Dog Panting?

[asantiago64]

I have a two year old long hair chihuahua, papillon mix.. I rescued her recently; she was a stray.. I have noticed recently that she is always panting. I was planning on call her vet but I wanted the opinion of others first. Is this normal or something to be concerned about? It is really hot where I live and don't know if that can be a factor to her panting? Any comments would be helpful... Thanks.

 

[Anneke]

Well, panting is a form of stressreleave. And that stress can be anything. Heat, anxiety, pain...
I'd talk to a vet, to rule out any physical problems. If she is in good health, then maybe she is just not comfortable yet.
Do you have any background information on her? Like where she used to live, how she was treated by her former owners?

 

[asantiago64]

No I don't have any background on her. She was found running around in the streets of my community. But when i first took her to the vet he gave her a clean bill of health.. She has been with me for about four months.

 

[tigerlily46514]

//It is really hot where I live and don't know if that can be a factor to her panting? //


Yes, dogs can not sweat, so they cool by panting. Dogs panting can also dehydrate the dog, too....



Also, do make sure the dog is well hydrated, and not overheated. My dog is an intermittant water drinker, some days, he drinks plenty,
other days, not enough. So i feed him ICE, too, as he loves ice,
and i occasionally add water to his dog food, too.

http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/hot-dogs-keeping-dogs-cool-in-the-summer.3104/#post-21846
^actually, there is a trick involving ICE in thread above, which is super super easy to teach a dog, as well as other ideas and products to help a dog stay cool in hot weather.


My dog pants like crazy, he has ZERO heat tolerance, none at all. None. He totally melts in heat. So prior to walks if it is anywhere over 75 to 80 degrees, i get him soaking wet prior to the walk. I leash my dog, step on his leash, and gently run hose water all over my dog, from his neck down, never ever on his head. I take great care to never allow water to splash his ears especially.

I need both hands free to do this, THAT IS WHY i step on the leash,
as my dog's fur is so thick, to move his fur around to get the water down to his skin. (even if cut short, my dogs fur is way way thick)
I calmly praise my dog the entire time i do this, nonstop calm praise.

My particular dog will do most anything if he is praised and praised and praised, nonstop calm praise. He's just like that.
(also, run water out of hose before you pour it on dog, as it may come out hot from sunshine heating it up).

Then we IMMEDIATELY leave on our walk-------this helps dog associate the two things, getting wet = get a walk-------- and he does not pant like he is dying, and instead, he walks just fine.

True, my dog intensely disliked being hosed at first ,
oh he sure did!!! So at first, i kept it real brief, jsut barely wetting him, til he got more used to it, til he realized "getting wet means i get a walk!"
Now he gets thoroughly soaked, though.

But, overtime, he got used to it, and he began to associate "getting wet" means "go for a walk".

 

[asantiago64]

wow.. ok i didn't know that dogs couldn't sweat. Lila loves ice i give it to her when i can see she is really hot and panting heavily or when shes being stubborn and doesn't want to drink water .. It helps but she still pants some. I take her on long walks almost every morning and the temp. is always around 75 to 80 degrees.. I'll try it out, but she doesn't really like water that much.. You should see her when its bath time... it's cute.. i should really work on that though.. thanks for the advice..

 

[tigerlily46514]

yeah, my dog thinks 75 to 80 is "hot" to HIM, anyway. When it is over 90 or over 100, (pretty often here) then my dog just about goes prostrate if i walk him. (unless he is WET, then he is just fine).

Yeah, you are right, your dog probably won't like the hose at all, not at first,
so for 1st times, just make it super brief, praise dog whole time, and leave immediately on the walk, so dog begins to think "hose = walk".
You might want to consider giving the dog an empty peanut butter jar, or a kong, for first times you hose him. We save ALL empty peanut butter jars, and freeze them, for special treats for my dog.


Or, if your dog is small enough,
or has short enough fur,
maybe you could take wet cloth to wet your dog, massaging the wetness down onto his skin, or squeezing the water onto him, instead of using a hose...??
but lol, *my* dog needs a hose to get water down to his actual skin!!

Or maybe one of those ice collars in that thread i linked above.


and yes, keeping your dog well hydrated can help them tolerate the heat better. You can add water to his dog food, and feed him ice cubes, too. Weirdest thing, for some reason,
my dog much prefers drinking water outside.

Besides his two indoor bowls of always fresh water, (one upstairs, and one downstairs)
i keep a fresh bowl of water outdoors, swapping it out a few times a day for fresh water, and he will drink more outdoors. weird.

 

[asantiago64]

She's pretty small, about the size of a Maltese maybe an inch or so taller, but her fur is really thick so i wouldn't be able to us a cloth.... She's weird, she wont eat her food unless it has water in it and eats ice like if it was the best treat in the world to her.. She will literary leave a piece of meat for ice..

I like the water bottle idea.. i'm going to try different ones to see which she prefers..

 

[tigerlily46514]

Or, besides keeping first hose-downs real brief, and praising dog the whole time--------if you have an extra pair of hands around, you could maybe try having another person hand small treats to dog while you wet the dog down, til dog gets used to this routine....
..........so dog won't see the hose thing as punishment, but, maybe getting treats for getting wet will help your dog get idea it's not all bad as it seems..?

 

[asantiago64]

yeah... i'll keep it slow with the hose until i see she has become more comfortable with it... and i don't have an extra pair of hands at the moment but i'm sure ill think of something... Thanks a bunch.

 

[Anneke]

The bottle thing, I almost forgot about that...
I used a frozen waterbottle, wrapped in a guesttowel, to keep puppy Jinx cool in the car on hot days. She used to tuck it up to her belly and lick the bottom of the bottle. I left that part uncovered by accident and found that she liked to lick it.

Dogs can only loose heat through their tongue(hence the panting) and through the soles of their feet. So just dipping your dogs feet in water will help to cool her down, also.

 

[tigerlily46514]

i did not know that about the paws being a heat-release spot, too!! Good to know!!

OH, Asantiago, my dog never got treats much, (can't remember exactly) for getting hosed, just praise praise praise, so it can be done, even with only 2 hands!! Or, you can put some treats in a dish nearby, and keep giving your dog a treat now and then as you hose him and praise him.