Whippet tail sore - photo attached

[Lau123lau]

Hi

Will call vet in morning but wondering if anyone has any advice on the meantime. My whippet pup has a small (5p sized) patch on his tail which he seems to have gnawed so there’s no fur and it seems to be irritating him. It feels raised, kind of like a scab but he hasn’t cut it. He doesn’t appear to have any anywhere else. Any advice?

It looks like it could be stud tail, which is hair loss over the supracaudal/violet gland and can happen for various reasons.

If it's bothering him it's best to get it checked out in case he's got an infection of the gland or anything else going on.

One of mine has it but his has never caused any issues, he's just the little bald patch.

You learn something new everyday! My lurcher has a small bald spot on his tail which I thought was just where his coat rubbed, but it is in exactly the right place for stud tail. Its never got infected or sore though

I wonder if it could be a hot spot (pyoderma)? My previous dog was prone to these - usually on tail or buttocks and you definitely need to check as soon as possible with the vet. It flares up suddenly and drives the dog mad and they keep biting at it and can go through the whole skin thickness within an hour or two, causing a wound that takes ages to heal. If it is this, you can deal with future ones by yourself (except need an ointment from the vet but this comes in a tube and lasts a while - can use for several incidences before needing a new one). If it is that, I found best way was to shave all fur over affected area (making sure you have a margin of clear skin around it). Clean with Hibiscrub. Let it dry, then apply ointment (from vet - called Isaderm last time I got some). Do this cleaning/ointment at least twice a day - best to use gloves or put clingfilm on your finger for ointment as I think it can permeate your own skin and be absorbed. Put dog in bucket collar and don't take off collar day or night until the sore area has completely healed up. If you take collar off too early, the dog will have a go at it again and set healing back a week or more. With my dog, used to take about 3 weeks to heal. Early detection is the key here.