Category: Animal House
In july of 2010, I recently obtained my first guide dog from guiding eyes for the blind. The question is why does he throw up in the early hours of the morning? I've heard several different takes on this from he's hungry, to he's got a digestive system problem. He never did this during my training in new york. Any help would be appreciated.
Derek
I got my guide dog from GEB too. Well I know my dog throws up if he eats his food too fast. I put water in his food which does help. Best thing to do of course is to talk to a vet about it.
Derek, have you gone to a vet about this? If not, I suggest you do, particularly if this is happening on a regular basis. Are those various opinions from vets, or just people you've asked in general? Could be anything from anxiety, to a digestive problem. Have you changed his food since you left the school? If so, that could be part of it. Either way, you need to ask a vet if you haven't already, sooner rather than later.
and bring this up to the trainers at your school in case they've got some input as to why this might be happening, in addition to seeing a veterinarian. good luck with getting this issue resolved.
I asked the guide dog instructors that very question and they said that he is getting hungry. As I said, he only does this in the early hours of the morning and it doesn't happen night after night. I am considering switching his food, any suggestions?
Derek
That's strange. I've never heard of that happening. I'd get a veterinary checkup done on him if I were you. This is the first I've heard of a dog throwing up when they're hungry. Not to say it doesn't happen but I'd get him checked if I were you. If it is in fact something serious it's better to get it out in the open now so you can start doing whatever needs to be done.
I agree. This sounds like something that I wouldn't hesitate to have checked out.
As for switching food, make sure you do it gradually; not all at once. It's recommended that you feed your dog half of the old food and half of the new food for about a week or so to see how the dog reacts to it, and to also give the dog's system a chance to adjust to the new food. Their digestive systems are very sensitive, and the full force of a complete food change done all at once can throw it off kilter.
Which food are you feeding your dog now? How much can you afford to spend on food? Another possibility to look at is maybe your dog has some sort of allergy to certain foods. There are a lot of animals out there who are allergic to grains and wheat products, so maybe your dog needs a grain-free food. Your vet can help with determining whether or not this is the case.
As I said, he only throws up occasionally. They said not to worry about it. I was surprised at first when they said this. There's always been somebody in the room when he has done it and they said that the acid was clear. The vet said that he may have acid reflux, but I hope this isn't the case. I'll continue to monitor him at home and if he does it again, I'll get him looked at. I can aford some good foods for him just need some suggestions.
since for whatever reason youseem dead set against visiting a vet,i'm probably wasting my time. at any rate, what you need to do as far as changing food is to start with one/fourth new to three fourths old. serve that two days. then go to half and half for two or three days. then three fourths for two to three days. then all new food. don't worry if during the change over the stool consistency changes. if it lasts for more than a coupl e days after the change, then you might not be feeding a good food for the pup.
as for the throwing up, it could be giardia, which is an overgrowth of harmful bacteria. often stress causes the digestive system to get out of whack. so you need to go visit the vet and take a stool and vomitus sample. he can do tests to determine if it's giardia or some other bacteria infection or whatever.
I'm not set against visiting a vet. They suggested that I give him a tabblit of pepcid ac before bed.
why would you want to change the food the food your dog is on is on it for a spesific reason to do with it's training/working .. cheers.
Not necessarily. A lot of schools have partnerships with specific dog food companies, so that's why the dogs get what they get. A lot of times, though, once you get your dog, you have to change their food for one reason or another. There's nothing wrong with wanting to change the food, as long as you are giving your dog a healthy, nutritionally balanced food, and the switch happens over time and not all at once.
Exactly.