.” Others were hard to distract once they got going. Almost none of the people filming seemed to notice.

The healthy version is brief, playful, and stops the moment you call your dog’s name. The kind worth a closer look happens a lot, seems driven rather than fun, or leaves a sore, bald or bitten tail.

What are the most common reasons dogs chase their tails?

Tail chasing is a behavior, not a diagnosis. The same spin can come from a bored puppy, an itchy rear end or a true compulsive disorder. Veterinary behaviorist Meghan Herron has said that whenever a dog is paying extra attention to a body part, a vet needs to rule out itching, pain or odd sensations before blaming boredom. Here is how the common causes tend to look, and what to do about each.

Many dogs have more than one cause in play. A dog with itchy skin may start nibbling his tail, find that the motion feels good, and keep doing it long after the itch is gone. VCA notes that a dog may bite his tail after an injury, find it soothing, and carry on once the injury has healed.

That is why the fix starts with figuring out which row of the table your dog belongs in.

Could a medical problem be making my dog chase his tail?

Yes, and it is more common than many owners think. When a dog circles to reach his back end, he is often trying to get at something that bothers him. VCA lists fleas, food allergies, intestinal parasites such as tapeworms, impacted anal glands, tail injuries and neurological problems among the medical reasons dogs chase or chew their tails.

Fleas love the base of the tail. The AKC points out that tail chasing might not be aimed at the tail at all, but at a bite right above it. If you part the fur there and see tiny dark specks, that may be flea dirt. Our guide to why your dog is scratching so much covers fleas, allergies and skin infections in more depth.

Anal glands are the other big one. These two small sacs sit on either side of the anus and normally empty when a dog poops. When they get too full or infected, they feel uncomfortable, and dogs respond by scooting, licking and chasing that end of their body. A vet can check and empty them in a few minutes.

Pain is easy to miss. A tail caught in a door, a sprained tail after a long swim, or arthritis in the hips or lower spine can all send a dog spinning toward the sore spot. Dr. Herron has described seeing dogs whose tail chasing turned out to be caused by hip dysplasia, cauda equina syndrome or anal gland disease.

“Anytime a dog is paying extra attention to a body part, I need to know why.”

Meghan Herron, DVM, DACVB, veterinary behaviorist (dvm360, 2025)

In older dogs, the AKC notes that canine cognitive dysfunction, a condition similar to dementia, can also bring on new tail chasing.

What is compulsive tail chasing in dogs?

Compulsive tail chasing is a form of canine compulsive disorder, sometimes called canine OCD. It is not the same as a dog having a silly moment. It is a repetitive behavior that happens out of context, too often or for too long, and that the dog has trouble stopping. VCA explains that if tail chasing causes injury, happens with little or no trigger, or starts to get in the way of normal life, it is diagnosed as a compulsive disorder.

Vets treat this as a diagnosis of exclusion. That means the medical causes in the section above have to be ruled out first. Veterinary behaviorist Karen Sueda, writing in Clinician’s Brief, describes compulsive behavior as linked to anxiety rather than to dominance or a lack of training. That matters, because it changes how you respond. A dog with a compulsive disorder is not being stubborn. He is stuck.

The best large study of the behavior comes from Finland. In 2012, a team led by Professor Hannes Lohi at the University of Helsinki published a survey of 368 dogs from four breeds in the journal PLoS ONE: Bull Terriers, Miniature Bull Terriers, German Shepherds and Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Owners described their dogs’ puppyhood, routines, diet and personality.

Several findings stand out. Tail chasing usually began early, at 3 to 6 months of age. Almost half of the tail chasers showed lowered responsiveness during a bout, meaning they did not react normally when their owners called them. Tail chasers were also more likely to show other compulsions and were rated as shyer than dogs that did not chase their tails.

Early life seemed to matter. Dogs that chased their tails had been separated from their mothers earlier, at about 7 weeks of age on average, compared with about 8 weeks for the dogs that did not. They had also received lower quality maternal care, according to their owners.

Diet was the most surprising finding. Dogs that received dietary supplements, especially vitamins and minerals, chased their tails less than dogs that got none. When the team looked at single nutrients, vitamin B6 stood out after statistical correction. Researcher Katriina Tiira was careful to say the study does not prove that vitamins reduce tail chasing, only that the link is interesting and worth testing. Please do not start supplementing your dog on the strength of this alone. Ask your vet.

One finding should reassure owners. The amount of exercise a dog got, the number of activities it did and the time it spent alone were not linked to tail chasing in this study. If your dog has a true compulsive disorder, it is probably not because you failed to walk him enough. Exercise and enrichment still help a dog feel better, but they are not a cure on their own.

Treatment usually combines several steps. A vet or veterinary behaviorist will look for triggers, change the daily routine to avoid them, teach the dog a calm alternative behavior, and often prescribe medication that acts on serotonin. Dr. Klein of the AKC notes that medication is especially likely for dogs whose tail chasing is an obsessive-compulsive behavior. Your vet will decide whether a drug makes sense for your dog. The earlier you act, the less time the habit has to become ingrained.

Which breeds are most likely to chase their tails?

Any dog can chase his tail, but compulsive tail chasing clusters in certain breeds, which suggests genes play a role. The University of Helsinki team noted that worldwide it is most common in Bull Terriers and German Shepherds. The AKC also mentions terrier types, Doberman Pinschers and Shiba Inus as breeds known for the behavior.

