I have a litter of several day old pups. One pup has a very noticeable i.e. 30 degree kink/bend at about the middle of the tail. The pup can not hold the tail out straight. I have had pups in the past with a slight bend but nothing like this. Curious if other breeders have had pups like this and if there were any structural or neurological issues later on because of it. Has anyone been able to even slightly correct such an issue such as with a splint?

I've had several pups over the years with kink tails. The worst was bend in the middle and on the tip. When the pup was born, the bends were noticable and even more so as it grew. The bending always corellated with the rear leg joints as if the tail were wrapped around the leg in-utero. The kinks never resolved and the worst case I had the tail did not grow to normal length either. There were no circulation/neuro issues.

I had a pup with a bent tail in my last litter. It was bent at the tip, about a half inch down and was visually noticable at birth. It never resolved. The pup is now 14 months old and the tail is still slightly bent at the tip. She has no structural or neurological problems.

Sue Puff

If she were mine, I'd try a splint. Two tongue depressors, or popsicle sticks and cling wrap. Break in half or whatever size that wouldn't be too long for the pup. Can't hurt to try. Good luck.

I would not bother trying to correct it. I have had three or four. One was bent so much that I did an x-ray of the spine before I sold it to be sure it was okay. It is genetic.

How do you know it's genetic? I've never had it or seen it 2 decades. I've rarely seen or heard about it, only on rare occasions.

I wonder how you happen to know this is a genetic problem. TIA for explaining how it is passed on genetically. I would have thought it was congenital and what another poster said, the tail wrapping around a body part. Or not enough amniotic fluid within the sac.

Just because you don't hear about it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. A good friend has a bitch that has produced it EVERY single time in her 3 litters, all with different stud dogs. One or two pups... but in the big scheme of things, a little kink is nothing and if they really bother you, they can be surgically corrected.

That still isn't proof it's genetic. Whatever. I'll ask the repro at the practice I work for about it. She might be more familiar with it.

It wouldn't bother me to the point of putting a puppy through surgery. As long as breeders knows after surgery the pup can't be shown.......
I agree about a little kink. I think we have enough other problems in this breeder that a kink is not something I would worry about.

OP, I don't think there's anything wrong with trying a splint. It's up to you.

When i worked as a vet tech, we had a litter of goldens come in. There were 3 pups out of 8 with bent tails. These pups tails had cork screw bends in the tail. The vet x-rayed the tails, broke the tails and splinted them. It didn't work. They grew back to what they were before the vet did anything.

I had a bent tail... the little boy grew up and you hardly noticed it. You could feel it when you grabbed onto it but really not notice it at all esp. if he was wagging!
NO, it is NOT genetic! For Gods sake people, not everything is genetic!!!!!!

It is genetic in alot of cases. I could see it in the pedigrees. It can be so bad as to affect the spine and lower organs.

I had one pup that could not do a straight sit because of the kink.