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Collapsing dog


MC
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I think your dog had waht is know as 'tied-up'..which is a build up of lactic acids atfer excercise.

 

It happend with my greyhound regulaury - exaclty the same syptoms.

 

It happend alot in horses to - - tripart paste is good for dogs, along with a suguary tea....or warm water wilth 6 gramm of gluce.

 

For instant relief put a spoon full of baking powder at the back of the dogs tounge.....

 

Avoid feeding or watering before work as this can bring it on.

 

I agree - it is fightening

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  • 2 weeks later...

MC, only just seen this thread – thought this might help.

 

I have and have had a number of spaniels over the years. This has happened to me with a number of mine. I can usual tell when it's going to happen because their behavior changes which is an indication to stop working them. I carry dextrol tablets (buy it from Boots) which is purer form of glucose than any chocolate, meaning that it takes less time to work its way into the blood stream. I usual give them a tablet morning and lunch time depending on the type of day and work that is required of them. If it’s going to happen, it’s when it’s a cold day when there is water work involved or it’s just very wet and cold. Lucky, the only time I’ve had to go the Vet was when the blood sugar level was so low they had to inject the dog with glucose, that was a worry as it was out of the blue, there was no sign the dog was going to fit. So for that reason I feed them dextrol tablets every day they are out working.

 

For this reason I’m extending my pack of hounds to cover the number of days I have in a season and not to over work them! Will probably fall foul of the hunting act now!!

 

Hope this helps.

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Thanks Spaniels,

 

I do carry some jelly babies while we are out and he gets a few throughout the day. He doesn't like the yellow ones though and he spits them out. I will get some dextrol as you suggest.

 

Merlin worked hard all day saturday and although he spent all day sunday resting we didn't have any problems.

 

cheers

 

Martin

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As it's already been stated - stamina is about good feeding and exercise regime leading up to the day and not just slipping a few glucose tables here and there during the day. Glucose tables are a good recovery solution if your dog does collapse (and is able to chew them) or is looking that way but I wouldn't feed them under normal circumstances - they do boost the blood sugar levels, but it's only a short term thing and levels can quickly fall back below what they were originally. You might be making the situation worse.

 

You don't see any professional athletes using them for that very reason - it's all slow release foods like power bars and bananas etc!

 

Glad to hear the dog made a full recovery MC

Edited by Cushat
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Cushat,

 

I know exactly what you mean about the glucose tablets not being the answer and he gets a decent diet and exercise.

 

At the moment he is fed on Dr Johns Silver Medal and I have cut it down a little as he was putting on a bit of weight throughout the summer. My question is, should I start feeding him more during the shooting season as he will be working more or should I change to Gold medal that is higher in protein and oils?

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I've had a quick look on t'web and Silver Medal only looks to be about 18% protein - not very high for a working dog mix (Skinners/Chudleys and the likes are usually at least 21% for working dog and 23% for higher intensity - Chudley's performance is 26%!).

 

The weight should come off him quick enough when he's working and that in itself will help his stamina. Ours certainly needs the volume increasing during the season and we struggled to keep the weight on her at the end of last season but she was out a lot. And you could maybe try the gold during the season.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well I`ve just come back from a morning decoying geese followed by a walked up day and my young springer has just had her second fit.

The first time was after a 4 week layoff due to kennel cough and her season, she was working OK and started to flag in the afternoon and was slow to respond and finally she just keeled over arching her back and baring her teeth.

 

This time she has again just finished her season and as I say we had a morning decoying geese, not too cold and then a walk around the farm hadges for a mile or two. Just before we returned to the farm I pricked a cock pheasant and she had to cross a burn and ran about 150m after it and she just sat down and looked at me, I called her back and when she got to the burn she seemed to be reluctant to cross and as we walked the final 100 m she started to lag behind and finally collapsed at the car.

 

I have given her some milk warmed up with a Tbspn of sugar in it and she has wolfed 2 lots down, I am now cooking some rice for her to see if that will give her a better prolonged boost.

 

Scarey stuff indeed !!

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Henry,

 

I feel for you having been through the same thing, I hope she is better soon. The vets used a hairdrier to warm Merlin up and also gave him some Hills food and stirred about half a pound of sugar in with it.

 

He took about an hour to come around properly and after an hour and a half he was into everything as usual.

 

I had exactly the same issue with Merlin not wanting to cross a creek, it is as if they know they won't make it.

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Cheers MC, just back from the vets and she recommends a meal before working, a half measure of normal food with boiled rice at about 6am if we start at 9am.

 

I have decided not to have pups from her, I just need to get the Mrs around to the idea that we need a retriever soon.........Lab/Chessie/IWS :)

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Cushat,

 

I know exactly what you mean about the glucose tablets not being the answer and he gets a decent diet and exercise.

 

At the moment he is fed on Dr Johns Silver Medal and I have cut it down a little as he was putting on a bit of weight throughout the summer. My question is, should I start feeding him more during the shooting season as he will be working more or should I change to Gold medal that is higher in protein and oils?

 

 

I would just feed him abit more......with work - dogs do run off more.

 

I feed my lurchers Doctor John silver medal..but only as a base food, and usually top up with either raw rabbit or tuna... during the season I increase to two meals a day.......I just think cos its cheap..the're not getting enough out of it..but thats my personal opinion.

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Paul,

 

I have upped his feed and am also now feeding him with Dr John's Gold instead of silver. He did pile on a bit of weight during the summer, not a lot but enough so I had cut his feed back a bit. He is also fed twice a day. He gets 320g of gold medal per day.

 

He does get top ups as well and will have fresh meat at least once a week.

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A friend of mine who told me about dogs collapsing due to low sugar levels reccommends this:

 

Kronch Pemmikan Feeding Bar Kronch Pemmikan is a segmented bar which is designed to allow large amounts of easily digestible energy to be given to a dog, without overfilling it’s stomach. Bar is divided into 8 pieces each weighing 50g to make feeding easier. Pemmikan is ideal for hunting, guard and working dogs, giving a constant performance throughout the day, and making the dog more attentive. It is also ideal for show dogs, as it reduces the stress that the dog feels during the long waiting periods, and so making it easier to handle. This is especially relevant if the dog has not been fed on the day of the show. It can also be used for underweight dogs. Depending on weight, and level of activity, 100-200g a day can be fed to active or compeditive dogs. The pieces can be broken up and fed at intervals during the needed period, and effects will be seen after 30 minutes, with optimum results seen after 1 1/2 hours Kronch Pemmikan contains 24% protein, and 59% fat. Ingredients: Lard, vegetable fat, glucose, maize, barley, brewer’s yeast, rice, sugar beet and garlic

 

Not tried it yet so I cant say for myself. Ebays the cheapest place.

 

Ben

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Martin

 

My springers are dogging in hard 6+ hours a day at this time of the year and keeping up energy/sugar levels can be a problem.

 

Starch foods are converted into sugars that are slow release, so bearing this in mind I have found that 1 feed of say Dr Johns or Chudley's and another feed of a rice based food or cooked rice seems to stop the problem without pumping in too much protien. Chudley's have a very good nutritionist who will give very good advice on the phone..................well worth a call.

 

CT

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