Sat was a good opener and a first hunt for my 13 month old lab. He is in good shape and swims regular but he went out on over 20 retrieves, chased down quite a few cripples and did a whole lot of swimming in the process. When we got home he curled up and slept. When he got up that afternoon it looked like his tail was broken because it was limp and painful. He wouldn't do anything and it obviously was hurting him badly. After researching it it appears to be classic limp tail symptoms. He stayed home this morning instead of hunting and is on anti inflammitory meds. Has anyone else had an experience with limp or limber tail and if so how long until the dog recovered to huntable condition?

Just be careful when it looks like symptoms are gone, give it more time, very easy to re-agitate it.

Yep, My Dog Abby(rest her sole) would get that a lot. Then my 11 month old who ran a lot yesterday had it. I would give it a good week. It will hurt them to the touch. Kind of like a pulled muscle. Takes several days or even a week to overcome. You'll know, Your dog will be able to lifter her tail all the way up. I've heard some would give 1 ibuprofen to ease the swelling and discomfort.

Also called cold tail. My dog got it on a morning where we broke ice and killed a few but nothing crazy. She hasn't had it since but she was down 10-14 days. It started acting fine in about 4-5 days but I wanted to make sure not to reinjure.

Yep- my golden has gotten it twice. Both times after relatively easy hunts, but in situations where he was shoved in the crate and transported for a few hours afterwards. Some vets theorize that confinement after activity in cold water can help to cause it.

My chocolate male lab would get it. Lasted a few days and then seemed normal, he also would wag his tail so hard I thought the dang thing would fall off.

My lab has gotten it a few times, always in the summer after a ton of swimming. He never seems to be in pain, just exhausted. His tail is back to normal the next day, two at the most. We make sure to rest him when it happens for a few days, though.

That is what I think too. One of our dogs got it on a snow goose hunt in Missouri where we hunted all day in 20-30 degree weather. He only picked up like 20 geese but was stuck in a dog hide all day and had limber tail afterwards. We didn't stop hunting him because of it though because he still wanted to go. Just looked like his normal self but with a broken tail

Thanks for all the replies. It sounds like it's more common than I thought. He is already back to nearly normal today. He is acting normal but his tail is still a little limp. It's crazy how fast dogs can heal.

My older gal has had it once. Give it a couple of days.

I have had two dogs that got it after swimming in cold water. They are very lathargic for a couple of days as if they have the flu. They are usually acting normal again after the second day of rest, but thier tail does not straighten out until the 5th or 6th day.
It is very common so don't worry.

I would not advise ibuprofen. It has a very small safety window in dogs and can cause GI ulcers and other issues. Just let him rest and he'll be good to go in no time

Always aspirin and never ibuprofen.