Wierd reaction after massage.

[shadowboy]

Tassy likes a massage- I do gentle circular movements with my thumb and index and middle finger over her head, nech and back through to the tail and she will happily melt away... tried this on Nanook yesterday and he acted very strange after both attempts. He started to drop his tail and then ran in circles to try and catch it, (spinning round and round fast)once he'd caught his own tail he was really really knawing on it- so hard we had to tell him off.

Once we had distracted him tail went back up and he forgot about it.

This made me wonder if he had any sensation in his tail to be chewing so hard on it- and I pinched him round the tip and got no reaction untill about midway up the bone. Any idea why the massage might have triggered such a wierd reaction- could it have sent a sensation down through to the tail?

He tried to eat his tail both times after the massage attempt. Also is it possible to not have sensation to the tip and if so what harm could this do to him?

 

[CorvusCorax]

I'd just not do it again for a start tail chasing is very destructive and hard to stop once it has become a habit.
I do know people who have had chronic tail chasers and sensation does not really come into it, even when they are basically eating their own tails
I tend not to manipulate any part of my dogs just in case I tweak something without meaning to, I don't really know what I am doing and there are qualified massage people out there who do.