Modified from an article in the September 1996 issue of the American Canine Sports Medicine Association Newsletter, volume 2, issue 3. This information has also been published in Field Trial Magazine, volume 1, no.1, pp. 12-13, 1997.
“Limber tail” syndrome is a condition known to people who work with hunting dogs, but most veterinarians are not familiar with this disease. We first became aware of limber tail from trainers of English Pointers, but other working breeds such as English Setters, Foxhounds, and Beagles can be affected. In Labrador Retrievers, “cold water tail” refers to a similar clinical condition.
The typical case consists of a young adult dog which acutely develops a flaccid tail. The tail either hangs down from the tail base, or is held horizontally for 3 or 4 inches and then drops down. With this low tail set, the dog is eliminated from competition. Palpation around the base of the tail may elicit a pain response. Owners of Labrador Retrievers have remarked that their dogs seem very uncomfortable and appear to be in pain during the acute stages. Treatment consists of rest, and dogs recover spontaneously. Complete recovery occurs within 2 weeks, often within a few days. About one third of dogs experience a recurrence later in training. Various ages of dogs can be affected, with ages ranging from 6 months to 9 years. Most frequent age of onset in Pointers is 2 years.
The cause of limber tail is not known. There may be more than one cause. Owners and trainers of Pointers report that most cases are associated with a hard workout the previous day (especially in unconditioned dogs), or cold, wet weather the previous night, or cage transport. A few people said they used grabbing of the tail as a method of correction during training, but none thought that this type of handling caused limber tail. In Labrador Retrievers, cases of limber tail are also frequently associated with heavy hunting, as well as swimming or bathing with water that is too cold or too warm. Other factors such as tail conformation (high tailed or very active tail), sex predisposition (more frequent in males), and inadequate nutrition have also been suggested.
Recently, we saw an “outbreak” of this condition in a very well-managed kennel in Alabama, with 10 out of a total of 120 adult English Pointers being affected one summer morning. In that situation, it had rained the previous day, from early morning to mid-afternoon; the dogs had remained confined in houses or runs most of the day. But cold temperatures did not appear to be a factor in that situation since the ambient temperature had not dropped below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Underconditioning or overtraining appears to be involved in many cases where the dog shows signs of limber tail the following morning. A survey we conducted indicated that affected dogs could be engaged in a variety of activities, including hunting, roading, running or free exercise. Some affected dogs had worked for as short a time as 30 minutes whereas a few had been working for as long as 6 hours.
Without knowing the cause(s), it is obviously difficult to prescribe treatment. From what we know at this point, antibiotics, vitamin supplements and expression of the anal sacs do not seem warranted. However, numerous experienced owners and trainers feel that the recovery time is shortened if anti-inflammatory drugs are administered as soon as the condition is noted.
Because of this relatively benign course, most trainers who are familiar with limber tail do not present an affected dog to a veterinarian. However, in cases where neither the trainer nor the veterinarian is familiar with the condition, the diagnosis can be puzzling. More serious conditions such as a fracture or even spinal cord disease might mistakenly be considered.
Based on our studies in progress, it appears that limber tail is associated with damage to the tail muscles. The dogs that we have examined early in the course of the disease have shown elevations in serum creatine phosphokinase, a muscle enzyme. There are certain similarities between this condition and “delayed onset muscle soreness” in humans.