Heavy Panting After Walks And Not Doing His Business?

[Guest blondealonso]

Hi all,

 

Forgive me for my paranoia as i'm used to small dogs I wanted to ask the question...

 

We've been taking our 6year old male greyhound for his walks after adopting him a few days ago. We walk him twice a day with 15-20 minutes in the morning about an hour after he's eaten and 20 to 25minutes in the evening, a couple of hours after hes eaten.

 

Hes had to adjust to new feed and he gets fed twice a day, we add rice and milk to his morning feed along with the kibble and just kibble and a small amount of water in the evening.

 

I have some concerns:

 

The first 2 days he was here he went to do this business around 4 to 5 times a day, he used to be fed only once at the adoption center with a large feed in the morning. Now he has adjusted to our feeding routine he has switched to just doing his business twice a day... and this morning he has not even gone yet (its 10:30am, fed at 6:30am). He hasn't strained to go at all and not been successful if that makes sense. I'm wondering if the rice is causing him to be a bit bunged up, we were recommended to add it to his food to help his stools firm up a bit.

 

The second concern is how dramatically he pants after his walks, taking an hour for him to calm his panting down. Is this normal? We do not walk at a fast pace and if anything he's leading the way but on return journeys he's much more docile, with a loose lead.

 

Many thanks for any advice :-) we are still new to owning a greyhound and despite reading so much I still feel happier asking the questions

Cheers

 

 

Edits: When we go for a walk hes on a leash at all times but he has done his business whilst on the leash before.

Edited June 26, 2012 by blondealonso

[JohnF]

Hi and congrats on adopting a Greyhound; they have loads of idiosyncrasies both behaviour and metabolic. Print out the health packet in the link and keep to hand to your vet in case they are not Greyhound savvy.

 

http://www.greyhound...ical-packet.pdf

 

Poops being loose and random is entirely normal over the first week of adoption. They will normally pass realative firm stool in the morning and loose stool in the afternoon/evening. If the diarrhoea is persistent then get the vet to check for Giardia (nasty persistent parasite found in contaminated water... bird poop etc.). Metronidzole is the med. needed for that.

 

Re the Panting: Now, I can't see from your profile where you are, so if it's a Heartworm area then have the vet check that and treat as necessary. It may just be that the dog is anxious and/or the weather is too hot and humid. They're big dogs and only have their lungs, tongue and paw pads from which to get evaporative cooling. It helps to keep them at a good weight where you can clearly see their last two ribs but just a hint of the rest. As this is a new dog you may need to have kidney and liver function checked too; it's routine, affordable, and establishes a valuable baseline for future treatments.

Edited June 26, 2012 by JohnF

[TheFullHouse]

I would cut out the rice and see if that makes a difference. It can constipate some dogs. If you live in a place where it's warm, it could be too warm for walks in the heat of the day. Try putting cool cloths on the pads of his feet and stomach to cool him down and maybe put a fan on him to help him cool down. If these things don't work, a vet visit may be in order.

[Guest blondealonso]

Thanks for your advice :-) and thank you for the medical phamplet, i've saved it.

 

I live in the South east of England (UK) and today its a bit hotter than usual, certainly hotter than the days hes been used to on his walk. I will try cooling him down.. hes been very lazy today, maybe a sign he is hot...

 

I think he is still finding his feet and maybe getting a bit more confident as hes now exploring our house and garden on his own. Its odd as we've got a crate for him and rather than choosing the sofa to rest on hes been popping in and out of there, he didnt take to it at first.

 

He still hasnt done his business this morning (now 12:30) but did have a pee before eating breakfast. I'll monitor it and see if things improve after removing the rice from his meals. I'd be concerned if he was straining and nothing coming out :-)

 

So as a rule of thumb I can expect at least 1 stool in the morning and 1 in the evening?

 

Thanks,

Chris

 

Edit: The rescue we adopted Al from ensures they are all checked by a vet and have a health check before rehoming :-) i think latest it would of been is within the last 6 months. We plan to take him for a health check by August after hes had that 2 month settle in period, unless any problems arise of course.

