Hello, I’m looking for some advice. Here’s the story: I started taking my dog to the dog park every morning about three weeks ago. I noticed about 1-2 days after the first visit she didn’t seem to want to go on walks anymore, specifically she’d go out the front door but then stop about halfway into the walk and just look around. I could get her to walk with me again but she’d sort of stay behind me (which is unlike her) and sort of plod along, sniffing stuff and looking around like she was looking for something specific. I took her to the vet (twice, telling them about the new walk behavior) because she was also hacking occasionally. She’s had a physical exam and was put on antibiotics, which she’s finished. However, she’s still not into walking. Some potentially confusing/confounding factors: She’s never been the most gung-ho about walks. She’s never really been the shake-the-leash-and-she’ll-come-running type. But, she’s always been energetic on walks. In fact, too energetic. She’s very reactive and I always thought walks must be very frustrating for her. She still seems to want to play/run if we go to the regular park. Her behavior there hasn’t changed. And if we go toward the park, she’s trotting along normally. Even if she drags behind me or looks tired on the walk, she’s perfectly normal when we get back to the house. She’s eating, drinking, going to the bathroom, causing her usual mischief all normally. It’s not every walk that she acts this way. I took my sister on a walk to show her what was going on and she was totally normal. It’s hot out. I haven’t seen any limping and I ask them to check her legs/joints whenever we go to the vet. She seemed to do this right after going to the dog park, which she loved to do. Does this sound like a physical problem and should I make another trip to the vet?
some dogs have a problem with high temperature, that could be a reason she’s not keen on going to walks and is a bit slower than usual. maybe she got scared in the park or is irritated by a specific dog or to big group of dogs in the park? Maybe it would be a good idea to chech the thyroid hormone levels - low energy, iritability, paranoid behavior, fear of strangers ... are signs of hypothyroidsm.
Thank you for your reply! I'll keep the symptoms of hypothyroidism in mind. She's young (16 months), not obese, hasn't had any weight gain, coat issues, but has been more tired overall as summer's rolled around. It's not a super dramatic change in energy, outside of the walks. I was thinking it could be a psychological issue because it seems so connected to the dog park. I thought maybe what I was seeing as "having a good time" was just her being overloaded (she's reactive toward dogs and hasn't been around them a lot) and now she's antsy about everything. Or, conversely, she'd rather be doing something fun and therefore just wants to skip the walks. We went to a little creek the other day and she was bounding like a fawn through the water, lovin' it. But I also don't wanna blame it on something psychological when it's actually physical. Then again, going back to the vet would be the third visit in as many weeks when I don't think they're very concerned. The meds I was given were sort of for my benefit since they thought it was a little virus giving her the hack. I'm basically confused.
If dehydration isn’t the issue, I would bring treats and spend a lot of time training. If you can play fetch at the park even better.
I'd believe that she's dehydrated - I never think she drinks enough. I just don't know why dehydration would suddenly be an issue or why she'd be perky again when she gets through the door. The heat has been creeping up in the last few weeks, so the timeframe would make sense for dehydration, though (even though I've pushed the walks earlier and later). I think I'll just take her back to the vet and see if they'll run some tests. I just feel crazy because she seems pretty good otherwise and her exams were fine. I'm praying it's the heat or she's simply decided she doesn't want to go on boring old walks!
