Worried: Hufing and Puffing

G

GiGi1212

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1 cocker
I'm a little worried! My little girl started this huffing and puffing this morning about 4 am ( I woke up feeling sick, and so she woke up too). She has just started this huffing and puffing, I've had her since last July and she has NEVER done this. She sleeps with me and my husband on our king size bed, so plenty of room for her. She has only done it when she is laying down and it only goes on for 15secs at the most, then she stops ( for awhile sometimes) and then it starts again. Sometimes she is a sleep and sometimes she is awake when she does it. During the day today she didn't do it at all! Then she came to bed with me and she started it again. The only change has been not going to the dog park as often due to weather. I just washed the sheets and comforter yesterday, but I used the same stuff I always have. Is it a sign of something wrong? Her nose is a little dry, but I know they do that sometimes when they sleep. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
 
I would take her to the vets for a quick check up. It could be any number of things including seasonal allergies.
 
Agree, get her in to the vet. This funny breathing, if it's like a short panting, could mean that she is in some discomfort.
 
Yes any unusual things like this is a Vet trip for us and I agree with Deborah panting can mean discomfort. Is she eating and playing normal?
Just a thought but has the heat in the house been raised at night,sometimes just a few degrees can cause my boy to pant...we keep it pretty cool at night in the house.
 
I know Apollo has a medium to low grade heart murmur that causes him to occasionally get the huffs/puffs and coughs.

I agree about the trip to the vet, hopefully nothing too serious!
 
Sorry for how long this is!

Ok just called the vet the soonest they can see us is not till tomorrow at 4. She acts like her normal self, doesn't act sick. We keep our apartment pretty cool since we have a chinchilla and me and my husband are both hot natured. Now the eating...when I first got her she was a total grazer and would SLOWLY end up eating 2 cups a day. Now it's probably only 1 1/2 cups. Sometimes she will eat in the morning but most times she hasn't been eating till afternoon and evening. We go to the dog park at our apartment at 6 almost every night and stay for about an hour, since we live in an apartment I try to give her plenty of time to run around. But lately with our traveling and weather we haven't gone this week. But she gets 2 45min walks and then whenever she rings the bell and needs to go out we go, I'm at home with her most of the time. But lately when we come back from the dog park she will come in and eat up whatever is left in her food bowl. I know all the dogs on the farm growing up always at less during the summer. But she has gained two pounds between 3 months. But every once in awhile I have to sit her down and hand feed her, she doesn't eat when we are gone or when we travel (3hrs away to in-laws). Even though she gets excited when I start packing her bag and does GREAT!! on the ride and then loves her Nana (my mother in-law). I guess that's what baffles me, when we got her she had fleas, tapeworms, and ringworm (now ALL better) but she NEVER acts sick! Now if daddy is an hour late coming home from work she acts sad.
 
Well everyone has their own routine. I feed 1/2c of food twice a day but it does depend on the weight of your dog and its activity level. My boys are pretty active. Two cups sounds like quite a bit of food. Now my boys eat up quickly but I have had dogs that didn't. Barring illness, I put the food down and left it for a set amount of time, about 15 minutes. If it wasn't eaten then, it was picked up and not offered again until the next meal time. Repeat as necessary. Soon they learn that when it's meal time, it's meal time.

Of course she's sad when daddy is late from work. She knows his proper place is at home with her and he'd better hurry up and get there.
 
I was thinking along the same lines Karen. May be she is just telling you that she doesn't need as much food? Could be just that her routine is off? An upset in their routine can cause issues with some. (My Ellie would be one of those)
 
I feed half a cup 2x a day as well. I know my dogs could potentially eat the whole bag if I allowed it.
 
Thanks y'all I'll try and see if she does better with eating. I was quite surprised when I looked up the average weight of a cocker and most places said 25-50lbs. She is my first cocker so much of this is new to me! But she is weighing in at 19.5 lbs and the vet said to keep around there.
 
GiGi1212 said:
Thanks y'all I'll try and see if she does better with eating. I was quite surprised when I looked up the average weight of a cocker and most places said 25-50lbs. She is my first cocker so much of this is new to me! But she is weighing in at 19.5 lbs and the vet said to keep around there.
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I've never had a cocker that weighed 50 pounds.
 
My boys are around 22 pounds. My DD's Eloise is 17 pounds. If you need to keep your dog at around 19 pounds I'd think that more like 1c total of food per day, depending on your food. That's probably why she's not eating her food.
 
25-50lb? Is she an English or American?

My two American cockers weigh 16.5lb and 19.5, respectively. Artemis was the runt of her litter so her weight isn't surprising to me, although her vet ideally wants her to be 18lb.
 
I groom some 50 lbs cockers but they weigh so much due to their health and/or are on steroids. :(
 
My boy is 28 lbs, he's an american and stands 16 inches at the shoulders. At his latest check up his vet said his weight was good and he's fed a total of a cup to 1 and a quarter depending on the day. If we're training he gets less to compensate for the training treats. I'm not sure who said it, but it also depends on what you're feeding as I've found most bags will tell you to feed double the ideal amount for healthy weight management.
 
When you say she is huffing and puffing, is it like she is panting with her mouth closed or coughing? If so see a vet asap. Our Maggie has a serious heart condition and for her this type of breathing (mouth closed panting) is a sign of Congestive Heart Failure and she is to see the ER vet right away.

Not saying that this is what is wrong with your girl but just a thought.
 
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