Does anyone else's dog take a particularly long time to recover from exercise? Boston is 15 months old and we just can't believe his breathing rate when he's had a good play with other dogs. On normal walks/runs he recovers 'normally' I would say but when playing hard with other dogs his breathing is 3/4 pants per second which lasts for a good 20-25minutes, then it gradually reduces until the 40 minute mark when he is panting like he's just been for a normal walk. It seems like he just can't catch his breath! It's happened a couple of times recently and now I'm starting to wonder whether it's a problem. He doesn't seem in distress particularly. any knowledge appreciated!
Re: very fast breathing ater exercise Hi Tash. I think panting is about cooling down as much as anything else. I don't THINK it is quite the same as for us. It does seem like a long time though. It might be worth running it past your vet. Let's see what others think.
Re: very fast breathing ater exercise Hi Tash I'm presuming that the temperature wasn't excessively high when he was exercising/playing. I think I would take him to see the vet just to have him checked as it seems a long time for him to be panting
Re: very fast breathing ater exercise That's a long time, I think, and I'd get it checked out. A few other thoughts.... You might want to think about how fit he is - if he only plays hard with other dogs sometimes, then maybe he is just out of shape for that level of exertion and his excitement at playing is making him push himself way over what he is fit to do. A dog that is not regularly worked hard, isn't fit to work hard. Although healthy Labradors with good conformation are built to be athletes, they can be unfit just like humans if their daily exercise doesn't include sufficient hard exercise. There are a few reasons why a dog's heart rate increases, one is obviously physical exertion, but there can be others eg just excitement - arousal. My Charlie's heart rate goes through the roof if he is retrieving - he doesn't even have to be retrieving in order for his heart rate to increase significantly, he just has to think he might be waiting for a retrieve. I have brought it under control by working on things that calm him down, and now I have a few exercises that can actively lower his heart rate, and keep it lower while he retrieves. So maybe your dog is particularly excited by playing with other dogs - still, 40 minutes seems an excessive recovery time, Charlie's heart rate will return to normal in a few minutes after 20 minutes of hard retrieving (now I am beginning to bring his excitement under control, anyway).
Re: very fast breathing ater exercise Sam often pants heavily after a session of retrieving when he has been seriously exercised, but not for as long as Boston does , I tend to agree with Jacqui, if in doubt have it checked out for peace of mind .
Re: very fast breathing ater exercise I'd try to check his heart rate. Heart rate should return to close to normal within 5 mins. That's a better sign of recovery than breathing rate. The panting may be continuing that long just because he's hot. With the heart rate, check what's normal for him when he's resting. Do this a few times at different times of day to get an idea. Look for a pulse in the wrist area. What's normal depends on the size of the dog, so there's no one set heart rate for dogs (small dogs have a faster resting heart rate).
Re: very fast breathing ater exercise Thanks all for the logical points made. we will definitely monitor his heart rate I think and I'll mention it to the vet at his injections coming up. Also great point about his general fitness. Although he does occasionally jog with my husband, it is not a daily occurrence and I did say to him (the husband!) today perhaps we just need to reign Boston in a bit earlier when he's playing to calm him down. it was a cool day today in the UK so I don't think he was too hot...just over excited. Thanks again,I will post again if there are any developments. Tash
