Swimmers Tail?

[Sayreovi]

Hi All,

My dogs must be accident prone lately as i woke this morning to find Novas tail limp, like he can wag it but it isnt held in its usual cocky self always up!!

It isnt broken and it doesnt appear to hurt him, so i was wondering if anyone can hazard a guess as what is up with it??

I remember a topic about retrievers getting like a dead tail after swimming and stuff and i was wondering if that could be it as yesterday they went for a swim??

Should add he hasnt been to a vet yet as my parents said to give it a couple of days to see what happens so i thought i would come on here and see if anyone knew anything?

Thanks Natasha

Edited July 1, 2005 by tollersowned

[Pup's mum]

I've heard it referred to as "cold tail" where the blood supply is restricted normally due to trauma. The vet (or a good doggie chiropractor) should be able to help BUT I wouldn't leave it for too long as the longer blood supply is restricted the riskier that it can be restored....

[Sayreovi]

Thanks thats the answer i was after, off to the vets (again) tomorrow

[Lablover]

Did you end up going to the vet for the cold water tail?

I would not have worried about a vet visit, as the condition is fairly routine in my household. In my experience pain killers are not necessary unless the dog cannot sit down. The condition resolves itself in time with or without treatment.

Try as best you can to dry the base of the dogs tail and hindquarters before leaving for home after swimming (or hunting in the rain especially with dogs that have a vigorous tail action).

If you surf the net there are many topics on this subject.

[Sayreovi]

Thanks Lablover i was hoping you would reply

No i didnt end up taking him to the vets, he was booked in for the afternoon but was fine this morning wagging it like normal and in its usual cocky position. I played with it just carefully lifting it up and down and he had no problem couldnt have cared less unlike before where he turned around and tried to get out of my grasp.

I will just have to remember to take a towel next time when they go for a swim, which wont be for awhile actually damn weather LOL.

Funny thing is Darcy hasnt had a problem yet he is the one in the water the most?

Can you tell me anything more about it please?

Thanks Natasha

[espinay2]

My Dalmatian has had 'cold tail' twice. The first time I came home from work and she was in her run, acting normally, but with a limp tail. Of course itwas2 days before I went overseas! It cleared in a few days with anti inflammatories (kennel where dogs were boarded was run by a vet, so she had good care while I was away). Second time about a year later, the same thing happened. This time the dogs were outsideand I heard her yelp. Came out to find her with a cold' tail. again, it cleared in a few days.

I had had my suspicions after the first time and it seemed confirmed after the second that something was't right as she seemed to have developed a 'dimple' between her pelvis and the root of her tail. And no, it wasn't because she was overweight , even though she does tend to carry a little more than she should at times . The dimple remained when she was a good weight too. My vet and I disagreed that that was the problem, so when we had the chance to x-ray her a few months later when she was sedated for something else, we did. The x-ray indeed showed a fracture. While it is well healed, she does occasionally favour her rear end and sometimes is not as willing to jump up on things as she used to be. She is 'precious' about it when playing so I have to watch that other dogs dont play too rough and risk re-injury.

This diagnosis is of course not what you will usually find as 'cold tail', but perhaps just a warning that if you think that something isn't 'quite right' or the problem seems more long term, that it may be something slightly different.

[Sayreovi]

Thanks for that Espinay, i might book him in for Monday for a general checkup just to make sure and he is due for one anyway

[Staff'n'Toller]

I read somewhere that dead tail is fairly a common/normal occurance, and happens mostly with working gundogs that are swimming alot.

I haven't seen it....but are you on the Toller list? Why not post it on there...there are a few general lab/retriever owners on there as well I believe.

Mel.

[Lablover]

Thanks Lablover i was hoping you would reply

Can you tell me anything more about it please?

Thanks Natasha

http://www.thelabradorclub.com/library/coldwatertail.html

Natasha,

Here is one of the links. I can tell within a couple of hours if one of my labs has suffered the condition.

