Hi all I have done a few days shooting now with my 18 month old lab bitch. A couple of times now she has developed limber tail a few hours after we get home, does anyone have any advice on how to prevent this? Thank you More information on the condition can be found here: http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/pet-adv...thy-in-dogs-limber-tail-or-swimmers-tail.html
Re: Limber tail in gundogs I have been through this last week with Harley (16 months old). The vet said it can be down to the getting too cold or not used to so much exertion/exercise in one go, or been in the water/rain and got too cold. I have brought a big towel robe for Harley so as soon as we are in the car it will go on and keep her warm - it is long so covers her rear and tail. We rub her back legs and tail to make sure they are nice and warm/dry Hope this helps a bit
Re: Limber tail in gundogs Hi there, We have only had it once,I live in the Middle East and Dex was swimming in warm water so it was over exertion for him for sure.its really very painful for them so some painkillers from the vet are essential I would say......it is completely gone in about 5 days. Friends in the UK said to always make sure you dry them off as much as possible especially round the base of the tail and keep them warm when they have been wet on a cold day.
Re: Limber tail in gundogs My Penny has had this a few times from over exertion or swimming in cold water. As far as I'm aware there's not a huge amount that can be done to prevent it from happening, but causes can be things like being underconditioned as I've read a lot of dogs get it at the start of the hunting season - so making sure she's in tip top shape all year round. And as Julie said above - makin she she's want and dry as soon as possible after exercise might help. Other than that I just keep some metacam on hand to relieve the pain and wait for her to get better. Unfortunately if they've had it once, they'll likely get it repeatedly - Penny's had it three or four times now, the first was by far the worst and took a week to resolve itself. I had to tell the vet what was wrong with her as they had no idea what it was!
