Not my dog, but a dog I fostered for some time and loved and visited regularly. He belonged to a close friend.
5 years old, long coat, 85 lb shepherd. The dog went for daily long distance runs with his owner. He was in good shape, fit and healthy.
It was about 80 degrees in the shady forest, and according to his owner, the dog chased some animal (deer/moose) for about 6 minutes- he tracked him with GPS collar, running very fast for those 6 minutes, then slower and slower after until 22 minutes the dog stopped moving and the owner found him dead shortly after that.
It was one of the most wrenching phone calls I've ever received, and just heartbreaking. This was a really special dog and even though he wasn't mine, I feel his loss.
This isn't the first time the dog has run like this. So it's not like this type of effort was new to the dog.
Do dogs collapse and die this quickly of just heat stroke? Dog had no injury and per the GPS track had broken off the chase voluntarily and found the trail before collapsing.
I am also a trail runner and regularly run my dogs in about 80 degree temps- and have for 20 years now. While I don't allow them to chase stuff, they haven't shown signs of dangerous overheating. I always make sure we are near water and if it's really hot I will just swim them, but still it seems odd a dog would die so quickly from heat.
I've read about it but can't get any real answers.
What I'm wondering is whether this was heat stroke or a bad heart - something else? It won't make a difference to his owner who is reeling... but I am still trying to make sense of this.
Yes, death from heat stroke can happen very, very quickly. I lived in a very hot area for over 20 years and heat stroke deaths were much too common in summer there, in horses and in dogs. not to mention people. Even hauling a horse in a trailer was dangerous in those months.
So sorry to hear of this happening to that dog. I'm sure the dog overheated fairly quickly, especially since he was a long coat.
Temps here have been high, with brutal humidity. Just the other day I needed to rush Shadow to a clinic and spend the day there because she was unable to stand up.
The strange part was that we had a very hot day, with average humidity, a cooler day with higher humidity and then another fairly cool day with stupid humidity.
The heat she handled but as the humidity climbed she got weaker and weaker.
I know she has a weak heart, and a vet that has never seen her was visibly troubled listening to it. We both agreed that the humidity seems the issue, not the heat.
But years back I had an online friend who had a beautiful dog, possible lab or cross. The dog was active and fit, they hiked and explored a lot. The dog was running one day, turned and gave his owner a funny look and dropped dead.
Answers that we need sometimes just are not there. I'm sorry.
What was the humidity? I would find it odd that a dog would drop of heat stroke like that in 80 degrees unless there were other factors. And some long coats are not double coated dogs.
Nitro came very close to heat stroke a couple of years ago, in conditions which weren't dangerous, and he'd handled with no problem before. I was close to traumatised by the event. I've tried to make sense of it too, the best I've come up with is, 'What dog is going to turn down a walk/outing just because they feel off colour or unwell?' They're enthused, happy, excited, and don't look unwell, at the prospect of a walk.
Is it a all possible that while the dog was chasing the deer/moose that is was bitten by a snake. With the rapid heart rate of the run along with heat/humidity and type of snake venom it could be quick. Snake bites can be hard to find on a long coated dog. Anything is possible in the woods.
That is a really intelligent suggestion. The dog could have been bitten multiple times by a snake. The fact that the dog started running slower and slower for 22 minutes is consistent with this.
I did hear about special training you can do at a special center with your dog in some areas. They train your dog to avoid snakes. Especially rattle sounds. The dog learns to actively go around snakes and be on the lookout for them.
Thanks for the responses. I just feel so terrible for my friend. This was his best buddy and a really sweet, cuddly, great dog. Perfect trail dog.
There aren't any venomous snakes where he was running (far north) so that couldn't have been it. I think a dog can overheat quickly, I just don't think dropping dead so fast is very likely. I saw a friend's dog (lab) start to overheat once, and it was pretty obvious- kind of shaky and unbalanced and super red mucous membranes- we got him to water and he recovered.
It's just so sad and sudden. Makes me nervous running with my dogs, but being extra cautious in heat isn't a bad thing.
I'll send along condolences. It's just so sad.
We'll probably never know- a necropsy wasn't possible (remote wilderness area, big dog, had to be buried close to where he fell).
