Looking for some thoughts from you on what could be causing this...we are seeing our vet this afternoon but just wondering if any of you could suggest anything.

I have a large breed dog renowned for carrying their tail up over their back, not stapped or in a tight curl but kind of up and over.  My bitch is 5 years old and due in season any time but since yesterday morning her tail has been hanging down limp.  She is not 'holding' her tail down, as bitches can do when at rest or around season time (or more annoyingly in the show ring!), but her tail is just hanging, limp.  We've tried getting her excited with the usual treats and when 'daddy' comes home etc but nothing makes her hold it up.

When she squats to wee or poo it barely moves out of the way and she almost wees all over it.  It moves upwards at the base slightly but then it just hangs and rests on the floor.

When she walks it just sways from side to side and bangs off her hocks...it's almost like it's broken.

She hasn't (to our knowledge) injured it in any way, it doesn't seem to hurt although she did seem a little uncomfortable when I placed it gently up over her back.  Feeling the tail I can't feel any bumps or kinks or anything untoward.

I'm really worried. :-(
Thanks for listening.

Sounds like Labrador Tail or Water Tail to me. A quick Google reveals plenty of names for the same condition:
http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/coldtail.html

Thanks Marianne.  Sounds similar.  Seems to be mainly gundog breeds that sufffer from it.  She's not a gundog breed but a large working breed. 

Does anyone have any experience of it?  Is it a temporary thing, permanent or does it keep reccuring once it has started?

My setter suffered from it after a fabulous walk one day ... it is definitely temporary and can be painful - took him about a month I think to be totally comfortable and it back to its usual wagging self.

Since having it he has not suffered from it again so far.  This was over two years ago.

this can occur if the dog has been in cold water happened to my friends dog ..as they swim a lot....also a gundog breed.

I think the usual treatment is metacam for any discomfort but it usually returns to normal within a week or so.

Thanks for the info.  Something to test my vet with later!

Can't understand how she's got this - if this is what it is.  She does like the occasional swim but hasn't been swimming very recently.  I did bath her at the weekend - saturday I think (all 4 days of the bank hols weekends have merged into one!).  But she was fine for a couple of days after that.  And she's not 'the usual' breed for it.  I can't find any mention anywhere of anything other than gundog / hound breeds.

Ah well...you learn something new every day...thanks again.  I am slightly less worried now.

My setter hadn't been swimming just for your information.  It was a very long walk that seemed to bring it on.   He will paddle but has never actually swum! :)

had this once in one of my rotties, never been swimming. Came on suddenly and corrected itself in approx 7-10 days. She seemed fine in herself the whole time. Very odd.

I had an interesting chat with a small hound owner this weekend at a show. She said that this had happened to them on several occasions following a bath, on some occasions it had taken weeks to get back to normal; she demonstrated how the bitch's tail was and said there had been improvement, they had given anti inflamatories before bathing as prescribed by their vet; she also said that she had been told to put aloe juice on the food.

I skim read other breed notes ( amazing what you pick up) and wet tail has been covered a fair amount recently, if I remember correctly in pointers and rots. It appears there is a train of thought that suggests this is common in previously docked breeds but I don't know if this is factual.
Good Luck

Both my labrador and one of my Mali's has had a 'hanging' tail, both caused by swimming though I believe and the both returned to normal after a couple of days