Gun Dog Forum

I have a two year short hair that seems to be extremely tired or she is just plain lazy. She has been an active dog, been exercised all summer and looks to be in good health. She gets fed good food, but after hunting for even a couple hours acts like she is just exhausted.
I hunted her for less than 2 hours yesterday, she performed well, fed her before the hunt, gave her plenty of water during the hunt but when I brought her home, she slept most of the afternoon, all night and the GF said she didn't get up until 1130 this morning and she had to get her up to make her go outside.
She doesn't act sick, just worn out. She seems to be happy and active once you get her up but is it normal to want to sleep all of the time.
Our 1 year pup seems to have more energy.
I have an appointment on Friday, but any help would be appreciated.

Rog

First, I wouldn't be feeding her before hunting. Bloat and twisted gut are risks of vigorous activity on a full stomach.

Next, a well adjusted adult dog will sleep upwards of 20 hours a day. I would have her checked over, have a lyme test and possibly a thyroid test done (although if her weight and coat quality is good, I wouldn't expect that she has hypothyroid). If she hasn't been tested for heartworms recently I'd also discuss testing for them with your vet.

Those are just a few things that come to mind.

My 18 month old female GSP will sack out for several hours too after a good couple of hours of hard running or hunting. Mine has been spayed. I just had her back from my vet, she is in great shape, and the vet suggested she just needs the rest. Which is good because she wears me out

Another reason could be heartworms. Hope you have had it on preventative but if not have it checked.

Ezzy

Never feed a dog before hunting.

Your dog has sore muscles.And is coming down from an adrenalin rush. Give him a break.

Last weekend I was watching one of the hunting shows on Versus and the guys from Purina were talking about feeding your hunting dog before hunting or a field trial. They said that when you feed your dog before these kinds of activity the blood leaves the muscles and goes to the stomach to diegest the food. This will cause serious muscle pain and or them to tear. Also it will cause your dog to over heat faster because the body is trying to break down the food.

Hope this helps.

adogslife wrote:Never feed a dog before hunting.

Your dog has sore muscles.And is coming down from an adrenalin rush. Give him a break.

Good advice. Also, if it's hot, and you use an e-collar take it off the dog when you water them. My GSP won't drink what she needs to when the coller is on. It took me a while to figure out it hurt her to swollow. So now after each field, the collar comes off before the water bucket is filled up.

I would run a thyroid panel on her.......hypothyroidism is much more common than you think....and can cause exercise intolerance. At our clinic we run T4s on almost every dog past the age of 5 and out of 10...probably 8 come back low. Your dog is younger but we have seen it many times in dogs that age also. Also since she seems to be 'tired'....I would ask your veterinarian to run a CBC and Chemistry panel to make sure nothing else is going on like anemia...........

Judy LVT

www.crystalkennels.com

not to hijack the thread, and i agree that this dog needs some diagnostics done, but are seriously telling me that 80% of dogs past age 5 are hypothyroid?? no offense intended, but are you sure your running the test right??

i think he meant of the ones that we showing intolerance to exercise

Crystal kennels wrote:I would run a thyroid panel on her.......hypothyroidism is much more common than you think....and can cause exercise intolerance. At our clinic we run T4s on almost every dog past the age of 5 and out of 10...probably 8 come back low. Your dog is younger but we have seen it many times in dogs that age also. Also since she seems to be 'tired'....I would ask your veterinarian to run a CBC and Chemistry panel to make sure nothing else is going on like anemia...........

Judy LVT

www.crystalkennels.com

Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread here but I'm curious, what are the most common symptoms of Hypothyroidism in dogs? Could allergies be mistaken for hypothyroid or visa verse? The reason I ask is my pup is currently battling a suspected allergy to something (hair loss, red inflamed skin). Current treatments of steroids and antihistamines only seem to be temporary fixes. My vet has never offered to do a thyroid panel so I am curious as to symptoms.

What I meant was.. that out of 10 dogs suspected of being hypothyroid...... with exercise intolerance or acting 'tired' or 'lethargic'...80 percent of them came back as in fact being hypothyroid.... not that all dogs in general did. Sorry if there was a misunderstanding. Our bloodwork goes to Cornell University...so I'm sure its accurate. We must just pull more T4s than most clinics I guess!

Symptoms can include poor haircoat, reproductive problems, weight gain, exercise intolerance, cold intolerance and a wide array of symptoms............

It's always better to check and rule it out......... IMO......

Judy LVT
www.crystalkennels.com

airmedic posted that his dog was exercised all summer and that he took the dog hunting.
What kind of exercise and does it compare to hunting?
Is this the 1st hunt of the season for this dog? What were the other hunts like?
Maybe a heat is coming on?
A meal before serious exercise will slow down anyone and could cause digestive problems for a day or 2 afterwards.

This could be a serious problem or it could just be the dog was exhausted.

Hope it was just exhaustion.
Please keep us up to date.

My GSP has been exercised, run, and trained hard all summer. She's fit and trim, and in excellent health.

The first time I had her out, she got pretty beat after about 3 hours.

But now that I've had her out and hunted every other day or so, her stamina has really improved.