Got a 3 year old walker male. Hunted 4 to 5 nights a week year round. Lately has no stamina and is out of breath after first tree and takes longer to recover than other dogs hunting with him that hardly ever get hunted. Had him to vet twice and have found nothing but I know this dog well and he is not what he used to be. Any ideas, suggestions, or similar experiences?

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maybe the heat is getting to him, lay him up for a week or hunt him every other day. that all I can think of. good luck

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Justin Cox (tnridgerunner)

GOD,family, and the great outdoors

home of AKC dobermans

i agree with tnridgerunner. i would hold off hunting so much especially in all this heat. i have to say that i do run my dog but nothing past 70 degrees and if it is bordering that i would only make one drop at most. if the vet hasnt found anything yet i would just wait it out. hes gettin older might not be able to deal with the heat. my buddys dog will be 2 in september and shes like that. hope nothings seriously wrong and good huntin!

I agree that you should definitely keep him out of the heat. What did the vet look for when you took him in? Did he do bloodwork? Check his heart and lungs? There are a few things that can cause a dog to suddenly lose stamina and heat definitely affects some dogs a lot worse than others but you want to be sure he isn't anemic, doesn't have heartworms, doesn't have some sort of cardiovascular blockage or weakness and doesn't have any unusual bloodwork results.

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Done blood work. Checked for heart and intestinal worms. Listened to heart and lungs. Tested for blasto. Done urine work. Said lungs did not sound good but could not find any reason why. Blasto test came back negative but still put him on ketaconazole. Been on it for a month but has not changed anything. This dog should be in TOP physical condition but the least bit of exercise gets him to panting so hard he wheezes and sounds all croupy.

Consider getting an xray of his heart and having the vet check for a congenital heart defect. A "hole in the heart" makes a dog gas-out very quickly indeed.

Hope it's not that, but it may well be ...


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The Dog Owner's Little Black Book


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if you get it figured out let us know im having the same problem.