Yesterday mid-morning -- which, btw, was warm and muggyish -- I bathed & showered down both of my dogs outside after they got really muddy feet. I noticed my youngest and "bestest" favorite baby boy in the world, Linus, started whimpering shortly after his bath (which he loves for the water to shower on his chest & back) and biting at his tail. I knew it wasn't fleas, as they'd both been given their Frontline Plus less than a week ago. After this continued for awhile, I was worried that perhaps he'd been stung. My Linus, however, is NOT the type of dog who readily allows a painful area to be touched, you may well receive a bite. His whimpering continued through the day & I was very concerned -- the base of his tail started to look puffy, he appeared anxious, and followed me everywhere. A couple of times he whimpered loudly. He had an appetite, wasn't vomiting, and could go to the bathroom, so that pretty much ruled out blockage. By the end of the day, his tail hung straight down and he was obviously uncomfortable. He didn't want his walk last night, either.
I did a search on the symptoms and got pages of something I've never heard of, despite zillions of hours reading about dogs and their behaviors -- cold tail syndrome (or flaccid tail). Huh? Seems that it normally occurs in hunting dogs who splash in cold lakes, but a cold bath or shower can bring it on too! There were pictures of dogs holding their tails exactly like Linus and people writing in to say this is what happened shortly after a bath or swim outside! I gave him a doggie pain pill from the vet & he's better today, not much else that can be done. He yelped once this morning but other than that hasn't whimpered at all today, and has a bit more movement. Guess this feels like a sprained tail or something. Poor little guy!
Oh well, there is your News in the Weird for the evening, and you will know what it is if next time your dog gets in cold water and later develops a painful & puffy tails that hangs straight down.
Oh, and to make matters worse? I thought he was biting his tail because perhaps there was shampoo residue that was irritating him. So what did Mom do? Marched him right back outside and made sure I zeroed in on his tail with the water hose!!! 