Labs limp tail

[JPowell]

I know i have read abou this before but i just have to ask again. I was out for the duck opener with the dog. he was working pretty good and swimming alot and now this morning he has a limp tail. i remember reading about his and how it is a type of sprain if i rememeber right. My question is if there is anything that i can do or does it just take him a little bit to get it back on track. my other question is if i should hold him back from the pheasent opener next weekend. what do you guys think.

[walleyewild]

Seabass,

My lab has the same thing, you can give your dog an asprin,( what it said on-line) and it takes anywhere from a couple of days to 3 weeks for it to heal.

This is my first time having this trouble so I am not sure how long it'll take to heal. She is 17 months old and her tail is a big part of her personality.

My last lab I had to amputate the last 8 or so inches of her tail because she cut it and it wouldn't heal.

So I'll take this over the amputation any day.

WW

[AngelicFatum]

Mine too. I think just some low dose coated aspirin and a few days rest and he should be fine, mine is already doing better after two days.

[redhooks]

Yep- my bro-in-law calls it "lab tail". It's from swimming while wagging in cold water-happens to mine a couple times a year and takes a while to bounce back but not a big deal.

redhooks

[Neighbor_guy]

Mine got it this spring after swimming in the river. I was told it was simmilar to a dislocation. It did swell and she whined when it was touched, so it had to hurt. Baby asprin for me.

[JPowell]

He has been doing fine. Just kind of different not seeing that tail that always wags. If it is not better before this weekend i guess he will have to sit this opener out for now...plenty of season i guess. He has been sitting on it and it doesn't seem to bother him that much but i will look into the asprin.

[elbinowalleye]

Its called rudder tail and with rest your dog will be back to normal in a few days. My lab gets it every year and with about 3 to 4 days of rest he's back to normal knocking stuff over with his tail.

Good luck with the hunt!

[SSSTaxidermy]

So what prevents this? Having your pooch get plenty of swimming in during the summer?

[Kodiak]

i dont think you can prevent it, it is just overuse and the tail gets fatigued.

[verg]

My old vet always called it "Pump Handles Tail" like a pump handle on an old well. My old dog's tail would look just like it. He said it was a sprain basically cuz the tail muscles were out of shape. Weren't used to working so hard. Seemed like he'd get it early in year then never again as I suppose it got in shape.

[JPowell]

My Yellow was doing alot of swimming on opener so i kinda figured that was the case. I saw him at lunch today and it is already looking better.

[JPowell]

Happy to report that his tail is back to wagging shape. doesn't effect him anymore and looking forward to the Opener this weekend.