Bull Terriers are the classic example. A 2011 study in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, led by Alice Moon-Fanelli with Nicholas Dodman at Tufts, surveyed owners of 333 Bull Terriers, 145 of which chased their tails. Males had a slightly higher risk than females, about 8% greater. Tail chasing in these dogs was closely tied to trance-like staring and episodes of aggression. VCA describes Bull Terriers as prone to intense, rapid spinning that is hard to interrupt.

The same Bull Terrier study asked owners what set the spinning off. About 31% of the triggers they listed involved arousal or frustration, such as owners leaving or coming home, visitors, food or other dogs. Another 18% involved new or confining spaces, like a crate or a room corner. About 15% involved too little mental or physical stimulation, and 10% involved sounds such as the vacuum or a hair dryer.

Herding breeds can be prone as well. VCA notes that playful, active herding dogs may spin when they are frustrated while waiting for a chance to work or play.

If you share your home with one of these breeds, none of this means your dog will develop a problem. It means it is worth watching early tail chasing more closely and not turning it into a party trick.

What did the YouTube tail-chasing study find?

In 2011, Charlotte Burn of the Royal Veterinary College in London had a clever idea. Earlier research on tail chasing had looked only at small groups of dogs brought to clinics, many with serious problems. To see what tail chasing looks like in ordinary homes, she studied 400 YouTube videos of dogs chasing their tails and published the results in PLoS ONE.

About a third of the dogs showed clinical signs, either chasing their tails habitually or being hard to distract. Around 38% seemed perseverative, meaning they kept going despite distractions. According to the Royal Veterinary College, toy breeds had the highest share of perseverative tail chasing, at 56%, followed by mixed breeds at 43%.

The human side was the real headline. Laughter could be heard in 55% of the videos, and people encouraged the dog in 43%. The most common words viewers used were “funny” and “cute.” Dogs that seemed unable to stop were nearly seven times more likely to be called funny by viewers. Burn called it a vicious cycle: a behavior that may signal a problem gets rewarded with laughter and attention, which can make it happen more.

The setting was telling too. Compared with matched videos of the same breeds and ages, tail-chasing videos were far less likely to be filmed outdoors, 8.8% versus 38.8%. Indoors, a TV or computer screen was switched on in 32.1% of tail-chasing videos versus 9.1% of the others. The study cannot say why, but it fits the idea that some tail chasing shows up when dogs have little else to do.

When should you see a vet or behaviorist?

A quick, playful spin now and then does not need a vet. But some patterns do. VCA advises a vet visit if your dog suddenly starts chasing or biting at his tail, or if he does it more often or injures his tail. Dr. Klein of the AKC suggests acting early and talking to your vet if a behavior seems peculiar, lasts longer than about a week, or keeps getting worse.

Book a vet appointment if you notice any of these:

• Tail chasing that starts out of nowhere, especially in an adult or senior dog
• Bouts that happen every day or last a long time
• Your dog does not respond to his name or a favorite toy mid-spin
• A bitten, bleeding, swollen or bald tail, or a tail that hangs limp
• Scooting, a fishy smell, licking under the tail or visible fleas
• Yelping, stiffness, limping or reluctance to sit
• A glassy or trance-like stare during spins
• Spinning that cuts into eating, sleeping or play

Your regular vet is the right first stop. They will check the skin, tail, anal glands, joints and nervous system, and ask about your dog’s routine. Bring video if you can. If nothing physical turns up, or the behavior keeps going after a medical problem is treated, your vet may refer you to a board-certified veterinary behaviorist, a certified behavior consultant, or in some cases a neurologist. The AKC’s Dr. Klein recommends exactly that path when no obvious medical cause is found.

How do you stop or redirect tail chasing?

Once your vet has ruled out a medical cause, the goal is to make tail chasing less rewarding and give your dog better things to do. Here is what tends to help.

First, stop the audience. Do not laugh, cheer or film for fun. Dr. Klein says even a scolding can count as attention, so the AKC suggests giving the behavior no attention at all, positive or negative. VCA recommends quietly disengaging and walking away, or handing your dog a toy right away.

Second, learn the triggers. VCA suggests watching your dog closely so you can predict a spin and head it off. If he spins when the doorbell rings, ask for a sit and toss a treat before he starts.

Third, fill the day. Walks with plenty of sniffing, short training sessions, puzzle feeders and chew toys all give a dog something to focus on. Our guides to how often to walk your dog and indoor exercise for dogs have ideas for busy days and bad weather. If boredom also shows up as chewed shoes, see how to stop a dog from chewing everything.

Fourth, teach a replacement. A reliable “go to your bed” or “find it” gives you a calm behavior to ask for when a spin is coming.

If your dog has a known trigger or tends to spin when stressed, it helps to write that down where others can see it. The free Lohji app, on the App Store and Google Play, lets you add behavioral and medical notes, your vet and up to three contacts to the profile linked to your dog’s Smart Tag. A sitter, or a stranger who finds your dog after a scare, can see those notes with one tap. And for the lighter side of a goofy dog, the app can also turn one photo of him into a 3D cartoon character for stickers and wallpapers.

Not all spinning is tail chasing. If your dog turns a few circles before settling down, that is a different, mostly normal behavior, and our guide to why dogs circle before lying down explains what the research found and when it signals pain.

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