A Tale Of A Tail

Does Noah look sad? He is.


This is how Noah should look. His tail curls over his back. In this breed we sometimes experience what is called 'swimmer's tail'. It's a tail sprain that often occurs after swimming. Several of my girls suffered swimmer's tail last summer after their trips to the lake. They use their tails as rudders and sometimes they overdo it. A couple days on a pain killer such as Rimadyl and the tail is flying again.

Last Friday I noticed that Noah's tail was drooping. I started him on Rimadyl even though he hadn't been swimming and expected that by Sunday or Monday at the latest, he'd be back to normal. Monday his tail was still drooping.


Today we paid an early morning visit to Dr B to see if Noah had a broken tail. The good news is it isn't fractured. The bad news is that it isn't working. There is some pain and we heard a popping noise when Dr B was examining it.


It's very possible that one of his sisters bit him on the tail. When they're racing, the girls will sometimes grab whoever is in the lead by the tail to slow them down. If one of them bit Noah and the tooth broke the skin between the joints, he could have an infection. It could be just a bad sprain.

Whatever it is, Noah is now on stronger doses of Rimadyl and some antibiotics. We'll also be applying moist heat to his tail for a while in the evenings. Dr B said not to expect his tail to be flying for up to six weeks as the joints need time to heal. We'll let you know when Noah is wagging again.