help my tembling dog

13 years ago

Bit of background.

I have a smooth coat fox terrier who is currently 9 years old. I didnt get him until he was 5, he spent those years as a show dog, very well maintained and in good health. I was told he spent the majority of his time caged as the owner was a breeder. She fed him 1 1/2 cups once a day at night. He ran around a play pen a few times a day for excercise.

So when i got him i was working from home and he was free to roam the house. I also walked him a half hour every morning and some times again later on. I decided that b/c he was getting way more excercise a day i would feed him twice a day instead, the same amount of food split up. This may have been a mistake. I fed him around 8am then at 5pm. This time frame was maintained for a while then gradually got smaller. At some point he started to, around 4pm, trembling, begging. This then turned to 3pm, then 2pm, now about 1pm. Though he often just stands there and shakes while looking at me, ive also seen him laying down by himself doing the shaking. He does not ever do this after he is fed his second meal. Also, he has actually gained weight since ive had him, from 20 to 22lbs.

I asked my vet about this, she said hes probably conditioning me to just eat earlier. Which makes sense b/c this dog lives to eat. However im afraid im really hurting him by trying to make him wait, like he has some sort of diabetes for dogs. Im about to start a job that is 9-5, i hate the idea of him trembling for 4 straight hours before i can feed him.

Anyone here have any kind of experience with this?

thx in advance for any comments

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Comments (5)

calliope
13 years ago
If there is any suspicion how the dog is handing food and blood sugar, the vet might want to do a glucose tolerance test. It can be used to diagnose diabetes, even when a single blood test shows normal values. Nine years old is old enough to start thinking about those conditions often associated with older dogs, and late onset diabetes is one of them. Did she even take a blood sugar?
cynthia_gw
13 years ago
Can you video tape it to show your vet? I can't imagine a vet ignoring this if she actually understood what you were telling her. Dogs can't make themselves tremble any more than we can. Until you get to the bottom of this, how about an afternoon snack? My dogs get a bully stick or some other healthy snack at some point in the day to tide them over until dinner. If weight is really a concern, just cut back the serving size at each meal to make up for the snacks. Or give an extra small meal mid day. If you get a dog walker when you're no longer working from home, they can give him a snack or feed him a small meal after the walk.
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reneeny
13 years ago
We have a german shephard, the total amount of food is suppose to 6 cups for the day, but the vet said german shephards have a problem with their stomach twisting, so she said to give 2 cups in the morning (around 6ish) then 4 for dinner.(around 5ish) But when we are home I do give him a doggie snack, and sometimes maza crackers. But 10 PM like clockwork, he looks for another doggie cookie. But he's still young yet......Yours, I would dig deeper into the shakes....video tape is a great idea!!
McCheezy44
Original Author
13 years ago
Wish i could video tape it but cant. Its not a violent shaking or anything, just the same thing he'd do if he was scared.

No test or anything was given to my dog when i asked about this condition. She asked me if he was still energized when he does the shaking, which he def is. In fact i could probably walk him at dinner time and he'd go right along with it no problem. But I guess ill follow up w/ the vet and have that gluclose test done.

The mid day snack was an option i tried but didnt have much of an effect. Maybe ill give it a try again after i get some tests done.

Thx for responses, ill make sure to give an update when i find out whats up.
mazer415
13 years ago
just give him some carrots....see if that helps calm hiim down.
BTW - the shaking is probably just a release of extra energy from anticipating the food....he is just conditioning you to respond to his trembling, which is working so he keeps doing it because he is getting rewarded for it...my friends Chihuahuas shake alot as well....we ignore it