dog stumbling/staggering after running for a bit.

[bluecollar beagler]

got a friend with a dog that the past few times out after running for an hour or so will start staggering in the rearend and lay down and have trouble getting backup.. take him to the water and give him a few minutes and he will try to go at it again. today he just gave up basically and came staggering in...any ideas what might be causing the staggering? he acts fine otherwise and hunts hard but if they pound one for any amount of time he will come in stumbling...
i think there gonna try to get him to the vet but wanted to see if anyone has run into this before?

[Leaddog]

If the dog is coming in staggering it means the dog is hurt and when run it makes it worse. My advise is lay the dog up a few weeks and see how he/she feels. Ive seen it before and I believe this type of behavior is associated with a jarred or hurt back. One thing I do now is not let the dogs jump off the tailgate or anything else off the ground to help prevent an injury. - Brent

[Dave Swiger]

sounds like over heated. you go out and run in the 90 plus heat and tell me if your tongue is hanging out or stagger when you walk

[Bad Luck Kennels]

sounds like over heated. you go out and run in the 90 plus heat and tell me if your tongue is hanging out or stagger when you walk

+1

[foxxy]

no dout is over heated

[Charles Philpot]

Do you think it could be lime disease?

[BCBeagles]

If the running is intense I could see overheating. I have had more than one with low sugar issues, this caused what you describe. When does he feed the dog prior to running?

Try a couple teaspoons of Karo Syrup prior to run and see is this solves the issue. Again, not saying overheating can't occur and as well may be the case.

[bigcfromrbc]

I had a buddy with a dog do the same last year. We went running, and she seemed fine when we loaded up to move locations. Let her out, and at first we thought her back was broke the way she jumped off the back. Look like she was having a heat stroke and had to cool down. Luckily I had a cooler full of ice and bottles of water. Poor thing tried to run even though she wasn't able. He took her to the vet, and she had some sort of illness that made her do that. He gives her a pill a day, and she's 100% fine now. Might want to get a check at the vet.

[bluecollar beagler]

hes run the dog all summer with no issues except for the first time back in april or may and then sat morning (it was muggy but not blistering hot) and we only ran for 2 hrs and the only chase we had lasted about 30 minutes and he came back staggering.today he done the same thing. this dog has been ran hard all summer with no issues until now... i could see the overheating and wouldnt rule it out as a contributor but i think theres something else underlying as well. ill have to mention the sugar bc ive heard that before and didnt think of it, not sure when he feeds either. thanks for the input fellas..

[reddog1]

I had a eog do that and he had a bad disc. The vet gave him some antibiotics, muscle relaxers, and some steroid shots. Had to keep him in the house for 6 weeks in a confined space. After 8 months he could run again but he was never the same.

[JPRITCH]

Probably low sugar as was suggested in an earlier post but I had a dog do the same thing this year and thought it was the low sugar or he had over heated. When he came in to me I saw his gums were pale white. I called the vet right then and took him in as he couldn't even walk back to the truck. The vet did a complete blood work up and it came back that he was anemic. The vet asked why he was bleeding so bad because he had blood all over him from his tail. The hair had been knocked off since hunting season and had not grown back. The dog was producing an over abundance of white blood cells but he ruled out cancer thru the test. The vet wasn't sure but he knew he had a infection in the blood and even though he was producing more than enough red blood cells he couldn't absorb them as oxygenated cells. He put him on antibiotics and had me put him up for two weeks to rest. After the medication was completed he tested normal and he has been running without issues since. I wouldn't have ever guessed a blood infection but the vet figured he had contracted something through skin of his tail while out running. So unless you get it checked out you will never really know for sure. Oh by the way the vet was able to take a small vacation at my expense, but at least the dog is healthy again!

[BB Beagles]

Had a hound do the exact thing your discribing. Took him to vet and his blood sugar fell out. Vet gave me suplicall which is same thing as a does of karo syrup. After dog done it first time that was it till couple months later. Summer time running can be hard on a hound. Hard on kidneys too. Try keep lil Hershey bar and give dog while running. Good luck

[bill (flint river )]

hook worms will cause this, check his stool? I had a young male get hit with heat and he was never the same after that. I even tried laying him up for a few months. the damage was done. I ended given him away to a older fella who would only run for a hour early morning when he felt like going out. stop running this hound till u figure the problem out. did u look at his gums when it happen?

[S.R.Patch]

The eyes usually give away heat or low sugar. Have you checked his teeth & ears for a foul smell?
The body temp of a hound is 101, if you get up to 104 your gettin in trouble.
Be careful and don't exasperate the problem by running him until you know what the problem is...

[bluecollar beagler]

it was low blood sugar. i guess normal is 100 and his was 60 so id say when he was running it was dropping even lower. good to go now. thanks for the help fellas.