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My dog has a case of the limp tail or coldwater tail but yet she hasnt been introduced to any real cold water. Im almost 80 to 90% convinced thats what she has because my buddys dog had the same problem last year. Is it safe to train with her in this condition? I trained with her yesterday but kept it all on land. The only time she seems bothered by it is when she trys to sit. What exactly causes the tail to go limp? The only reason im not fully convinced that its limp tail or coldwater tail is because she hasnt really been in any cold water however she was out in the semi cold rain the other day...How can i prevent this from happening again with the cold winter and duck season to come? Thanks

Anal gland may be swolen.

digger wrote:Anal gland may be swolen.

WOOOOO have fun with that! FOUL, RANK, PUTRID - the stuff that comes out is BAD raunchy! We've got 3 cockers that are bad about that. We finally learned to express them ourselves (with rubber gloves on) much to Dr. Reggie's relief. We were taking them once every 3 or 4 weeks, but finally learned it to save $10 a pup each time ($ I KNOW Reggie doesn't mind losing - he tried to get us to learn for a long time).

My dog gets Coldwater tail at least once a year when I am working her hard. Doesn't have to be cold water, seems just like working her hard and then putting her in her kennel seems to do it. Other than looking funny it doesn't even slow mine down, in fact someitmes I wish it would!

it can be caused by fatigue as well, give Fido a break for a day or 2 and it should go away.

Mine gets it at least once a year, lasts for a day or two and he is back to normal. Acts like he has a pulled muscle which is what it might be.

Here is a web site that give a description and causes. Can come from dog dog being out working and over using his tail. Mine get it sometime when we take them out when we ride the horses and they run in the woods and pastures smelling and wagging thier tails for hours. The next day it will be limp and they will act like it hurts them to sit down. I have given asprin to help relieve the pain but it will usually go away after a couple of days rest.

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/limbertail-update704.html

The previous posts are correct. It doesn't have to come from exposure to cold water. My male lab has gotten it from over work (fatigue) along with his tail waggin too much for too long while getting birdy on upland. You can give a buffered aspirin, but rest is most important.

Good luck...

Mike

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/limbertail-update704.html

Or a more heady explanation

http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/uploads/im ... _Paper.pdf


At any rate 'cold water tail' has absolutely nothing to do with cold or water. It is simply overuse, and some other research I have read suggested there was a protein enzyme deficiency that caused the muscular swelling. A note to the reader here... this same research also suggested there was a link between this deficiency and the "lock up" some working dogs experience where their lower extremeties shut down. Some of the fellas on this board that train for a living have seen this - Where a dog becomes imobile from the front shoulders back, but still attempts a retrieve by dragging itself from front shoulders.

Tally has a real problem with his tail, at the first sign of swelling we start cooling down and then rest. If you push it too hard you will see that tail hang for days. By shutting it down early, it is usually gone within hours... this was learned the hard way.

yea the tails back up and wagging again...took yalls advice and gave her two days of rest.

them damn anal glands SUCK!! Maggie used to get them stopped up from being so over weight and I learned how to do it and YES IT IS PUGHTRID(SP)!!!