Heavy Breathing

[Guest hqpcapps]

My greyhound is taking deep breaths almost like every other breath. He just started doing this after our short walk. His teach chattered briefly. But now he's just like on the couch with his eyes closed taking deep breaths. What does this mean??

[Time4ANap]

Need a little more info. Whet's the temperature outside where you were walking?

 

Any other known medical issues?

[3greytjoys]

Hope your hound is okay by now?

 

Just seeing your post, but generally it's helpful to check hound's gum and tongue color. Normal color is typically pink.

 

If a distressed hound's gums and tongue are dark red-purple or blue, hound needs to be seen by an emergency veterinarian immediately.

 

(Helps to familiarize yourself with your hound's normal healthy gum color when hound is relaxed/breathing normally so you'll know if it's abnormal in future.)

 

As posted by Time4ANap, we may be able to help more if you're able to provide a little more information. What is your hound's age, and how long since adoption? Any other symptoms noticed?

[Neighsayer]

Hope all is well by this time. You should take a video to show your vet, and to document the history when your dog does something that concerns you. Are you sure it wasn't just an episode of reverse sneezing?

[Guest hqpcapps]

Hi all, thanks for the replies! I did check his gums and they were pink and normal. Thank goodness. He did stop breathing like that after about 20-30 minutes. We went for a walk around 8 on last night, so it was dark and cooler temperature. Then he started breathing like that after we came inside.

 

I have a video but I'm not sure how to post it?

 

Henry is 4 yrs old and I've had him almost 2 months. He's just been to the vet in the last few weeks and had a full blood work up and everything was normal.

 

I just took him for a short walk now and he's fine. But he did lay down twice during the walk right in the sun. It's cooler outside today (86 degrees-we are in MS) and breezy. I don't know if the sun just felt good to him or if he's too tired? He's acting normal and playing like he usually does though.

[PrairieProf]

Sometimes when they get hot from exercise they can pant or breathe heavily for a long time. My current grey whom I have had a year has alarmed me a few times with how long it took for her breathing to return to normal. 86 is VERY HOT for a greyhound, be careful. Many of them are notably affected by the heat when it is over the low 70's.

[Time4ANap]

Many of these hounds get really hot when it goes much over 75 degrees. Some love it and won't come out of the heat on their own.

 

Panting for 30-45 minutes after a walk isn't unusual and is a cooling mechanism. If you suspect that your hound overheated, you can use cold wet towels to cool them down - changing them frequently because they heat up as they remove heat from the dog. There's a recent thread about hounds overheating and some good solutions here. Read all the way through - even though it started out as a Soap Box post, it contains some really good info.

 

As far as posting photos and videos here - photos work best through Flickr, Photobucket or Imgur. Videos work best using YouTube. You post the pics or video on that site and link to it. There are instructions here.

 

Welcome to GreyTalk. Holiday weekends or weekends where there are big greyhound events going on can take a little time to get a response, but the members here are great and will help anytime you post a question. Be sure to post some pics of your hound when you have time.