Can anyone help us with our dog? She will not stop licking the ground (like a cow grazing). When we let her outside she goes nuts eating snow. She is a 3 year old German Shepherd.

-- Aaron (snoopy@portup.com), March 16, 2001

Answers

I forgot to post she is puffy around her eyes & this has been going on for about 2 hours now!

-- Laura (snoopy@portup.com), March 16, 2001.

what you have said is not really enough to go on. Is she still eating normally and drinking? Is she eating grass/plants or just licking the bare dirt? I don't know about the puffy eyes... last year one of my dogs had an alergic reaction to something, maybe a bee sting, and his eyes and cheeks swelled up big. turned out it was the dog variety of hives and needed Benedryl. Tell more symptoms and maybe somebody here knows something more. I wish you luck!

-- maureenb (firegirl102@hotmail.com), March 16, 2001.

She is licking the carpet, eating everything that is on the carpet (like wood, fur, paper & she is trying to rip up the carpet). Her breathing is funny too. She is not eating or drinking her food right now either. We let her outside she goes nuts eating the snow. It's been going on now for about 3 hours now (the longest episode she has ever had). Also when she swallows she jerks her head forward. Oh yeah after we let her outside then when she is done eating the snow we let her back in then she is fine for awhile.

-- Laura (snoopy@portup.com), March 16, 2001.

Sounds like a sick dog…, obviously, could it be diabetic? Have the vet check her up. I can imagine it's such an emotional drain to see such abnormal behavior going on in this beautiful dog. Take care.

-- David Cripe (cripeland@aol.com), March 16, 2001.

Aaron:

The person to ask about this is your local vet. Likely they will tell you to bring the dog in for an examination.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), March 16, 2001.

ABSOLUTELY take her to the vet. She may even have something stuck in her throat. Without seeing her it's hard to say. The vet may even be able to help you on the telephone.

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), March 16, 2001.

Call the Vet , go there as soon as you can so he can see the symptoms .This is not something to fool with.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), March 16, 2001.

Sounds like the dog has a sore throat. Dogs can act this way when they have been poisen'd by drink'n anti-freeze. Take'r to the vet- quickly! old hoot. Matt.24;44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), March 16, 2001.

This very thing happened to our golden lab last fall. She was wheezing, pacing constantly, and licking the floor. When we let her outside, she ate grass as if her life depended on it. I pulled some grass and put in her area in the house and she ate it all. We thought she had something stuck in her throat. I massaged her throat continually and did the Heimlich(sp?) maneuver on her. I did not see anything come out of her throat, but the constant massaging did calm her down and may have helped. It cannot hurt her! Try massaging her throat. Maybelle is fine now. Please keep us posted. I'll check back soon - let us know how she is doing. Sandy

-- Sandy in MN (jpevans_56353@yahoo.com), March 16, 2001.

laura, i sent one response to your e-mail. i also wanted to ask if the dog has been home alone for a few hours? a friend of mine reported that her mother came home one afternoon to find her german shepard acting strange ( similar to your dogs behavior), rushed it to the vet only to discover their was a finger in the dogs throat partially blocking his airway, which the vet promptly removed. the owner of the finger had closed himself in a hall closet and passed out. he was arrested and the dog was fine.

-- teresa dramer (t1noodles@aol.com), March 16, 2001.

Well she is doing fine now.she gets these "episodes" once or twice a year.but I am going to have my parents call the vet anyway to see whats wrong.I wonder if it has anything to do because she is "in heat" or not?I will keep you all posted thanks for your help everyone!:)

(just in case you all are wondering why the name on here keeps switching fron Laura to Aaron is because I forgot to put my name in it (Aaron) because my Mom uses my e-mail.)

-- Aaron (snoopy@portup.com), March 16, 2001.

I know that this doesn't sound anything like your dogs symptoms but have her checked for Lymes disease. I had a springer spaniel do the same thing and we rushed her to a vet and the only thing they could come up with was Lymes. Had her treated and no more episodes. Also if she is in heat don't breed her if she does have Lymes . I bred my springer and 6 out of eight pups had serious heart problems resulting from Lymes! Good Luck!! cara cnllewis@email.com

-- cara lewis (cnllewis@email.com), March 16, 2001.

Three out of my four have that sometimes. It doesn't necessarily follow the seasons, but mine seem to get hairballs during shedding time, like cats. They will even gasp in their sleep, and pant, and do all sorts of things... Rubbing their faces and throats ,etc. Even trying to eat the snow as it is cold and different than water... It soothes the scratchy throat, and numbs them a little, making it easier to breathe. When the cold wears off, they go for more because it helped a little.

Usually, when a dog eats grass they are trying to throw up. Grass helps that... could be for any number of reasons. If she is shedding profusely (my shepard is now, but the labs don't usually), try adding a little veggie oil to the diet. If she's been cleaning herself, she might have hair stuck in her throat.

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), March 16, 2001.

Sue,

When a dog eats grass they are not trying to throw up as many people believe.There is an enzyme that many dogs foods are without and I guess it is biologically implanted for a dog to eat grass to get this enzyme.They throw up because they cannot digest chlorophyl.Our vet told us years ago to feed our dogs cooked greens regularly.Cooking breaks down the chlorophyl.None of my dogs have eaten grass since I started doing this.

-- nobrabbit (conlane@prodigy.net), March 16, 2001.

This is interesting because I have a Scottie/Schnauzer that does the exact same thing. It runs in spells, can't seem to figure out what triggers it. She will just all of a sudden start "grazing" the floor, mostly licking at the carpet, and going through motions like she's eating grass. If I let her outdoors, she eats only a little grass, sometimes not at all. Also does a lot of coughing, gagging etc., and drinks tons of water. The first time it happened I took her to a good vet, I was convinced she had a bone or something caught in her throat. After a couple hundred dollars worth of x-rays, lab tests, the whole works, they found absolutely nothing! The vet's opinion was that it is allergy related, that certain ingredients in dogfood don't agree with her. This first happened when she was about 2-3 yrs. old, she is now nearly 11 and has been highly active and obnoxiously healthy this whole time. However, the episodes continue. Don't know if it is a food allergy, as I can change foods, and she seems to do well for quite awhile, then has another spell. Seems to be more coincidence than actually foo related. Other dogs eat the same food and have no problems. My dog just went through about 3-4 days of this last week (longer than normal) but is fine this week. Go figure.

-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 16, 2001.

This is very interesting from nobrabbit's input. I've always thought like Sue did, thinking that dogs and cats eat grass due to stomach indigestion. I've been a subscriber with Countryside for three years, but ever since I've bought a new iMac (first of Feb of this year) and started on this terrific forum exchanging ideas and experiences on-line, this has been the most uplifting and educational e-mail experience for me. I had explored other "chat boards" and it's pretty sickening to witness how decadent, degrading, profanity chats that really doesn't do anything for you, plus not knowing what kind of weirdos you're linking up to. Forgive me for getting carried away with my excitement. But back to Aaron & Laura situation, please take care and wish you luck with you dog.

-- David Cripe (cripeland@aol.com), March 16, 2001.

Its sounds as if this dog is having an allergic reaction. 1 mg of diphenhydramine (Benadryl, but only that, no other ingredients) per pound of body weight should reduce symptoms in about 45 min. Then you need to try to figure out what caused the problem. Many times its related to vaccinations. Dianne

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), March 17, 2001.