Sore, lethargic after strenuous hunt.

[matador1]

This isn't with my lab but I figured someone here mightbe able to help. My Mountain Cur squirrel dog is 4 yo and very athletic. I keep her in good shape but of course right now she is in really good shape. But I have noticed that after a couple of hunts she will be lethargic for a day or so following. To the point that's this morning I could tell there was no need in taking her hunting after two days of pretty long hunts.
I know other guys who hunt theirs every day without any problems.
Anyone had this happen with a dog before? I can't tell if it's a lactic acid build up making her sore or if maybe it something else. Maybe even a low blood sugar thing.
Thoughts?

[DuckBoat]

Most mtn curs including mine will run down in a couple of days.
Most of the ones I have been around are kemmer blood. What strain is yours?

I have only been around a couple fiest but the ones I have been around hunt the same the 10th day as they did the first.

[matador1]

[rsm688]

It's very easy to check the glucose levels on your dog, I would check them right after she gets done with a long hunt. You just need a little drop of blood and a human glucometer (if you know a diabetic I'm sure they have a spare one you could borrow), if not every vet clinic has one and they shouldn't charge you hardly anything to just walk her in and check her blood glucose levels. There could be a TON of things causing that. If it's happening repeatedly it's probably not just being sore.

If it was me I would run her by your vet right after a long strenuous hunt and have them run a "CBC/CHEM panel" on her to check bloodwork. Glucose will be measured as well so they will be able to tell you if it's low or not and be able to look at all her blood values which will let them know if you've got something else going on to be causing it. Tell them you just want to run her in and have them draw blood and do a CBC/CHEM and not a full exam/workup of her if you are wanting to do it as cheap as possible. Shouldn't be over $100 for them to draw blood and run a CBC/CHEM. If you do that, get a copy of the bloodwork and PM me on here and I'll take a look at it for you.

Spencer

[rsm688]

Oh and one of the cheapest/easiest sources of sugar is just Karo Syrup. Works great for hypoglycemia. You can mix it in with a little dog food or most of the time you can just squirt it in their food bowl or into their mouth directly and they will lick it all up.

[Greenhead329]

If you've noticed she's "off" I would have your vet run tick titers...I had a run of coon dogs I was treating for "ain't doing right "
75% of them were positive for either erhlicia or rmsf
a course of doxycycline. .owners noted a drastic improvement.

Incidentally one of the non positive dogs was pregnant