Advice please! Finn is an 8yr old rescue black lab. We have had him for 7 months now and couldn't wish for a better dog (except his recall which is a bit sketchy but we can live with that). He is usually bouncy and loves his walks, but occasionally we will have a period of 2 or 3 days when he really is not interested in a walk, he will go as far as he needs to to poop and pee then wants to go home, looks really quite flat with head hanging. When he gets home he seems fine, eating normally, coming for a fuss, quite happy. I would normally take him to the vet for a check up, but he really hates the vet and they can't do anything with him, no taking temperature or feeling legs, he has to be sedated for any treatment at all, he must have had a really bad experience in the past. I have pushed and prodded him all over, with no reaction, his temperature is normal (I bought an ear thermometer to check). Obviously he's a lab so is always ready to eat so that is no help with diagnosis. Looking for any advice as to what could be wrong as without knowing what the problem is, a vet visit isn't going to help, catch 22!
I'd say that this is most likely to be physical. Something is hurting. I know you might not want to hear that as a vet visit is difficult, but I'd say it's the first thing to look at. Could you get a vet to do a home visit? That might be easier. My boy is normally fit and healthy, and full of life, but if something is stiff or sore he will be flat and uninterested on routine walks. For an 8 year old rescue, I'd consider looking for signs of arthritis, which can flare up and they can have good days and bad days. It's not the case that you will always see them limp, but changes in gait can often be seen by vets. It's a good idea to take videos of your dog on good days (so you know what is normal) and then on bad days (so you or your vet can look for changes).
Thanks for the quick response. Why on earth did I not think of videos?! That will help enormously I'm sure, thanks very much.
Agree with suggestions to get a vet to check this out. Your description of symptoms, behaviour and timing of this is going to be very important to a diagnosis I'd say. Now do not worry but here's one hypothesis to get the vet to consider. There is a thing that can cause occasional 'flat' episodes like that - it's periodic hemorrages from a tumour called a hermangiosarcoma. These are very blood-rich tumours and they can at times have small ruptures and blood loss, which leads to a short period of flatness while the spleen gets its act together and replenishes the blood supply. Then the dog picks up again. Just something to talk about with the vet. There are no doubt many things this could be instead of this. Let us know how you get on....
