Dog goes down, what happened??

[dmunk]

Was out yesterday messing around on the ranch and had something odd happen to my dog.
Just bought a used four wheeler and was testing it out. Drove the 3 miles up to the farm, with my dog running at a good pace along side. After getting to the ranch i checked a few things for about 15 min and headed up into the hills with my dog and 2 of the farm dogs.
From there i had probably gone another mile or so when i jumped 2 yotes that were in a wash. They split up and I picked one and chased it with the dog going all out in pursuit. Took me awhile to get close (rough ground) and when i went to turn him back towards the dogs he jumped another wash and headed up the opposite hill. I had to backtrack to find a spot i could cross with the quad. when i finally saw him again my dog had closed the gap some, but was still about 15-20 yards behind. When i finally got near them again with the quad the yote reached a crp field that had been in awhile, because it was full of alot of tall sagebrush. I couldn't follow anymore, so headed for the nearest hill to get a view. About 7 min later i started calling her back. When i finally saw her again she was acting a little strange. I drove around(slowly) the brush a bit more, but noticed she was starting to lag a little. Finally I stopped and took a look at her. I then noticed she was shaking a little and starting to stumble as she followed. I had her chew some snow and headed towards home. On the way back she got slower and slower until finally she sat down. This had me really worried because i've never seen this dog quit at anything and she would follow me anywhere. I Loaded her heavy ass on the back of the quad and tore home as fast as i could. After watering her and letting her rest she seemed better, but was still slow moving. Iv'e heard of dogs getting heat stroke after long chases, but the temp was probably only 43deg max. After telling my dad what happened, I learned that he had roaded her to and from the ranch about a half hour before i had showed up with the quad. Did she overheat or just push it too hard? What , If anything can b done now and could this have any lasting consequenses? IN the past i've driven /ridden all day long with her in tow and she has never even hinted at being tired?

[Arkansas Frog]

her sugar bottomed out[low blood sugar]

[mountain top]

I used to coon hunt with guy who had a redtick that had sugar problems, he said the hound didn't start showing signs of this until he was 3 years old, scared the hell out of him the first time he fell out in the woods. He carried a couple of lil Debbie oatmeal cakes in his coat when he was hunting

[dmunk]

Thanks for the responses. Blood sugar makes sense. She is close to 3 yrs old as well. Hopefully this will not become a re-occuring thing!

[MAC]

HAD DOG WITH HEART MURMUR DO THE EXACT SAME THING. WOULD BE FINE UNTIL HE REALLY OVER DID IT. MIGHT HAVE HIM CHECKED TO BE SAFE

[YSHBHounds]

Some dogs don't developed heart murmers until later on..it happens.

Low blood glucose can happen, but if its never happened before and she has chased something like that in the past and never had a problem going that distance if not further regardless of the previous run.. you might want to consider a visit to a Vet.

Also some dogs developed what Vets call "exercise induced collapsing" and it can be from a number of things..most are cardiovascular related and some are chemically (thyroid, blood glucose,etc).

I'd say if it happens again, take her to a professional.

[Cold Track]

As has been stated, her glucose level was probably low. I've seen dogs wobble around and tip over like that. A friend of mine had a dog do that this year, her glucose level was fifty five and a dog should be in the one hundreds. He later found out that she didn't eat her food from the night before, so she was burning on what she had eaten two days previous to the hunt. Another thing that I am a stickler on is making sure they get enough water. Lots of people have dogs go down, and a large percentage of the time they are dehydrated wether it is winter or in the dry months they require a fair ammount of water to perform. In the winter I notice, and I'm sure others do as well that a dog won't drink that much. Most of the time their water is froze when they decide to get a drink. Now, these are my opinions and they may be wrong but this is what I do in the winter. I take hot water and pour it over their food until it almost runs over the top of the bowl, let it sit and soak for a few min. and then give it to them. For one they are taking in heat from the now warm water, the food is soft so it is already a step towards breaking down, and a dog will eat all their food and lap up all the dog food flavored water, hence they are likely to intake more water than they normally would in the cold winter air. I've never had a dog quit or go down as a lot of people I've hunted with have at one time or another. This is just my thoughts and suggestions to guys running in the cold winter air, it has worked for me.

[dmunk]

I'm watching her real close. I really hope its not something like a heart murmur!
I have a heated water dish, so she always has access to H2O.I have definitely noticed however that she hardly drinks any at all during the winter. I'm sure she probably didn't drink anything that morning when we took her out, and I doubt she had a chance to drink in between all the running. Also, it was unseasonably warm that day(strange winter), very sunny. However, she didn't drink a crazy amount once i got her to water afterwards.
I'm definitely gonna keep a few treats in my coat pockets the next time we run like that. Good to hear that this has happened to other people, and usually ends up alright. Once again thanks for the feedback!