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These are some pictures of their trip and a lesson learned about “Swimtail”.
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But now about “Swimtail”! As you see from the pictures SAM is one handsome dog. As is with any Labrador the “urege” to swim is second nature to this breed. AAAt some point when they guys were ready to bed for the night Sam was showing some distress, not wanting to move, when touched to locate any possible problems his hind quarters were especailly tender.
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After an earlier departure, because of SAM, and a fast trip to Richmond and the Vets office this was what had occurred. The otter-like tail and webbed toes of the Labrador retriever make them excellent swimmers. Their interwoven coat is also relatively waterproof, providing more assistance for swimming. The tail acts as a rudder for changing directions.
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Yup SAM over did the swimming. Thankfully a few days of now swimming and all is well that ENDS well [pun intended]! A Labrador that undertakes significant swimming without building up can develop a swelling or apparent kink known as swimtail. This can be easily treated by a veterinary clinic and tail rest.
Despite its name, the river is considered by some geologists to be possibly one of the oldest rivers in the world, between 10 million and 360 million years old. According to local folklore, it is considered to be second in age only to the Nile River and thus the oldest in North America. However, the ages of rivers are very difficult to establish with precision; as the wide range of possible ages for the New River demonstrates, there is no established ranking of the ages of major rivers. The New River flows in a generally south to north course, which is against the southwest to northeast topology of the Appalachian Mountains and the west to east flow of most other nearby major rivers especially in Virginia and North Carolina. This peculiarity may mean that the New River's formation preceded much of the surrounding landscape, although again this hypothesis has not been proven beyond doubt.