Edited June 26, 2012 by blondealonso

[GeorgeofNE]

I would cut out the rice and most certainly the milk. There is no reason to give a dog milk and many dogs cannot digest dairy--so while the rice MIGHT firm him up (pumpkin or Metamucil works better), the milk could give him diarrhea.

[JohnF]

 

So as a rule of thumb I can expect at least 1 stool in the morning and 1 in the evening?

 

Every dog is different but my last two have had a pattern of firm in the morning and loose in the afternoon. If my current one goes 2 or 3 times in the afternoon then I know something is up and might need chicken and rice boiled up for a couple of days, perhaps the worming has run out, perhaps she has an infection and occasionally needs antibiotics and ProKaolin paste. I used to feed my last dog James Wellbeloved lamb & rice kibble, but Peggy couldn't tolerate the grease and protien it. I changed to their Turkey and rice without much benefit. Then to the Green bag of Iams pro-active which did the trick. Later I found an acceptable similar formula based on Chicken and Rice for working dogs costing £26 a bag instead of nearly £40. http://www.gelert-petnutrition.co.uk/prem-range.htm#adult.

[MaryJane]

My dogs get rice and milk every day so it's not necessarily that causing the problems. It's likely to be just the change in food and the new home. I've fostered dogs and sometimes it can take 2 weeks or so before they get into a normal routine with peeing and pooping.

 

If you feed twice a day, you might get two poops or maybe just one. Mine are fed twice a day and the males poop most times twice a day and the female once. And, they all have different schedule for pooping....

 

As to the panting, it can sometimes be an indication of pain but, that is when it is happening all the time even when resting. If it is happening after a walk then most likely it is because of that. As someone already suggested, you might want to have the vet check the lungs.

 

Good luck

Edited June 26, 2012 by MaryJane

[Guest CharlEYp]

Thanks for the advice, he only really seems to pant after walks or when excited (he's been getting tasty treats to learn commands.)

 

We're gonna decrease the rice, increase he kibble and switch from warm milk to warm water and see if that helps.

With regards to the panting, will check his worming data again when i get home...

[Feisty49]

My girl gets fed twice a day and poos 3 times: First thing in the morning (about 6:30 AM). On our morning walk (about 8:30 AM). And then again on the last walk of the day (about 6 PM). (She of course gets taken out more than these 3 times.) Today she didn't poo on the morning walk which is very unusual. Maybe she's had fewer treats in the past day or two or maybe the cool weather that started yesterday has slowed things down. Her first poo of the day is usually pretty good but by the evening, it's much less firm.

 

As far as panting, Annie Bella pants very very hard after a walk in the heat, and the temp doesn't have to be very high for it to be hot for her. She will pant for upwards of an hour and then breath very heavily for another hour. A cool towel laid on her side/tummy helps her get over it quicker. She also starts out walks with a good spring in her step and, if it's not hot, playful. On the way home, she's slowed down a lot. In the hot weather I walk her about a third less distance than when it's not hot. If the humidity is also high, the walk is cut in half. She can't take the heat.

[Guest blondealonso]

After his morning walk he took approximately 2 hours to get back to what i'd consider as normal breathing... we're really not taking him far and this morning we were only out for 15minutes. He did get rather excited at seeing another dog (hes not used to other breeds). He eventually went and did his business yesterday but only once, however this morning walk he was fine and did his business where hes been going on the initial walks we took him on.

 

One thing hes done since moving in is pacing up and down in a circle before he lays down... i figured this was normal behaviour as hes just trying to find somewhere comfortable to lie down. Are we walking him too hard? There are obvious scabs on the joints of his legs which I assume he gained from the kennel where lying on concrete outside, so this might be causing him some pain... although after feeling over his body he doesnt show any signs of pain (whimpers/yelps etc).

 

He has come straight from the kennel so maybe isnt used to this level of exercise or even excitment. I will take him for a health check up soon but I want him to settle in first, once hes used to his food, his level of walks, coat has improved and bowl movements at a normal rate. At least we will wait a month unless hes showing some obvious signs of ill health :-)

[DocsDoctor]

Turning round in a circle to hollow out the bed before lying down is normal - many greyhounds also go in for a more extreme form of 'nesting' involving scrabbling with their paws. My Doc is one and has many a happy session turning his bed (a folded double duvet) into weird shapes!

