My Dog is Always Panting
The most common reasons why dogs pant is to cool off; however, there are several possible reasons such as pain and more severe issues.
Body Temperature Regulation
The most common reason that dogs pants is to cool off. When they are hot they pant to release heat from the mucous membranes in their mouth since they don’t sweat like humans and horses. Panting is actually a specialized mechanism where they can move a small amount of air through a portion of their respiratory system; they move much less air with each pant than with a normal breath. If dogs actually breathed that fast they would release too much carbon dioxide from their bodies, and that can be problematic.
Since panting is done to decrease body temperature, dogs can also pant if they are experiencing heat exhaustion or heat stress, which is a very life threatening issue. Dogs may also pant if they have a fever. Checking either a rectal or aural (in the ear) temperature can help determine if there is an abnormality with the body temperature.
Pain or Anxiety
The second most common reason for panting is that the dog is anxious or painful. Evaluate the pet and their surroundings. Is there something going on could be stressful to your dog like loud noises, travel, visitors in the home, or storms?
Evaluating for pain can be trickier and sometimes dangerous. If your dog is really painful, they may try to bite you if you find the painful spot, so use great caution if you are going to evaluate them. Some sources of pain can be very challenging to locate due to location in the body, only being painful if moved in a certain way, or the dog’s ability to hide what bothers them. Monitor for other abnormal behavior or movement of your pet to help assess for evidence of pain. If in doubt, have your pet evaluated by their veterinarian to find the source of pain. Veterinarians have learned to speak the non verbal language of dogs and can be very adept at finding a source of pain that owners can not locate.
Other Respiratory or Metabolic problems
There are other less common reasons that cause excessive panting. Some medications (narcotics for pain, some seizure medications, steroids like prednisone) are well known to cause panting. Abnormalities affecting the respiratory center in the brain can also cause panting. The stress caused in their body by a seizure will also create panting during the recovery period from the seizure.
Hormone abnormalities in the body like Cushing’s Syndrome, which causes too much cortisol in the body can also be a reason for chronic panting.
Panting Versus Tachypnea (Increased Respiration Rate)
Panting is a very different process in the body compared to normal breathing or even breathing with an increased rate. Breathing at an increased rate is actually a very concerning issue and should not be ignored. If you are worried about your pet’s breathing/respiratory pattern, you should have them evaluated by your veterinarian. They will examine your pet, listen to their respiration, and will ask many questions about their life at home and possibly even recommend some further diagnostic testing such as labwork or x-rays based on initial findings. Some respiratory abnormalities are easy to determine; others can be quite challenging and require a more investigation, trial and error, and patience.
If You Are Unsure, Consult Your Veterinarian
If in doubt, if there is an increased frequency or severity of your dog panting, please consult your veterinarian to ensure that any issues, particular severe issues, are detected and treated quickly.