I have been woken up about 3 times this week to hear my 5 month old lab making gagging sounds. I have a baby monitor and a camera so can see him on my phone without going downstairs and disturbing him. He has been standing up and then lies down and settles back to sleep. On the occasion that I did go down he wouldn't come out of his crate and looked at me as if to say "what?"! In the morning there is nothing there except some bile/mucus. He doesn't seem ill at all and does not have diarrhoea . Any ideas anyone what could be causing this? One friend said that it may be because he has an empty stomach and too much bile collects if there is nothing to digest. I will speak to the vet too but wondered if any other pups or dogs have this.
This is very common. I call it 'the hunger pukes'. If the stomach is too empty, oftentimes the dog will puke just froth and bile a bit... Try giving some food last thing before bed, as late as possible - so there is something digesting in the dog's stomach overnight.
Thank you Jo, this is what my friend advised. I had started giving him a small gravy bone but i guess this is not enough. I will try something more. Thanks very much, you have put my mind at rest!
I gave him a Kong last night full of his kibble to go to bed with and he didn't wake till 7.15 this morning which is half an hour later than usual so that worked! Thanks very much!
Great, glad that helped. Also just to say that I had a dog which did this, and curiously it went away when I switched to raw feeding (a complete mince, not bones). Totally anecdotal, but just thought I'd pass that along too. Whilst the meal-last-thing-at-night works, it does often get in the way of lie-ins - hearing the dog-regurgitating noise tends to get you out of bed pretty fast!!
It is common in pups, but usually goes away when they are 8 to 12 months old. Cooper had it a few times when she was 6 months or so.
My eldest lab is currently on a diet as she is "summering a little too well" :-D and sometimes gets hunger pukes in the morning of we are delayed feeding breakfast.
