Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum and it is concerning the reason I have come to this forum in hopes of finding some answers.

But first - I am a proud mother of my husky Summer who I adopted in 2005. After a long, long childhood of desperately wanting my own dog, my dream finally came true. She has been a very special, one of a kind dog since the day I took her home.
My boyfriend and I adopted a young Shiba Inu about a year ago. We renamed her Roxi and well, that name has suited her very well. She will be 2 in October and has been hell on furry paws since day one, but we love her all the same.

Recently I've become very concerned about Summer. I will guess she is around 8-10 years old, never ever had any real health problems or concerns in the past. She's always had a bit of general anxiety but thats about it. Nothing has changed with her behavior, but lately she has been panting heavily at night. In fact, it woke me out of my sleep last night.

When I first noticed this, I allowed 2-3 days to pass and then took her to the ER vet after reading some things online. They took her temp, checked her heart and gave her pain meds (kinda like the human ER). When the problem persisted, we made a real vet appt. Got a few blood tests run and x-rays of the entire abdomen. Everything checked out. Vet said she looks great for her age, a little arthritis starting to form but nothing to be alarmed about.

We've used this vet before,and have seen a diff doctor there previously for Roxi,but we still trust them as far as reputation/knowledge/experience goes. I'm just still worried because Summer has never done this before. The temp is cool in the house, water is available - she knows where it is, nothing stressful going on, no change in eating habits, everything, I mean everything else, seems normal - Except the excessive panting and warm body temps (to touch), usually only in the evening. The only thing that soothes her is pets.

Any ideas? Please help...she means everything to me and I want to get her help if there is something else going on.

Thank you

Can you get a video?

Did they rule out asthma as a possibility? I don't know how different dog asthma is from people asthma but I know for me, my asthma only acts up when it's cold/wet outside but my brother's is triggered by just about everything. It's possible that if Summer has asthma and it behaves similarly to humans, the combination of the changing seasons and the night air could be triggering it.

As far as other options go, is she awake or asleep when this is going on? Could she just be dreaming? What is she usually laying on when this happens? Is it possible that the way she's laying can block her airway? I know with Callie, if she lays down and props her head on something, I hear a change in her breathing and I have assumed it's because she's blocking her airway since she breathes normally as soon as she moves her head. Like Megan said, a video would probably help us give opinions if you can get one. I'm just throwing out ideas.

I would agree that you need to have the vet check for asthma.. One of my pups has asthma and she pants very heavy in the evening and after active play. SHe has woke up in the middlt of the night coughing about 2 times so far.

I would think the x-ray of the abdomen would have showed asthma that is how it was determined in Kerian

Hi everyone,
Here is a video (see google link at the bottom). Sorry it's sideways & theres a little background noise due to a movie playing. Also Roxi was looking for her toy. If you listen and watch carefully you can see just how she is panting and you can hear a little too. May have to turn the volume all the way up.

I don't think that it's asthma..shes never showed any signs of breathing problems before. Like any husky, she's a trooper and has always enjoyed long walks, even on a hot day. I've noticed that she tends to snore a little..but never noticed any actual obstruction of breathing or choking.
The vet said the X-rays looked good, from the lungs to the bowels.
Is Asthma something that can develop later in life for dogs? is it something that is common in huskies?
Thanks again everyone...appreciate your thoughts.

calliegirl08 wrote:

Did they rule out asthma as a possibility? I don't know how different dog asthma is from people asthma but I know for me, my asthma only acts up when it's cold/wet outside but my brother's is triggered by just about everything. It's possible that if Summer has asthma and it behaves similarly to humans, the combination of the changing seasons and the night air could be triggering it.

As far as other options go, is she awake or asleep when this is going on? Could she just be dreaming? What is she usually laying on when this happens? Is it possible that the way she's laying can block her airway? I know with Callie, if she lays down and props her head on something, I hear a change in her breathing and I have assumed it's because she's blocking her airway since she breathes normally as soon as she moves her head. Like Megan said, a video would probably help us give opinions if you can get one. I'm just throwing out ideas.

[googlevideo]https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_pb-tsWn1VTNTNiY2lhenhmZzA[/googlevideo]

I got an error message on the video.

Not to scare you or anything, but I have a 7 year old Dalmatian that started panting heavily and other systems too and took her into the vet and she has throat cancer. Make sure you feel you're dog's throat and make sure there aren''t any lumps or swelling. Again, I'm not trying to scare you, it's best to check just to rule it out.

Sorry, here is the video again, the stupid coding messed up the link. It should work now.
[googlevideo]https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_pb-tsWn1VTNTNiY2lhenhmZzA[/googlevideo]

If that doesn't work try copying & pasting the link:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_pb-tsWn1VTNTNiY2lhenhmZzA

ljelgin wrote:

I would agree that you need to have the vet check for asthma.. One of my pups has asthma and she pants very heavy in the evening and after active play. SHe has woke up in the middlt of the night coughing about 2 times so far.

I would think the x-ray of the abdomen would have showed asthma that is how it was determined in Kerian

[googlevideo]https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_pb-tsWn1VTNTNiY2lhenhmZzA[/googlevideo]