The degrees of pain and physical angle of the tail differs one time to another.

As mentioned dry the dogs as much as possible. A car chammy (sp) is very useful with multiple dogs.

Remember to walk/or run the dogs (I place long blinds on land) to help dry the dogs off or at the very least peg them out in the sun is possible.

[Sayreovi]

Hi

Thanks for that Lablover, he went to the vets last night for the checkup and she said its not his back (thank god) just his tail, i mentioned the swimmers tail thingy and she said its possible as his tail about the length of a closed fist outwards from the base is very very sore and he doesnt like anyone touching it. Its not broken or anything but if anything like this happens again where the back end cant work properly he is going to get xrays to find out what damage he really did to his back awhile ago. Im just hoping its not serious and really is swimmers tail, he is not on any drugs as the vet said as she isnt 100% sure whats up with it best to leave it for a few days and see what happens.

StaffordsRule: Yeah im a member there but everytime i post it never seems to work or i never get an answer either one thought i would get a better response here.

Thanks Natasha

[Lablover]

No worries Nat.

Next time one of my labs suffers from cold water tail I will post a photo.

I can tell by the angle how long the recovery period will be. Also by the pain features displayed during the first night. It helps having an ailing dog sleeping with you, LOL. Their discomfort level is interesting. Only I would find that so, LOL.

[Flat Black]

Whilst my dogs swim all the time (including 4.30 this afternoon, in winter!! Just HAD to chase that pelican ) I have never seen this happen to them.

But I saw it in my Flat Coat's mother once. The breeder said that it was because she went to sleep with a wet tail and it would fix itself in a few days.

Thanks for posting, because now I'm off to make sure that Heathcliff's tail is dry!

[sidoney]

We got it two days before a major show. Or was that one day? Straight to the vet (good vet, Karen Hedberg, many members here know her) and got some anti inflammatories. The anti inflams can help prevent damage of the spinal cord due to swelling - there is not much room inside there. The tail is not protected by muscle in the way that the spine is.

It did clear up in time for the show, BTW, not perfect but good enough.

After talking to my vet about it, I would prefer to use anti inflammatories in cases of swimmers tail, to prevent possible nerve damage.

[pebbles]

OK, now please, no-one chop off my head!!! This is not meant to be a debate, just a thought I had reading this thread - I hadn't heard of this before - Could this maybe one reason why some gundogs had docked tails? Perhaps those breeds were more prone to this? Wouldn't apply to a lot of other breeds but I assume there was always, well, generally, a reason for docking.

[Sayreovi]

True it could be a reason, but if it mostly happens in Retrievers and i cant think of any Retrievers that were docked in the first place then dont know

[MissMonaro]

It happened in one of my bitches last year......."cold tail" I was told.

It was the day before a show. We had washed her and I think that was what caused the problem...a chill got into it. Can't quite remember now.

I noticed that afternoon....the tail just hung there. Well she tried to wag it....it went out then 1/2 way along it just hung limp.

I freaked at first thinking it was broken - because thats the only explanation for the way it just hung there.

We went of to the show (daughters first go at junior handlers) - but their was no happy waggy tail to be shown.

But I was told my others there that it was "cold tail" and that it should be right in a few days (but to keep an eye on it of course).

I was told it was quite common in retrievers that are partial to swimming and water activities.......but have to admit first time any of my labs have ever had it and they are always in their wading pool.

[persephone]

Was looking for more info on this because of Smithy's post.

I have never heard of it until now :D

weird....

have been around working labs etc on a fairly regular basis for many years, and have not seen it...

life is for learning

[Allerzeit]

Funny how it works, isn't it, persephone?

We have two pups (well - 14 months old) from our last litter. Our first Rottweilers with tails, and both have had cold tail.

They both got saturated one day during winter (apparently playing in the freezing rain was more fun than staying in their dry shed and kennel), and both had no tail movement for the three days after being soaked.

Go figure - other people have tailed breeds and never see it - we get it with our first tailed Rottys!