Well that rules out the snakes. But something to consider in other areas.
Too bad a necropsy wasn't possible.
Definitely could have been a heart problem, including a hemangiosarcoma on the heart that started to bleed. The blood starts filling the pericardial sac. If it fills quickly, the dog drops dead quickly. If it fills slowly, the dog slows down more and more and then dies. There is nothing your friend could have done for his dog if that was it, even if he hadn't been in the wilderness. Hemangiosarcoma is a plague that is hitting more and more GSDs younger and younger.
I've definitely experienced heat issues and I've seen dogs experience it. You get dizzy, nauseous. IMO, the dog would have stopped running and been walking. This sounds more like there was a possible underlying health issue.
Very sorry this happened to your friend. Its unfortunate that a necropsy was not possible to get them some potential answers. Hyperthermia could have caused it, but I would also be wondering about an underlying heart issue or arrhythmia as well as a few other possibilities
Rose- true, he analyzed the track from the GPS track pretty closely and it resembled the actions of otherwise healthy runners who die suddenly of heart issues- fast, slow, fast slow and then just stopped.
Jax- agreed, I once had heat stress and the main symptom for me was headache/fatigue. It wasn't super serious, though, just a reminder to be more careful. In that case I was out in near 100% humidity and at about 100 degrees. It seems there was probably an underlying issue. I've been out with dogs a lot in summer, and I do take precautions but have never seen a dog seriously suffer from the heat even while running with humidity.
It is very sad. He was a such a gorgeous dog, got compliments from everyone and loved his frisbee. Major loss for his "dad".
Exactly. It went to a 105 heat index with almost 100% humidity that weekend. I had a headache, exhausted the rest of the weekend (and we were trialing the day after it started!). Black spots in my vision, dizziness. A dog would stop running if all that happened. However, the dog I saw experience heat stroke appeared fine when put in her crate. The owner went back several minutes later and saw she was off.. Anything is possible but I still think something else was going on as well.
I've found that it can be 68 degrees F with high humidity and my long haired big-boy gets tired faster. This year, early mornings seem to have higher dew points than late afternoon. I guess the heat burns off some of that humidity. So play time is the last half hour of daylight lately. I'm glad someone started this discussion, yet sad that it took a death to do it.
A necropsy would not bring the dog back. It would give the owner an answer as to what or why but the end is the dog died. What a sad story.
I did have a dog have a problem with heat. She was a big, barrel-chested long hair with undercoat. She and my other dog were on a short trail ride with me. As we got back to the barn, she was in distress. Cooling her and she recovered. I don't think we cooled her the way that you are supposed to but she recovered. We had been out in similar situations many times before.
It's hard to get the grief in my friend's voice on the phone out of my head... I just keep hearing him saying goodbye to his best friend.
I guess all I can say is love the dogs you have and make sure there can be no regrets. This dog had an amazing life full of love and adventure. I just wish it hadn't ended so soon.
I hear heat stroke can happen in minutes. It could be his heart and with the heat combined. I know there is a big difference when running after something like moose or ball or any kind of drive they are working much harder then say a jog or bike ride at a calm steady pace. The humidity can make it feel 90 degrees. What ever caused it I’m so very sorry for your friend’s loss.
One other thing to consider Saco, one of my dogs goes into full blown Anaphylaxis from a bee sting. The one time it happened was in minutes and I had to rush him straight to ER.
Years ago, a friend brought her little terrier to our house. We were outside for a bit and the dog disappeared for about 5 minutes or so, no longer than 10 at the most. We found him lying nearly unconscious on the floor of a room in the barn where I kept birds. He chewed his way through a screen door and had been trying to chew through one of the cages to get to the some birds before he collapsed.
I grabbed the dog, handed him to my friend, and ran inside for some ice. I put the dog in a bucket of water with the ice to cool him down and revive him. He did come around, but if we hadn't found him as quickly as we did, he would have died. As it was, he was groggy for a while, but did completely recover.
Heat stroke happens fast. There doesn't have to be any other factor. It kills, and it kills quickly.
So sorry this happened and the owner had to learn about it this way. It's horribly tragic for all concerned.
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