 

Yes, your boy probably only got short walks whilst awaiting adoption, bear in mind that it's also pretty humid today (at least it is in London). And also that as you say the outside world's all still very new and exciting for him - there is so much to look around and take in, quite apart from the physical exercise! Give it time and if you want to lengthen the walks do that by increments, five-ten minutes at a time. Why not also try just going to the park or an outside cafe with him, sitting down and watching the world go by for a bit? That's also good for his socialisation and you will probably find lots of people wanting to make a fuss of him, which he will enjoy if he is the outgoing type!

[greyhead]

Taking two hours to return to normal breathing after a 15-minute walk is not normal at all. When this happened with our Shane, it took us a couple years to have him tested for TBD's and learn that the overheating and panting were due to Babesia. I don't know what the prevalence of TBD's is in U.K. But Shane's difficulty resolved promptly with Imizol treatment. We regretted very much what we consider the sub-optimal life he had to live until we got this sorted. Hope you can get to the bottom of this.

[Guest blondealonso]

DocsDoctor i think thats a great idea :-) we'll find a few open cafes to take him to.. right now we live in quite a rural area so theres plenty of woodland to explore but few cafes we can do and socialise at other than the local pub... and we wanted to be sure of his temperment before that.

 

Greyhead I think maybe 2 hours is a slight exageration on my part. He pants hard but it decreases quite rapidly after an hour to just heavy breathing. Over the weekend he was not initially like this. We'll monitor it over the next week and see if it changes at all due to temperature and humidity. I'll time how long he takes to get back to heavy breathing to normal breathing etc over the course of this week and if concern we'll go to the vets

[muddgirl]

I would be worried about such excessive panting, even after a hot humid walk - we live in South Texas and often have to carefully walk our dogs in 90-100 degF weather (and sometimes we can't stop them running around in same), and I would be concerned with over 20 minutes of heavy panting. Make sure he has water available and knows where it is - I will sometimes have to lead Batman to water and wait for him to drink after walks.

 

However when Batman first came to our house he seemed to start anxiety-panting at the drop of a hat, so it could be that walks are triggering anxiety-panting? I didn't know about that Babesia-panting connection, although I think most adoption groups in the US test for that automatically.

[Guest blondealonso]

he was much better last night after his walk.. walked him about 8pm and only really took 3/4 of an hour to calm down and return to normal breathing. Were having a bit of a late summer here so hes used to much much much cooler weather.. the heat has probably come as a bit of a shock.

 

I think a lot of it is anxiety still as you say, he will start panting as soon as someone leaves the house or enters the house which will quickly go away. He pants (and whimpers) in the morning when we get up and he sees us for the first time but hes wagging his tail something crazy.

 

I'll continue to monitor it... all good things I can share with the vets. I plan to take his resting heartrate today if I can figure out how :-)

[Guest TeamLily]

I'm glad you asked this questions and thanks everyone for the replies. We've had Lily for only 3 days and had the same questions! She seems like she can hold it forever and is a heavy panter after walks. I wonder if it must be part of the adjustment period...although it is HOT in Florida today!

[Guest blondealonso]

Al's seemingly calmed down a lot now, every day he is getting more confident and his 'calm down' period is getting much better, took around 6 days. His bowl movements are becoming more regular and hes quite happy to nip out into our garden on his own now with any encouragement to do his business :-)

 

TeamLily I think adjusting from kennel life to home life is a big thing.. and my initial concerns are slowly drifting away. Best of luck with Lily

[Guest TeamLily]

Al's seemingly calmed down a lot now, every day he is getting more confident and his 'calm down' period is getting much better, took around 6 days. His bowl movements are becoming more regular and hes quite happy to nip out into our garden on his own now with any encouragement to do his business :-)

 

TeamLily I think adjusting from kennel life to home life is a big thing.. and my initial concerns are slowly drifting away. Best of luck with Lily

Thanks! I guess that's most of it...adjusting from no dog to having a dog is a big thing for us too!