Increased panting

Hello,

I am new to this board (sort of.) My mom is a member and I've read various posts and my mom submitted pictures of my dog Belle on the picture board.

I am concerned about Belle because she has been panting a lot even without exercizing (or very light exercizing.) She never use to pant but in the last month or so she pants all the time. I am concerned because the weather hasn't gotten any hotter (in fact it's gotten cooler) and her coat isn't much longer than it was when she wasn't panting. I just want to know if increased panting is normal.

Lisa

How old is she? Has she had her heart checked out recently? Any coughing, sneezing, or nasal discharge? when she does exercise, does she have to stop sooner than normal or is she still able to go for the same length walk or play?

Hi Lisa and welcome to the board. Rory's mom is a vet student so with some further information she can likely give a little more guidance.

There are a range of reasons a dog could start panting but you'd really want to get her to a vet. Often panting/breathing hard has to do with their heart so you'd want to eliminate that is an issue or take appropriate action if that is the cause. About half of all cavaliers get a heart murmur by age 5 so this is important to have checked. If your vet can;t hear anything and has no other ideas on the cause of panting I'd see a certified cardiologist just to be sure.

Thank you for the quick replies. Belle is 9 months old. She hasn't had nasal discharge and the only sneeze she has is that reverse sneeze that comes with having an elongated soft palate (this hasn't been diagnosed by a vet but she gets the choking when she exercises sometimes and she snores.) She has actually been more active lately, not less. She doesn't have to stop sooner. She doesn't seem unhappy or sick or anything like that, she's just panting more. I'm wondering if it's related to her elongated soft palate. I read that it can start blocking the nasal passages causing dogs to pant more. Belle has seen a vet recently for her ears (had an infection caused by yeast) but they also did a check up and didn't say there was anything odd about her heart but maybe it was because they weren't looking. I'll have to take her in for another appointment for the panting.

I'd get her checked out, but just to add to the optimistic ideas...

Cedar didnt pant a whole lot as a puppy. She romped and played, but never got so heated as to pant. When she got tired, she plopped down where she was and slept.

She pants more now that she's older. instead of insta-naps, she pants to cool off.

There's no science here, nothing but my observations of one dog. But Cedar's about the same age as your Belle, so I thought I'd mention it.

Hi Lisa

Welcome to the board. I do remember the pictures of Belle and yourself that your mum posted. Bell is a real beauty. Anyway i have to agree with Cedars mum. I also have a 9 month old cavalier who has never panted at all until very recently. We all thought it was so cute when he done it because he had never done it before. To be honest i just assumed he has started doing it as he is getting a bit older now and has realised that if he is a little hot that can cool him down. Joeys panting is not excessive so i am not going to worry about it. Maybe it is just something they discover they can do around that age. Thats just my own personal experience i hope everything is fine with Belle.

I'm trying to remember if Rory started panting around 9 months.... I kinda think he did. I think I remember thinking it was the first time he had "smiled"....

Yes it may just be something like that. Jaspar didn't ever do the 'smile' either til he was at least 6 months old, maybe older.

I would nonetheless raise this with a vet at some point who can talk to you about what would be normal -- this is just in case it is something excessive. It is very unlikely to be heart related at that age. It sounds like it is probably just her getting that bit older and starting to behave like a dog.

Lisa!! you know, i've been noticing the same thing with Zack. remember when you were here and belle was panting and zack wasn't--you were concerned about the panting and i was saying "that's just what dogs do." And i had thought it was odd that Zack didn't pant, i'd noticed that from the beginning--he NEVER panted, and only got the 'smile' when he played in a certain way. but in the past few weeks, he's started panting. It seems like a normal dog thing to me, at least my previous dogs did that, it was just part of being a dog. that's why i thought it was odd that zack didn't pant. i'm glad people mentioned the smile--dogs look happy when they pant. it was interesting to read this thread and see that panting may be a developmental thing.
anyway i know you'll ask your vet about it, you are so conscientious about having things checked. You're right, Belle does have good endurance. She played all day and kept coming back for more, took hours to conk out.
xo