Hi guys, just looking for some advice/comments regarding my two year old Sprocker Spaniel.
I'm going to the vet with him on Friday for his yearly jabs so I'm going to ask the vet to look at his apparent health issue too.
I've not had a dog for forty odd years until now so I've nothing really to compare therefore I've no idea if this is normal or there's maybe an underlying problem but I do think that there's something not right with him.
The issue seems to be that he is absolutely shattered after his daily walks but recently with the advent of the hot weather his night time walk leaves him totally exhausted and panting really heavily and it takes him about a good half an hour to calm down but even tonight, with the weather a bit colder, we only had him out for maybe twenty minutes fifteen of which was chasing a ball and he could barely walk home despite us living about two minutes away from where we were walking him.
He's a male Sprocker spaniel aged two years & three months, he's more of a springer than a cocker (his mum is a springer) and his weight is fine at 23kgs (I'm obsessed with his weight), he eats well and doesn't really get many treats, he drinks plenty of fresh water, has a good daily diet of grain free wet food and grain free kibble. He also gets about four raw chicken legs a day, two after each walk. He's pretty much been on this diet now for about a year with no issues at all, his coat is fine and he doesn't scratch himself much, his teeth & gums are really healthy looking and his eyes are fine.
There's no problems toilet wise, his poos are solid in the morning and a bit softer in the evening but he's as regular as clockwork and he sleeps all night and has done since he was a puppy.
I walk him every morning for at least an hour and sometimes up to two hours and he gets an evening walk of maybe about half an hour to an hour at most.
I've averaged about 7kms per day walking him since Jan 2017 until now and from when he started going out at 12 weeks back in 2016 I averaged 4.5 kms per day so he probably averages at least double what I'm walking per day or even a wee bit more but recently, in the last month, I've noticed that our walks are getting shorter and he's not running about as much as he did before that.
He is basically sleeping about 16 to 18 hours a day now, he goes to sleep at about eight o'clock in the evening and gets up with us during the week at about 8am but on the weekend it could be ten am before he gets up then he has his daily walk, his breakfast and then he'll sleep from about eleven o'clock until about five o'clock then he has his evening meal and we take him out about six and then he starts to go to sleep at about eight, sometimes he'll go into the garden for the toilet at about ten then he'll go to bed with us around eleven pm.
He developed elbow dysplasia in his right elbow when he was about 12 months old (he developed bad limp) and he underwent keyhole surgery for that condition last October ( it was a long slow process to diagnose) but he appears to be completely cured of that condition now (no lameness) although he'll likely get it in his left elbow and also will likely suffer from arthritis in both elbows when he's older but I don't think this issued with fatigue and tiredness is down to joint problems but it could be I suppose?
During the first twelve months of his life he was pretty much full on and full of energy every day but after he went lame he started sleeping more so at that time I asked the vet if that was normal for a Sprocker and he said absolutely not and that he should be full of energy but he wasn't and I would say that he's probably calmed down even more now.
He's from a working breed of spaniel and I would doubt very much that he could be a working dog now but dogs are funny even though he's shattered now as I type this he would go out if I asked him and, like with his lameness which was only apparent when he came home you would never know that he is exhausted when out on a walk apart from the heavy panting but he only really does that at night as he doesn't usually pant much during the morning walks.
Thanks for reading this.
Tony
I'm going to the vet with him on Friday for his yearly jabs so I'm going to ask the vet to look at his apparent health issue too.
I've not had a dog for forty odd years until now so I've nothing really to compare therefore I've no idea if this is normal or there's maybe an underlying problem but I do think that there's something not right with him.
The issue seems to be that he is absolutely shattered after his daily walks but recently with the advent of the hot weather his night time walk leaves him totally exhausted and panting really heavily and it takes him about a good half an hour to calm down but even tonight, with the weather a bit colder, we only had him out for maybe twenty minutes fifteen of which was chasing a ball and he could barely walk home despite us living about two minutes away from where we were walking him.
He's a male Sprocker spaniel aged two years & three months, he's more of a springer than a cocker (his mum is a springer) and his weight is fine at 23kgs (I'm obsessed with his weight), he eats well and doesn't really get many treats, he drinks plenty of fresh water, has a good daily diet of grain free wet food and grain free kibble. He also gets about four raw chicken legs a day, two after each walk. He's pretty much been on this diet now for about a year with no issues at all, his coat is fine and he doesn't scratch himself much, his teeth & gums are really healthy looking and his eyes are fine.
There's no problems toilet wise, his poos are solid in the morning and a bit softer in the evening but he's as regular as clockwork and he sleeps all night and has done since he was a puppy.
I walk him every morning for at least an hour and sometimes up to two hours and he gets an evening walk of maybe about half an hour to an hour at most.
I've averaged about 7kms per day walking him since Jan 2017 until now and from when he started going out at 12 weeks back in 2016 I averaged 4.5 kms per day so he probably averages at least double what I'm walking per day or even a wee bit more but recently, in the last month, I've noticed that our walks are getting shorter and he's not running about as much as he did before that.
He is basically sleeping about 16 to 18 hours a day now, he goes to sleep at about eight o'clock in the evening and gets up with us during the week at about 8am but on the weekend it could be ten am before he gets up then he has his daily walk, his breakfast and then he'll sleep from about eleven o'clock until about five o'clock then he has his evening meal and we take him out about six and then he starts to go to sleep at about eight, sometimes he'll go into the garden for the toilet at about ten then he'll go to bed with us around eleven pm.
He developed elbow dysplasia in his right elbow when he was about 12 months old (he developed bad limp) and he underwent keyhole surgery for that condition last October ( it was a long slow process to diagnose) but he appears to be completely cured of that condition now (no lameness) although he'll likely get it in his left elbow and also will likely suffer from arthritis in both elbows when he's older but I don't think this issued with fatigue and tiredness is down to joint problems but it could be I suppose?
During the first twelve months of his life he was pretty much full on and full of energy every day but after he went lame he started sleeping more so at that time I asked the vet if that was normal for a Sprocker and he said absolutely not and that he should be full of energy but he wasn't and I would say that he's probably calmed down even more now.
He's from a working breed of spaniel and I would doubt very much that he could be a working dog now but dogs are funny even though he's shattered now as I type this he would go out if I asked him and, like with his lameness which was only apparent when he came home you would never know that he is exhausted when out on a walk apart from the heavy panting but he only really does that at night as he doesn't usually pant much during the morning walks.
Thanks for reading this.
Tony
