lethargic dog

[Patrick Windsor II]

Hello,

I have an 18 month old male doodle. He is a fairly active dog, he frequently goes running with my wife and when she comes home he usually is running to the door to greet her. Yesterday we noticed he seemed a little "mopey" and lethargic. His bowel movements are fine, no diarrhea or anything like that, he just seems like he is tired. I am not sure how concerned I should be, there are no other symptoms I can see and i felt his nose and it was not hot (not sure if that is an accurate way to check a dog for a temperature or not). I was just curious if I should be taking him to a vet. I definitely do not want to be that owner that brings their dog to the vet for every little thing.

My wife is beside herself over this and my response was lets just wait and see if he has any other symptoms, maybe he is just tired or did not sleep well...

[charlotte bednarsh]

Hi,

I would definitely bring your baby to the vet.  This way he can be checked and you can be reassured that all is well.  I'm sure the vet will understand your concern.

[BG and Gavin]

Lethargy is not a normal thing. The only time we have experienced it was when Gavin had a fever or was overheated due to very hot weather. Could your dog have become overheated or dehydrated due to the running? I also see from another post that he is being picky on his food. If he is not eating this may also be a cause or a symptom. If he has not rallied I would go to the vet. Get him to show you how to take rectal temp. It became a useful skill for me.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

If your guy has bounced back, I'd keep an eye out for recurrent bouts.  If he's still lethargic, I agree with others and I'd  get him to your vet for check-up Lethargy can come from anything as simple as an upset stomach, fatigue, or soreness to more serious illnesses.   

[charlotte bednarsh]

Hi, just wondering how your pup is doing today.  If he is still lethargic, I would definitely seek the advice of a vet.  It's so hard for us "parents" because our pup babies can't tell us what's wrong, so rather than agonize I would seek professional assistance.  Please keep us posted, as we all worry about everyone's doodles.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Hopefully he's doing better, but if not I agree with others....I would at least give my vet a call.

[Shari Becker]

I don't want to sound blasé, but I do want to say that right around 18 months, I was surprised by how mellow Lexi could get. My breeder had said she would mellow out between 12-24 months, and she did. Now, we will sometimes have one or two days (esp. if it is rainy or something) when she is just super sleepy and mellow. Eating fine, otherwise happy. I definitely checked in with our vet the first two times she had days like that ... and I panicked, too. My advice would be to watch, and call your vet if you are really worried, but also not to panic. She sleeps a ton more now at 2 1/2 than she did at 1 year.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

I was actually going to say the same thing! At 18 months Winnie mellowed out considerably and started just laying around- which was MUCH different than how her "usual" puppy behaviour was! It happened kind of abruptly where she stopped being a total maniac when we came home, she was content laying on the couch with us in the evening instead of pestering us to play, etc.  Several times my husband and I wondered if she was getting sick.

But we did what we affectionately call the "Sick Test"- we purposely tried to get her all riled up and excited. And, Wham! She was up and about- running around and goofing off. Not sick, just growing up! :-)  I'm not saying this is what is going on with your JJ, but it is something to consider since the vet found nothing. 

[Shari Becker]

Ha ha ha! We do the same thing. Take out a toy, wrestle a little. She's just mellowed with age. As for the meds, there's absolutely no point in giving a healthy dog medication. I'd avoid that at all costs.

[Patrick Windsor II]

Thank you everyone, I did bring JJ to the vet this morning and I am happy top report that the vet found nothing wrong with him. They did a physical and complete blood work and tested for heart worm and a few other diseases and all was negative. She said to just keep an eye on him and check back in a week.. The only recommendation she made was to give him mirtazapine (she gave me a script for it) to help with his appetite (he is a finicky eater), I am hesitant to do that though... I would be curious about what you all think of that.. He is not underweight or dehydrated

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I personally think it would be a mistake to give drugs to a healthy dog who is not overweight or dehydrated; if everyone here who owns a finicky eater put the dog on mirtazapine, you'd see the stock prices soar overnight, lol. There are all kinds of ways to get an otherwise healthy dog to eat without using drugs, some of which we discussed in your post in the Food Group. Although I'm not a fan of adding toppers just to entice a dog to eat, IMO it would be preferable to add a little something to the food bowl than to give unnecessary drugs. 

I'm glad the vet did not find any problems. 

[BG and Gavin]

I have been known to mix in a tablespoon of wet food with the kibble which does the trick. I would avoid drugs in an otherwise healthy dog.

[charlotte bednarsh]

So glad all is well.