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Location: Nottingham
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,477
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I Cant Take Much More...
So, background is since the age of 3 Flynn has been having what I call his 'funny turns', so they have been happening for 2.5 years. In that time he's had about 7 of them.
I took him to the vets earlier this year with my concerns. The vet checked his heart, listened to my detailed descriptions and said it didnt sound like it was CDM or epilepsy (the latter being of some concern since it is an issue in GWP's and it's in Flynn's lines). He said they wouldnt be able to tell unless I managed to take him in whilst it was happening.
Anyway, it's happened twice in the space of a few weeks. My own personal view is that he is getting overheated but due to internal factors rather than external. If it was hot weather and he was running about like a loon then I could understand them and take measures to control the situation. However, it appears to happen completely randomly and all but one of these episodes have been during the colder months.
Some days he can run and run for 3 hours at a time and nothing happens, and then some days he can do very little and it happens, there seems to be no rhyme or reason.
Today for example we'd had a short, sedate stroll by the river followed by some training in the park. I was in the middle of doing a recall with an emergency stop. I looked at Flynn and he was sat with his head bobbing every which way. I called him to me and he could barely run because he was staggering like he was drunk. His eyes go vacant looking and he hunches his back and clenches his paws and staggers about. However, he is completely aware of everything that is going off and doesnt appear to think anything is wrong.
I bundled all the dogs in the car and rushed to the vets (as much as I could in rush hour traffic) only to find the damn thing closed. But I will make him an appointment.
It's gotten to the point that i'm unbelievably anxious when I take him out. I watch his every move looking for the tell tale signs and i'm convincing myself of things which arent happening. I darent take him far, we've all but abandoned the lovely walks we used to do simply because i'm scared of him having one of these funny turns when we are out. When I do take him out i'm in a constant state of panic and anxiety and just cant enjoy a walk anymore. I'm even worse when i'm alone with the dogs.
I've bought him Dorwest Keepers Mix because it says it helps overheating but he's just such a hyper dog and gets so worked up about things that I think his body kind of reaches boiling point. I try and keep him calm but it's such a difficult thing to do. I know this sounds bad but the thought of having him PTS has crossed my mind because i'm finding it so stressful and dont know how much more I can take.
The fact that I dont yet know 100% what is wrong with him is bothering me and also the thought that if it is overheating, how am I going to control it considering his nature? I kow there are owners out there who's dogs have serious issues that they have to worry about and mine sounds lame but I do have a question for those people...
If you have a dog with a condition that is random, how do you deal with life with them? I was walking along telling myself not to worry about something that isnt even happening, worry about it when it does happen but then it went and happened! The more I have to deal with it, the worse it's getting for me.
I know another trip to the vets is something I have to do but does anybody have any advice about controlling overheating? Everything I have read relates to overheating due to temp or hard physical activity, and thats not what happens in my case.
Sorry for the rant, and i'm not normally an emotional person but I just feel like crying, my nerves are shattered