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Limber Tail Syndrome in Hunting Dogs
by Janet E. Steiss DVM PhD
Copyright June, 1995 - 2008


Modified from an article by Janet E. Steiss, DVM, PhD, and J.C. Wright, DVM, PhD, in the Winter 1995 issue of the Sports Medicine Program Newsletter.

"Limber tail" syndrome is a condition familiar to people working with hunting dogs. Typically, young adult Pointers temporarily lose control of their tail to the extent that they have a lower than normal tail set, thereby eliminating the dog from competition. Just as there are multiple causes of lameness in a limb, there probably is more than one cause of tail dysfunction. However, it does appear that "limber tail" often is associated either with a hard workout the previous day, or cold, wet weather the previous night, or cage transport.

To our knowledge, the condition has never been studied. As part of a project aimed at determining the cause(s) of limber tail, we conducted mail and telephone surveys. This article summarizes the answers we received from those who responded to our surveys.

Mail Survey:Questionnaires were mailed to 418 owners and trainers of hunting dogs, primarily in the Southeastern United States; 111 replies (27%) were received. Almost all people who replied (90%) had owned or trained hunting dogs for 10 years or more. The owner/trainer respondents had a total of 3,066 dogs in their kennels, and 76% of those were being used for hunting. About half of the dogs were being hunted once per week, and half were hunted more often. The five most common breeds (NB this does not refer to the dogs which were affected with limber tail) among respondents to the survey were English Pointer, English Setter, Brittany Spaniel, Labrador Retriever and German Short Haired Pointer.

Concerning "limber tail", 78% of those who replied were familiar with the condition. Of people reporting a problem with limber tail in their kennels, 66% indicated that the frequency was staying the same; 26% thought that the frequency of limber tail was decreasing, and 8% described the frequency as increasing.

Telephone Survey:Follow-up telephone conversations were conducted to obtain detailed information on 83 dogs which had experienced limber tail within the last few years. Five breeds were involved: English Pointers (82%), English Setters (10%), Foxhounds (5%), Beagles (2%) and Labrador Retrievers (1%). Two-thirds of affected dogs were male. The age when limber tail first was noticed ranged from 6 months to 9 years, but 84% of dogs were 5 years or younger. The most frequent age of onset was 2 years (26%). The descriptions of limber tail included the following: 1)The tail dropped completely down; 2)The tail was lower than normal, either carried horizontally or below horizontal; or, 3)The tail was carried horizontal for a few inches at the tail base and then dropped.

At the time the dogs acquired limber tail, their training schedules or activities varied. Dogs had been involved in hunting, roading, running or free exercise. Training sessions ranged from as short as 30 minutes to as long as 6 hours; 76% of the dogs with limber tail had training sessions of 2 hours or less. Twenty-four percent of the dogs were competing as shooting dogs, 20% were in all age classes, 1% in puppy classes, and the remaining 54% were involved in other forms of competition or were still early in their training.

The majority of people responding (63%) felt there was more than one cause of limber tail. Some of the predisposing conditions they mentioned were: inadequate conditioning and/or overtraining (most often cited); cage transport; emotional stress; tail conformation (high tailed or very active tail); genetic tendency; sex predisposition; anal gland infection; weather (extremes of heat or cold, humidity or rain); physical trauma; and, inadequate nutrition (least often cited). Only 2% said they used grabbing of the tail as a method of correction, and no one felt that this was a cause of limber tail.

Treatment consisted of rest only for approximately half the dogs. Others received such treatments as expressing of the anal glands (25%), antibiotics (18%), corticosteroid injections (15%), vitamin supplements (7%), and aspirin or other anti-inflammatory agents (2%). Complete recovery occurred in 79% of dogs, while 5% had partial recovery, and 16% did not recover. Recovery times ranged from 2 days to 6 weeks. Duration of the condition appears to be related to outcome since 86% of the dogs that recovered completely did so within 2 weeks. Limber tail recurred in approximately one third of the dogs.