We just returned from a camping trip up in the mountains, scored a lovely, remote site on a little island that required us to ford a shallow river; as it was what's referred to in the States as 'dispersed' camping, there were no amenities and everything (fire pit, seating, cooking area, tent site) had to be set up by us. Since we were right on the water I'm sure everyone can guess the first place Teller went. It was late afternoon and the water was quite cold, probably around 2-5 C considering there was a bit of lingering ice in shady places; air temperature was cool at 8 C. He was shivering a bit when he emerged a few seconds later so I put his neoprene vest on and let him continue to play albeit w with breaks and closely supervised. Afterwards I made sure to remove his vest and towel him off well. Once the sun set and the temperature started approaching freezing I figured he would stay by the fire. Wrong! Despite our being on a small, wooded island Teller refused to do his business and instead swam across the deepest part of the river (2.5 ft) to potty on the bank; he did this maybe twice more before bed and every time I toweled him off and put him beside the fire to warm up. No shivering, no visible discomfort. In fact he seemed to be having a grand time curled up cozily by the fire on my foam sleeping pad, licking the remnants of dinner off our plates, petitioning everyone for belly rubs, and trying to sneak sips of beer and mulled cider, all with a normal, happy wagging tail. All good, I thought, even as rocks froze to my wet socks on contact and my toes took 10 minutes roasting over the fire to regain feeling. We went to sleep without problems; he curled right up on his travel bed between my friend's sleeping pad and mine, I covered him with the down throw I had brought along and all was well. If anything he was a tad restless during the night but I didn't think much of it since we were all sort of clumped together and he usually changes position during the night. My friend was the first out of his sleeping bag come morning and volunteered to walk T. I emerged from the tent shortly thereafter to join them and my friend asked me if Teller normally puts his tail between his legs on walks. I was puzzled by the question, never have I ever seen that dog tuck his tail except when he has the zoomies and is running at full speed round the living room. I took one look at that sad, limp-noodle and immediately knew my boy had been struck by limber tail. I've only ever read about the condition but knew enough to put two and two together. This wasn't his first time in water too cold for most people, the river he regularly swims is 7-10 C year round with temps dipping to 5 C after prolonged cold spells. He didn't exercise too hard nor is he out of shape. Perhaps it was exacerbated by the 2 hour car ride wherein he was cramped in the backseat with my friend? I've read that being crated or confined for trips can be a contributing factor. Thankfully he does not appear terribly uncomfortable. I know dogs are stoic when it comes to pain but he sat down with no issue and wasn't acting strangely. When we got home he felt well enough to roll around on his back and try to play with the cat, all while his tail just hung there! I gave him some aspirin in the evening as suggested by the vet and plan to bring him in on Monday if there are any changes. I've been making sure he rests on plush, comfortable surfaces and has plenty of room to spread out with nothing touching his rear. I just feel like such a bad owner for putting my baby in harm's way. Anyone else have similar experiences?
@Karen - I know! I feel terrible for him but luckily we were only camping for the night so we didn't need to rush home. I hope he gets better soon, it's so sad seeing his tail hanging listlessly. I might try a warm compress later to see if that helps at all.
Alfie had this a few weeks ago after swimming in the sea (I live on the south coast of England so not really that cold) and it was heartbreaking. He found it really hard to get comfortable and was very restless. I had some painkillers which I gave him and only took him on short walks on the lead for a few days and after about a week he was back to normal. It was the strangest thing to see a Labrador with a tail that was still instead of bouncing around all over the place. I’ve read that all sorts of things can cause this. I’m sure he’ll be back to normal soon and no doubt would think that all that fun was totally worth it! x
Harley has had this 3 times. The first time it was cold and a bit icy but she didn't go in the water or do anything out of the ordinary. I had walked her in my extended lunch break and went back to work for 3 hours. When I got home she stayed led on the floor and I panicked because usually she greets me at the door tail wagging. We went to the vets as she was struggling to walk or sit. It took 9 days of rest and very short lead walks only for her to recover. The second time was after her swimming quite a bit, but it was a warm day so not sure how or why. The third time was after getting lost in some woods for over 4 hours with no phone signal and it was pouring with rain. TLC and warmth should help along with an anti inflammatory - our vet gave us metacam which really helped. Hope Teller's tail heals quickly.
Yes, and it was quite warm out for us. Oban was diving off a high bank to retrieve in a pond. He was quite uncomfortable. They are stoic, as you say, yet he was whimpering that night. I gave one aspirin too, as per Vet's ok. Oban was ok in three days. I've read that really bad cases can require tail amputation if swelling cuts off circulation to it. That must be a pretty unobservant owner or an extremely stoic dog, to get that bad. Hope Teller is fine very soon.
He will probably get over it pretty quickly. If he is not complaining, I would not worry too much about it. If he is uncomfortable I would check with the vet about a Doggie NSAID.
Our previous lab got it. She was not in cold water. She just got overly excited about being in the water and was jumping around and splashing a lot. I don't think for her it was the temperature as much as the excitement and exertion. We didn't know about it then, hand never heard of it, so took her to the vet thinking her tail was broken. X-rays, blood tests, and all that. Big waste of money learning there's nothing they can do and it would have just gone away within a few days anyway. At least you know what it was!
Thanks all! You really made me feel better. I was feeling like the worst dog mom in the world for a moment there, I hate to see his drooping tail. Though he wasn't in obvious pain or having trouble sitting/getting comfortable the aspirin seemed to help him sleep a bit. Yesterday whilst peeing in the yard (he's a squatter for whatever reason) he held it straight out but I'm not sure if that's just the way it goes when they pee? After he finished it went back to uselessly dangling however it seemed to swish a bit when he walked. This morning he held it straight out again when he peed and kept it like that for a good 10 seconds before letting it drop. Hopefully within the next couple of days he'll return to being a wiggle butt.
