Injured tail???

[L.M.]

As of last night and this morning, our goldendoodle will not curl up his tail.  He was playing with other dogs yesterday and it's possible something happened during his play, but he will not curl it.  I moved it to curl it and he cried a bit and tried to nip at me.  Is it possible it is broken?  Any ideas as to how long I should give it before taking him to the vet?  He is not visibly in pain, but did cry a bit when I curled it.  Any way I can tell myself if it is broken?  

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Personally I would start with a phone call to my vet 1st thing this morning. They are very good about letting me know if I need to come in or if it is something that I can do on my own.

[Yvonne N]

Call the vet ASAP...If it is injured it could effect him in other areas. Had a cat once that had to have her tail amputated or lose her life. Please call the vet.

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

Sounds like limber tail! You need to go to the vet. It can be very painful for dogs - happened to my friend's lab.

Here is some info:

http://www.siriusdog.com/limber-tail-syndrome.htm

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

That was just what I was going to suggest. Baxter, our beagle, had limber tail a few years ago. He was in a good bit of pain. I would definitely take him to the vet as quick as you can.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with the others. You should call your vet immediately. Good luck!

[L.M.]

Well we came home from work today and Seamus was wagging his tail and even curled it for a bit. He doesn't leave it curled for very long, but he still did it several times. I did speak to a vet tech when we called and she said to give it another day since he did curl it this afternoon. If it's not curling again by tomorrow afternoon we will take him in. It just seems to be one spot on it that is sensitive to the touch. Thanks so much everyone for your advice! I researched limber tail and it seems like this could be it....he was swimming yesterday and that seems to be a trigger. Has anyone else experienced limber tail? Is it an ongoing thing that needs to be treated constantly or is it like a pulled muscle that heals with rest?

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

My friend's dog got it after having a bath and shaking vigorously. My understanding is that it is often caused by swimming, and I have even heard it called rudder tail because dogs use their tails for balance and steering in the water and this can trigger it. I believe it is like a sprained or strained muscle type of injury and will heal completely. I know my friend's dog has never had it happen again. But boy, was she in PAIN when she had it. Sounds like maybe Seamus either has a high pain tolerance or it wasn't as bad as my friend's dog. My friend's dog had to have some medicine just to relax and sleep. Hope Seamus continues to improve and is back to a wagging curled tail soon!!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If it's similar to delayed onset muscle soreness, as described in the article, it isn't an injury like a pull, sprain or strain so much as a "weekend warrior" kind of thing. Overuse of a muscle that hasn't previously been conditioned to do that much work. In the case of delayed onset muscle soreness, the soreness is temporary and mainly caused by the muscle remaining in a slightly shortened or contracted position. For people, we gently stretch the muscles back to their normal length and give them some time to recover. Then if the person continues to do the activity that caused the soreness, the muscles eventually adapt themselves to handle the workload. (And that's the principle of muscle hypertrophy, or bodybuilding). If the person doesn't do that activity again for a year, the same soreness will occur. So if this is the same thing, the more Seamus swims, the more his tail muscles will adapt and the less likely it is that he'll become sore again.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Poor Baxter would scream in pain if you tried to move his tail. Our vet gave him meds to numb the pain and help him sleep. This happened in the spring of 2004 and he has not had a reoccurrence but he hasn't lifted his tail as high as he use to. Our vet said dogs that spend too much time in a crate can develop Limber Tail; though Baxter never spent anytime in a crate

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Thank you all for another educational lesson! I have taken the girls to the beach the past 2 weekends, I expected them to be exhausted and sore but never thought about the tail muscles. It hasn't happened to them yet but you never know. At least I will understand what it probably is.
I will be sharing this information to our doggie friends on the beach.

[L.M.]

Thanks so much for everyone's responses! I learned a lot and am very happy to report that Seamus' tail is a perfect curl today lol. Hopefully he starts to build up his strength in it because he is starting to love to swim...especially since it's already 90 degrees here in NJ. =)