# Question About Panting



## star5cr34m

ok, so i am getting ready to get in bed and Kaiah (7 month old GSD) is already in bed waiting for me.
I lay down and notice the bed rocking back and forth 

i look down and notice she is panting rather heavily and steady.

Now is this normal and im just paranoid? or could there really be something wrong?

ive heard of them getting hot pretty fast since where i live (southeastern PA) the temperature has been fluctuating quite frequently, and they tend to pant heavily naturally.
:help:

thank you


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## milkmoney11

My mom had a dog that did this (part GSD...not pure). Would pant when just going to bed. Wake up in the middle of the night and start panting. She let it go for awhile then took the dog in to the vet when it didn't stop. The vet gave the dog some type of steroid and it completely stopped. I wish I could remember what the diagnosis was. I just remember it would happen periodically, mom would take the dog in, get the steroid, and it would stop. Seemed to happen about once a year. I think it was related to a respiratory problem...kinda like asthma. It wasn't something that was serious, but if I were you, I would go in and just see what the vet says to make sure.


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## Lilie

I know that my 6.5 male GSD is panting more heavily then I've seen him. However, we are just now reaching temps of the low 80s and the humidity level is high. We are also experiancing high levels of pollen. Hondo hasn't changed his play patterns and still goes 100 miles an hour. Also, he is in the process of blowing his coat - so I just make sure he has lots of fresh water, and I've introduced the ice cube to him. He is liking that!:sunburn:


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## gsdraven

I also live in Southeastern PA and my 2 yo female was panting last night at bedtime. My bedroom tends to be on the warm side so I know the change in temp is what's causing the panting. Try and make sure she has some water and a cool place to sleep. 

If she is eating and drinking normally, I would think its the weather getting warm that is causing it.


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## star5cr34m

yea im thinking its the temperature/humidity.

last night it got pretty cool in my room and i had my fan on high and she calmed down pretty well to where she was just breathing normally.
but this morning after coming in from taking her morning potty break she was at the panting again (it was pretty warm out and it had just rained)

hopefully she will decide to get rid of her winter coat soon.
and luckily she sometimes prefers ice cubes over regular treats =) (especially when they are in her water bowl)


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## Melina

I'm probably completely paranoid as it's most likely due to the temperature there, but after adopting Koda I noticed that he panted an awful lot, and it wouldn't take much (I'd let him out in the backyard, he'd walk around for two minutes, come back in, and pant for fifteen). This was during February when I adopted him, so the weather was in the 60's. Point being, I found it rather odd, and after getting him checked out at the Vet (He was a stray), got his shots, and a heartworm test...He came back positive. That explained the panting. It's the strain on his heart and lungs.

As I said, I sincerely doubt Kaiah has heartworm, _especially_ at 7 months, as it takes 6 months from the time a dog is bitten by a mosquito for it to mature into adult heartworm, but maybe have a test done? Just to be safe? Unless you have Kaiah on preventative, then it most definitely has nothing to do with that.

Geez, I really am paranoid now. aranoid: I feel like some "born again heartworm prevention speaker" or something... Oh man, someone stop me.


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## smyke

I hope you dont mind if I piggy-back on your thread a little instead of starting a new one.
Fanta has been breathing faster lately and panting as well. I read somewhere that a normal breath rate for a dog is 10 to 30 per minute. she is going a LOT faster. Our temps also started climbing lately (80s today) but its been going on for last few days when we were in the 70s. it seems to come back to normal when she is deep asleep.
she acts normal otherwise. hoovers her raw food as always, chasing sticks and balls with no problem. she will be 6 months old in 2 weeks and I did give her the heartworm preventive on the 15th of March so (hopefully) that is out.
we pulled couple of ticks out of her lately but I didnt see faster breathing as one of the symptoms of Lyme.
Could it be that its all heat related also? I sure hope it is. she has water readily available and there is a never ending supply in the toilet bowl also  .


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## cpatrzyk

I've always used this as a quick and dirty little guide:

What Is Normal in Dogs?

Comes in handy whenever I get overly concerned about my pup.


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## star5cr34m

No problme Smyke (nice looking pup btw)

and thank you cpatrzyk for the quick guide


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