Other than emotional disturbance, what are some reasons a normally curly dog tail would remain straight?
This might sound like a flippant question, but I assure you it’s seriously freaking me out. My dog Molly is a Lab/Chow-Chow mix, and her tail is always curled. Yes, I have seen her tuck it between her legs as a frightened little puppy, but she is not in any sort of comparable situation at the moment. She’s at home with me and her dad and our roommate, and having a great time. Relaxed, happy, playing, totally normal dog in every other way. She’s even wagging it when given attention and treats, but it still won’t curl up like normal. And she seems slightly uncomfortable when sitting – she’s doing this little shuffle as she gets up.
She’s five and spayed, and in perfect health. She takes Heartguard and Frontline.
This happened in the last hour. She just went outside before that, and had plenty of time to do her business. I squeezed gently along her tail’s length to see if she yelped when I touched a certain part, but no dice. Could it be a break or a fracture even though she didn’t react to my touch? Or an anal gland or intestinal issue?
She couldn’t be messing with me more if she tried. Blood and UTIs and most anything I can deal with, but this is so weird. As you can see, I’m really worried. I’ve already resolved to take her to the vet in the morning if nothing changes. Can you guys offer any knowledge or advice about this sort of thing?
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10 Answers
Take her to a vet, she may have sustained some injury involving damage to nerves near the base of her spine.
P.S. She will probably be fine even if her tail is changed for good.
Yeah, take her to a vet. My dog had a curled tail until he got old and in a lot of pain. Maybe she’s hurting somewhere you haven’t found yet.
We had a pug and his tail went straight when he was sick,tired or was depressed for whatever reason.
I hope she is ok!!!!
I’m going to wager a guess at impacted anal gland. It is extreeermely uncomfortable for most dogs and even cats.
I had one cat who was chewing at the base of her tail and I feared ringworm or something. But when I brought her in to the vet, yup…anal glands.
But obviously you’re taking her to the vet asap so let us know what the dx turns out to be. I’m hoping it’s something simple like that.
Maybe she just discovered that she was born a pointer dog in a chow dogs disguise. did she point to anything interesting?
I just checked out the photo you linked to and also perused a few of the rest.
I’m assuming Molly is the black dog. Beautiful pic btw.
Now, I’m not trying to be flip or something, but I noticed something about the pic of the other (brown) dog. Are you aware that at first glance, the photo where she is looking straight up at you, gives the same appearance as that of a mounted taxidermied animal head like a bear or deer?
As a matter of fact, if it were cropped to remove the person’s foot in the lower left, that’s exactly what it looks like. Or, at least like a dog that has it’s head stuck through a wall for some strange reason.
It was so disorienting to look at until I noticed the foot. That helped out the total perspective quite a bit.
Or maybe my eyes are just weird tonight :)
@Buttonstc It totally does! What a weird/cool picture.
I did some more Googling before going to the vet yesterday, and found information on a condition common to labs called limber tail syndrome – aka broken wag, sad tail, and a bunch of other pathetically cute terms. These are exactly her symptoms – thanks, internet! It even makes sense because she had a bath just before this happened, and it’s easy to miss spots of moisture trapped in her fur. I guess we’ll have to pay particular attention to drying her butt from now on. I’m giving her some baby Aspirin to help the inflammation, and she’s already got it half-curled back up again. Hooray!
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