Thread: Why does my dog whine at my other dogs wound?

hotpinkb,

Well, let me use this analogy to help answer your dog question hotpinkb. What would you do if you and your best friend were out taking a casual walk in the woods when suddenly your best friend was bitten by a poisonous snake. Lets also say, that you knew that if you lanced the bite and sucked out the poison it would further the chances of your best friend surviving the poisonous bite, until you could get help for her. What would you do? Then ask yourself why you did it? It is obvious that your male and female dog are bonded and she out of this bond is doing what she can do to help her companion i.e. lick the wound to help it heal. She also knows that your male dog is suffering from some kind of stress, thus his biting his tail till it bleeds which causes her whining. How would you feel watching your best friend suffering from a poisonous snake bite. All your Vet can do is apply medicine, which has nothing to do with the dog's mental state. In other words, medicine isn't going to stop the dog from biting its tail, am I correct? What you need to do is this. When your male dog bites his tail just say, "NO!" and stop him. Hand him his favorite toy to bite on or give him a beef bone to chew on. You are supplying him with an alternative and at the same time telling him that chewing on his tail is bad behavior. Dogs learn by association and it won't take him long to understand. Another means is to isolate him in other words, when he bites on his tail say "NO!" and isolate him for a short period of time. He isn't going to like that, as dogs by nature are social animals and being isolated would be like sending your unruly child to her/his room. Your boy friend is telling the female dog not to comfort or cleanse her companions wounds. I am sorry buddy, but your dead wrong for stopping the female from licking the male dog's wounds. Dog's know what is best for Dog's and she is doing instinctively what any feral canine, foxes, wolves, coyotes would do for one another in the wild to prevent infection and give comfort. I hope that I have been of some help to you.

Everett

My male dog has been biting off his fur on his tail and has created an open wound. ((We are taking him to the vet for this in two days)) But my female dog seems to look at it and whine. After awhile she'll try and lick it, my boy friend yells at her for licking it. I've heard mixed reviews on allowing her to lick it. But I was just wondering why she would whine about it.

maybe it bothers her. she wants to clean it. let her lick it dog's tongues are cleaner than a lot of things. they lick their own wounds, why cant she lick her "brother"'s

she can tell your other dog is hurt. she feels bad for him. dogs are very caring and empathetic.

she probably knows that she is hurt, or that something is wrong with her..