If a dog is breathing rapidly for a short period of time, this is usually not a cause for concern. In most cases, previous physical exertion is responsible for this.
However, an increased respiratory rate can sometimes have a serious cause. In the following, we explain which health problems can cause your dog to breathe quickly.
When your dog has been physically active, such as running around extensively, it's normal for their breathing rate to increase. This is nothing to worry about and the breathing should return to normal within minutes.
That being said, there are many other possible triggers for your dog breathing rapidly. In addition to cardiovascular diseases, shock, heat stroke or diseases of the respiratory tract can also manifest themselves that way.
If your four-legged friend is breathing rapidly over a longer period of time or very often for no apparent reason and panting heavily, you should take this seriously and consult a veterinarian so that they can examine your dog.
When your dog is scared or stressed, this affects their body as well. The heart rate of the four-legged friend accelerates and the dog begins to breathe faster and pant.
By eliminating the triggers of fear or stress, you help your dog calm down again and their heart rate and breathing rate can soon return to normal.
Unfortunately, stressful situations cannot always be avoided in life. If you want to help your dog calm down, supplementing their diet with Shiimun Calm can help. The easily digestible Shiitake-based product contains selected ingredients known for their calming effect, such as green tea and the amino acid L-tryptophan.
If your dog is breathing rapidly while sleeping, it can indicate a particularly vivid dream. Maybe your four-legged friend is dreaming about chasing the neighbour's cat or the rabbit that they saw on your last walk together. Your dog may even start to growl or move their legs as if they were running. Puppies in particular have to process a lot of new experiences, which is why twitching and rapid breathing can be observed more often in them.
As long as such behaviour in your four-legged friend is limited to the dream phases, they are usually no reason for concern. However, keep in mind that sometimes a dog’s rapid breathing can have a serious cause. Health issues that can cause dogs to breathe rapidly while they sleep include asthma, poisoning and anaemia, among others.
Unlike us humans, dogs only have very few sweat glands. Their only way to regulate their body temperature in hot weather is panting. However, this is not always sufficient to cool the four-legged friend’s body sufficiently. At temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius, care must be taken to ensure that your dog does not suffer from heat stroke.
Heatstroke can be potentially life-threatening for your four-legged friend. In addition to nervousness and restlessness, one of the first signs of overheating of the dog's body is accelerated breathing. Depending on the severity of the heat stroke, other symptoms can include tachycardia and lethargy, diarrhoea and vomiting and even fatal circulatory failure.
Heart diseases such as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) can also lead to accelerated breathing in dogs. If the heart of the four-legged friend is no longer able to pump the blood through the body in sufficient quantities, this also impacts the animal's lungs. As a result, affected dogs then breathe quickly and heavily, pant heavily and also cough frequently.
In addition, the heart problems can become noticeable through a lack of appetite, weakness and pale mucous membranes in the mouth. Dogs with heart disease can also accumulate fluid in the abdomen, which causes their abdominal circumference to increase significantly.
Some dogs are more prone to breathing problems due to anatomical peculiarities and therefore often breathe more quickly and pant. These include in particular so-called brachycephalic breeds. Due to their extremely short snouts, these can have trouble breathing.
Regardless of breed, all overweight dogs are prone to shortness of breath. They quickly run out of breath due to the extra pounds, so that they often start to breathe rapidly even with moderate exertion.
As you can see, it's perfectly normal for your dog to temporarily breathe faster after a romp or a rigorous dog sport training session.
That being said, various health issues can also lead to an accelerated breathing rate. It may therefore make sense to visit a veterinarian so that they can examine your dog and treat them if necessary.
