<p>I hope someone here can offer up a suggestion or two about our dog. We have a 10 year old golden retriever. He’s usually fairly energetic, lot’s of tail wagging and after us for pets, but he’s getting older and does nap more frequently. Last night he was fine through dinner time. We gave him his normal dinner of moistened dry dog food and let him lick a plate or two that had some left over butter with old bay seasoning from steamed shrimp. We often give him just a bit of table scraps with his dinner and it never seems to affect him. I’m mentioning this in case this might be a food allergy.</p>
<p>After dinner I went out and when I came back at 9:30 my husband said dog had been acting funny - very lethargic, moving slowly and looking at us kind of sadly. I know that dogs in general usually bounce back after a day or so of tummy upsets if they take it easy, eat grass, poop a lot and generally get it out of their system, so that’s what I’m hoping for. He had his normal biscuit last night before bedtime. This morning he greeted me calmly and hasn’t made his normal bolt to the door to get out. He’s just laying around and moving slowly again. Do I take him to the vet ASAP or wait a day and see how this plays out? I just can’t tell if this is an emergency situation or a plain tummy ache.</p>
<p>I’d take him, ASAP, just in case. Our dog was acting the same way recently and it really scared me. The vet diagnosed the problem. It wasn’t urgent, but he did need to be treated.</p>
<p>For normal tummy upset, you should withhold all food, just water for 24 hr and then give him rice (I make it very watery, like oatmeal consistency) for another 24 hr. By doing that, you can eliminate simple tummy upset from the equation. Could have eaten something bad in the yard…lots of things besides the table scraps could be bothering a Golden. I would see the vet today, just to be careful…but my experience is that vets don’t know either and they will prob assume it is simple tummy upset and tell you the above…to rule out the obvious. Thing is, you know your dog and what is normal and if how he is acting is not normal it could be something else. I don’t want to scare you with my history with goldens, just suffice it to say, I have been there.</p>
<p>I would take the dog to the vet ASAP. Possibly all that’s wrong with him is that he ate something that doesn’t agree with him. However, it could be more serious. My dog with these symptoms had a blocked bile duct that required emergency surgery. Lethargy can also be a symptom of tick-borne diseases.</p>
<p>You haven’t said much that would lead to this conclusion, but how has his breathing been lately? Older goldens ,labs and some other large breed dogs are prone to something called laryngeal paralysis (or paresis when it’s mild). It can start in a very subtle way - more sleeping and fatigue, more panting (in the summer you don’t think anything so unusual there) , less tolerance to long walks or exercise. You might notice a raspier quality to the bark or an occasional bit of gagging or coughing. Later on something called stridor (they make a bit of a sound when taking in air). What is happening is that the nerves to the vocal cords are affected and so they do not open properly when the dog takes a breath. The airway is restricted. That can lead to a dog just seems to have less energy, when in reality he is not getting enough air. </p>
<p>Even if this is not your situation , I thought I’d mention it. It’s something that is very good to be aware of in any case if you have an older golden since it’s often missed. There are medications and surgery that can help.</p>
<p>Golden owner here. Take him to the vet. Unless he’s been throwing up or having diarrhea, it doesn’t sound like an upset stomach. I don’t want to frighten you by naming things that can be wrong…just take him. Hopefully it is something minor.</p>
<p>I have a pomeranian and he’s only been lethargic just once in his 9 years. The vet took an x-ray and found a bladder stone. He put him antibiotics, which seemed to help almost immediately. He’s scheduled for surgery this week. Stomach upsets don’t slow him down, but I’m sure it could be different with golden retrievers. You know your dog best. If it’s unusual, I’d take him in.</p>
<p>Our friends’ dog, a lab, wasn’t so lucky, when their dog was lethargic. His x-ray showed a chicken bone.</p>
<p>I would take him in ASAP. With goldens/labs you never know what they might have put in their mouth and they have high pain tolerance so if something is bothering them, then it could be major.</p>
