This is a follow up to my The Longest 15 Minutes of My Life post about a walk with Jasper in which he collapsed, presumably due to dehydration / heat exhaustion.
That was a natural assumption, based on the length and temperature of our walk that day.
However, the same thing happened just a couple days later when he had walked for only 10 minutes in cool weather.
In a nutshell, he was wearing a choke collar and was on the leash. He met up with another dog, got REALLY excited and his back legs collapsed from under him.
All in all, this has happened about 5 times during his life. Each and every time, he was wearing a choke collar, been on the leash, met another dog and experienced major excitement.
So, I started to doubt the heat exhaustion theory and recently had my suspicions confirmed by our vet.
Jasper most likely suffers from something called “exercise induced collapse” or IEC, a syndrome of exercise intolerance and collapse that has been recognized in young adult Labrador Retrievers.
According to a study of labs with the disease, “Affected dogs exhibiting symptoms of collapse are usually described as being extremely fit, muscular, prime athletic specimens of their breed with an excitable temperament and lots of drive.”
That describes Jasper to a tee.
Because Jasper tends to ‘get into’ a lot of things – cacti, bad water, etc. – we’ve had the opportunity to meet quite a few veterinarians during our travels.
Each and every one of them simply marvels at his fitness condition. His weight is perfect, he is muscular, and his heart-rate is that of an uber-athletic dog.
Small wonder.
Ed and I have made a point of exercising / running him almost every single day of his life. Jasper was NOT treat trained. He was trained to respond to playing with a ball, rather than treats. (See The Art of Raising a Puppy
Jasper’s IEC episodes are briefer than those described as typical, i.e. he doesn’t drag his legs for any period of time and doesn’t take 5 to 20 minutes to recover. He simply collapses and either rights himself or I pull him up and he is fine from that point on.
Jasper seems to suffer most from “Excitement. Dogs that exhibit the symptoms of EIC are most likely to have intense, excitable personalities, and it is apparent that their level of excitement plays a role in inducing the collapse. There are some severely affected dogs who, if they are very excited, do not require much exercise to induce the collapse. Dogs with EIC are most likely to collapse when engaging in activities that they find very exciting or stressful.”
Although it is still possible that Jasper suffers from a neuromuscular disorder known as myasthenia gravis, we will wait and test for that later.
In the meantime, we hoping that as in the case of other dogs with exercise induced collapse, his condition will just disappear over time.
In the meantime, please cross your fingers for our boy, Jasper. 🙂
Please visit Just Labradors to learn more about exercise induced collapse.
Man, is he ever a good looking, handsome dog!
It takes a great master and a solid relationship with passion to be the awesome dog owner you are.
But then again, do we ever “own” our dogs?
You and your dog rock!
Hi Thomas,
Kash is adorable!!!
And no, we don’t own them, but I suspect that they DO own us. We took Jasper with us up to Kelowna today, about an hour away. Took WAY more than an hour after he kept insisting we stop for ball-throwing, piddles and swims. 🙂
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Rosalind!
I’m so sorry that Jasper is having this issue. He’s a beautiful lab and looks SO healthy!
I have a chocolate lab named Chelsea. She fits your description of “being extremely fit, muscular, prime athletic specimens of their breed with an excitable temperament and lots of drive.” She has had some problems before while on a leash and VERY excited too…fortunately she hasn’t completely collapsed. I can only imagine how scary that was for you and Jasper.
Thanks for sharing this information. I had no idea that anything like this existed. I love the picture!!
~Sara~
Hi Sara,
What sort of problems did Chelsea have while on the leash?
Jasper unfortunately has been spoiled, spending MOST of his time off-leash.
Cheers,
Ros
We will definitely keep good thoughts! Sweet Jasper, you will be just fine.
My stepdaughter has myasthenia gravis and had surgery a couple years ago. It’s not a fun disorder for anyone to go through so I can’t imagine nor did I know a dog could have it. Hugs!
Hi Angie,
So how is your stepdaughter doing now after having gthe surgery?
Cheers,
Ros
She is doing great! She was able to get pregnant and go through her entire pregnancy without many side effects from the disorder. She had a nice healthy baby girl (love our granddaughter) but had to have a c section due to no strength, etc. She’s feeling awesome now but still has to take it easy.
Thanks for asking.
Hi Angie,
That’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me (us) know!
Cheers,
Ros
Thanks so much for this video, Ros you’ve always been a pnioeer amongst the super-affiliates, and the figures you’re quoting from Forrester Research just prove how smart you were to dominate this emerging marketplace! Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy & Prosperous New Decade Teri & Doug Champigny.
What a beautiful dog!
Could it be that the choke collar contributes to his problems? Please see what PETA writes about choke collars:
“Choke and prong collars are designed to punish dogs for pulling by inflicting pain and discomfort. They can cause serious physical and emotional damage to dogs and should never be used.
“The use of choke collars has been associated with whiplash, fainting, spinal cord injuries leading to paralysis, crushing of the trachea with partial or complete asphyxiation, crushing and/or fracture of the bones in the larynx, dislocated neck bones, bruising of the esophagus, bruising and damage to the skin and tissues in the neck, brain damage and prolapsed eyes caused by sharp increases in pressure in the head, and other injuries.”
(Source: http://www.peta.org/about/faq/What-are-the-dangers-of-using-choke-and-prong-collars.aspx)
Hi Christa,
I also suspected the problem was related to my use of the choke collar and stopped using it after the big incident at Catalina Park.
However, the same thing happened once when he had a cloth collar on.
Nevertheless, I don’t plan to use the choke collar every again.. thank you for the info!
Cheers,
Ros
Hi Ros,
I’m sorry to hear that it happened again! – If you don’t mind I would like to share another info with you. Do you know Tellington Touch? It’s an gentle method for improving the physical as well as psychological situation of animals. It’s a wonderful healing method, creating amazing results. Maybe you want to take a look: http://www.ttouch.com.
Wishing you the best, and hope Jasper gets better soon!
Christa
Thanks Christa, I’ll take a look at the site about Tellington Touch.
Cheers,
Ros