Hi everyone, My friend has a beagle who has had a problem with her tail. The tail does not appear to have been sore to the touch, but was sore when the dog moved. Her tail hung limply downwards. Over the course of a few days it improved and is now better again.
I seem to recall a condition in a couple of breeds,known as dead tail, which showed the same kind of symptoms.
Does anyone know which breeds tend to suffer from this, what causes it, and what the technical name is for this condition. My friends vet had never heard of it. Thank you.

we have had it with our flatcoat an we know other people who have had it with labs and goldens (as well as seeing several dogs which look like they are suffering from it)
at the time we had never heard off/had it so we took her to the vet and he did not know what it was - just thought that she must have been stung by a bee or somthing even though there were no signs of that, next time at training it mentioned it to our friends there and they just said oh yes wet tail/damp tail/dead tail (sme sort of thing) - which they said came from where the dog is sleeps/unactive with a wet tail which dosnt get time to dry out quickly - this tied in exactly with what we had done given jess a bath and then sent her to bed with only a towl drying and quick blast of the hair dryer althougn not enough to throuly dry her out - ever since the dogs are only bathed in the morning/afternoon giving plenty of time to dry out of if it has to be done late through other reasons we ensure that the tail/back end is thoughraly dry.

Hi Phillippa!
It's fairly common in gundogs, though I haven't heard of it in any other breed, so this is a new one. Many vets have never heard of it; my Chris wrote an article in the Vet Record some time back, and I think it was quite an education for some of them.
It's called many names, mostly 'frozen' or 'limber' tail. Usually comes on after a cold swim, but can occur when another dog treads on the tail or something similar, so we reckon it is along the lines of a trapped nerve; maybe the tail equivalent of a whiplash injury.
No treatment is necessary as the condition usually goes right all by itself in about 3 days, but occasionally it can take longer. I know some vets have given steroid injections but I think they are of dubious effectivity (is that a word?).
Once the dog has had the condition, it does seem to be more prone to recur, which is bad luck if you're showing, and bad luck for the dog, as it can be quite painful.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hi Phillipa
I have had it in my hounds too. It seems to sort its self out after 3 or 4 days, as the others have said. Its definitely not just a gundog thing though!
I have certainly noticed it after a swim in the lake so the wet connection rings true. Also seen it after a very hard days hunting, in mud, rain etc. I am sure its nothing to worry about, as long as it doesn't happen the day before a show.....its not good for stern carriage!!

I've heard of it happening after bathing in preparation for a show. Possibly not dried off properly

Regards, John

Hello again, thank you all very much for your helpful and quick replies. I shall pass the information on to my friend. Thanks again. bye

I've only just joined the forum but nobody has mentioned that a serious problem with the spine can cause tail paralysis.
Hope your dog is ok now.

We call it Lamb's tail as it can only wiggle at the end like a lamb moves it's tail. Had it a lot with our first lab and Flattie but, touch wood, haven't had it for a while. We found it most likely to occur aftera days shooting if the dogs were picking up and doing a lot of water retrieves in the cold.
As others have said it gets better after a few days and back to full wagging.

This post is nearly 11 years old!!

I never looked at the dates!"!!

> nobody has mentioned that a serious problem with the spine can cause tail paralysis.
>

I think we are referring to the temporary dead tail, not a permanent issue.  The common denominator does appear to be the dogs tail getting wet/cold.