# Vizsla tail is droopy



## Kingwilly

This is a little weird question, but why does my 1 year old come home from the "doggy daycare" and have a droopy tail? It does not happen every time, but once in a while his tail stays tucked between his legs for a few days. We like to take him to the Barkshire near our house....awesome place to really tucker him out....about once a week. Just confused why his tail stays tucked under.

KW


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## datacan

From what I read, the tail acts in accordance with the dog's self esteem. A tail held high indicates high or alpha position. A tail tucked in between their legs is submissive. 
Your V may have been roughhousing and another dog disciplined or dominated your V. 


On a side note I noticed Golden Retrievers act like cops and break up dominant behavior between dogs, interesting to watch them.


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## redrover

Dogs are so funny--there's an Australian shepherd at our regular park that acts like the "Fun Police," according to her owner. She always gets upset if she thinks things are getting out of hand and goes and barks at the other ones to break it up.

But back to the original question: Is his behavior altered in any way? Does he seem timid or unsure? You might want to ask the daycare workers if they've seen anything, as they might be able to shed some insight on whether or not he's just gotten a harsh reprimand from another dog.

It's also possible that he hurt his tail. Dogs can actually strain/sprain their tails--either from too much tail wagging (who knew that was a thing? )) or hitting the tail against something during a vigorous tail wagging session--or maybe from play getting a little too wild and crazy. This can cause them to carry the tail down and between their legs. It can be difficult to tell sometimes too, even when you manipulate an injured tail, since dogs hide their pain so well. With all the roughhousing that can go on at daycares, he maybe just smacked it against something too hard or got it bent a little funny while wrestling.


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## Mischa

datacan said:


> From what I read, the tail acts in accordance with the dog's self esteem. A tail held high indicates high or alpha position. A tail tucked in between their legs is submissive.
> Your V may have been roughhousing and another dog disciplined or dominated your V.


That was my first thought as well.
The only other thing is that he has such a blast at the daycare that he's sad to leave... 

I would speak with the day care about it. They could fill you in on what's happening, or at least begin to keep a closer eye on your V. If it were down for a few minutes I probably wouldn't think too much of it, but lasting for days makes me wonder why. 
Is he happy once at home, or does he cower for the few days as well?


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## datacan

I sometimes stroke his tail upward when I notice what looks to me like lack of confidence. I do it while he's eating if I remember.
My friend does it too with his English Setter. They have nice tail - look like a raised flag.


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## JillandDan

A similar situation happened to us with Holley a couple weeks back. We noticed her tail went out a little and then tucked. We looked up what it could be based on symptons and found Limber Tail Syndrome. However, we are not vets so for Holley's sake, we took a trip there to make sure it wasn't broken or anything. She was still acting like herself so we were not sure what could have happened. The vet confirmed that they also felt it was Limber Tail Syndrome. We had been at Dan's family that weekend and Holley was over excited so tail wagging was at a maximum. 
Good luck and I hope your pup gets better. So sad when they aren't wagging like normal.


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## Linescreamer

Does he wag it and hold it up when you greet him upon arrival at the daycare? If not, I wouldn't leave him there any more. A tired dog once in a while is OK, but not regularly. Do they have cameras so you can view his activities during the day?


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## Kingwilly

Daltrey had a vet appointment for some shots and my wife asked about the tail. They said it was "swimmers tail" and it is just a sore or sprained behind. It can be from wagging or rough housing. They said labs get it a lot because they use their tail to help them steer or get around in the water. Nothing more than that. They offered some pain meds, but either Daltrey or the breed has a pretty high pain tolerance. I have seem him run into things or crash into something and he hardly ever yelps....

KW


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## Linescreamer

Simmers' tail is from swimming not wagging. I would watch him closely and be very very cautious who he spends time with.


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## JillandDan

Swimmer's Tail is also know as Limber Tail Syndrome. This can be caused from excessive wagging according to what we have read. Our vet felt that this is what was wrong with Holley a couple weeks ago as well. It took a little while and she was back to normal again.


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## Kingwilly

It happens every 2nd or 3rd trip to the Barkshire.....It always comes back after a couple of days and he never looks uncomfortable when it is droopy.... I was just curious what it was.

KW


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