<p>My Lab had pancreatitis one time when he acted like your Golden is acting. (According to vet.) I think he had too much fat in the ground meat that we gave him (table scraps.) I no longer give him meat as a treat unless it’s very lean chicken. He recovered on his own in a couple of days, but it can sometimes be more serious.</p>
<p>Almost lunch time now. Dog is still kind of logy but ate normal breakfast and drank some water. We have an electric fence so he has free run of the yard. He’s been out since about 8:30 and has been walking from front to back and taking his naps in his usual spots. Came to me outside when I walked out and his eyes seemed much clearer and I got a tail wag. He’s not bouncing around and barking as much but overall he does seem a bit better. I think we will wait until tomorrow morning to decide if he needs to go in. He does not seem to be in any distress. The two times I heard him bark it seemed normal.</p>
<p>If you do the wait and see, take some notes on how the dog is doing a couple of times a day. It can be hard to recall the details a day or so done the road, best to be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>I hope you can toss the notes in a day or so!</p>
<p>I would take him in too. Any kind of pain can cause dogs to act this way. It could be nothing or something that will pass, but best to check it out.</p>
<p>Probably not your situation, but a couple of years ago, our guy was just not right, lethargic and just not perky. Had we not been going camping the next week, I probably would have waited a day or so to see if it resolved as it was subtle.</p>
<p>He ended up, after the vet scared us with other potential horrid things, with leptospirosis which dogs can get from raccoon urine. He was on liver meds for a month or so and recovered well, though he had nearly died of liver failure, but he rallied. However, he dramatically aged through that process.</p>
<p>Since then we have been instructed not to feed him meet, not table scraps, not wet dog food, as it is harder to digest. He gets eggs & cheese & broth on his dry food. </p>
<p>I had never heard of this and the poor guy nearly died, it was a blessing that I took him in sooner than I normally would have as they did IV support. It’s so tough with dogs as they are often rather stoic and not complainers.</p>
<p>Our vet thought he was fine until the lab work came back, so even she could not tell!</p>
<p>My Golden Retriever rule----when at the vet—ALWAYS x-ray first—then do blood work if nothing shows up on the x-ray.</p>
<p>Reason—Goldens notoriously eat everything (mine especially liked bras and crayons)----bottom line the x-rays are WAAYYYY cheaper than blood work (at least at my vet). Seems sensible to me!</p>
<p>Okay, we will all be paying special attention. When I say table scraps I mean literally a quarter of a cup of food and we rarely eat beef, so usually chicken or a piece of potato, won’t touch green beans or pasta. He does love sweet potatoes and bananas. I’m off to work but my oldest is home so he will keep an eye out. I’m going to make a vet appointment for tomorrow morning but hope he will feel like himself soon.</p>
<p>ilovedcollege - just saw your note. Our guy, unlike most golden’s, is not a real foodie and it’s not uncommon for him to leave his food out for an hour or two before eating it. Besides the little bit of table scraps he just get’s two scoops of dry dog food and a few little biscuits a day.</p>
<p>I don’t want to scare you but you should have some blood work done. We lost our golden (he was 9 1/2yo) this last spring due to a few medical problems that came upon him quickly. We still don’t know what exactly caused the problem because we did not do an autopsy. Anyway 2 weeks before the incident he had his regular checkup and blood work was great. Vet commented how healthy he was. Then when we brought him in his blood work showed alarms! Steroids as well as other meds, tests and xrays etc and could not fully diagnose the reason for the fast decline. Just for peace of mind you should go have him checked out asap. Could be nothing or you might get a headstart on whatever problem he is having.</p>
<p>Definitely take him to vet and keep him under careful observation until you do. As a golden owner/breeder of 30+ years (no longer breeding), medical problems can occur very fast, especially in the older ones. If he starts to show more signs today, take him today and not tomorrow.</p>