heavy panting in 2 years old dog

[roxy2007]

hi,
I have a 2 year old shepherd/ rottweiler mix about 60 lbs who pants very heavily sometimes at night, but it seems to be only when she is very relaxed. We have many other animals in the house and she tends to only pant if she is alone with me, on the couch snoozing or any other time when she is COMPLETLY calm. I was wondering if it may just be when she is going in and out of dreams (usually her eyes are closed) but the behavior just doesnt strike me as normal. she is a rescue dog, i got her when she was about 6 months old, she has a few behavioral problems and i can tell that physically she is not a strong dog. (super sensitive to the snow and cold, fairly lazy not at all high energy (unless stimulated) very much so a couch potato... not at all overweight, if anything she could gain about 3 lbs.) the vets however aleays give her a clean bill of health. she recently had some anal gland problems, but it's been about 3 months now since the last, she has hip displacia and i'm wondering if maybe a heart problem too? (but would the vets not find that in check ups?) when she is lying down and panting heavily, if i call her name she will stop if i pet her she will slow down.... its only when she's (like i said) complelty calm and not around any of our other animals and usually only when she's around me. i dont know if this is at all relevant but her front paws sometimes shake aswell if she is just sitting down.
any ideas?

[roxy2007]

sorry, that was not very clear.
They dont usually go into REM sleep as instantly as she does when she's cuddled with me. It all stemmed up because my shepherd DOES NOT go into REM sleep at any time other then when she is with me.
wolves and coyotees aparantly.. (vets words not mine) very, very, rarely have REM sleep because they are constantly "on guard". The more i've been thinking about it though, the more i'm wondering... because they have dens right? would that not be somewhere they are secure...? i dont know. sorry for taking so long =P

[ginger899]

I'm so glad you got this sorted out, but.....what exactly is this about dogs (being predators) not having REM sleep?
Every dog I've ever known has had heavy dreaming, with twitching, yelping, running movements, eyes moving under eyelids, all the rest of the stuff that comes with dreaming (REM sleep??) Can't say I understand this....

[roxy2007]

the vet came!!!!

my girl is in amazing shape!
Dr. Pilon said some things that i feel so stupid for not having noticed before!
German Shepherd mix... Of course she may get overheated when she is curled up with me on the bed or couch.....
REM sleep... something dogs don't "normally" experience as they are predators.... but may fall into when they are completly at ease.... ah! how was this not obvious to me?

live and learn.... she has the heart of a true working dog and her hips look like they are getting better with time! thank god!!!!!

I could not be more thrilled with her evaluation. We are still going to do some follow ups with a behaviorist because she does have other behavior related issues but i got such peace of mind of her over all physical condition!!! It is the first time i have used this vet and honestly she is the first vet (that i have used) that is brutally honest and seems to know her stuff!!! I LOVE IT!

Thanks so much to everyone who posted on this!!!
The help has been truly appreciated!!!!

[ginger899]

This certainly does sound like stress, the more I hear. I would start to think seriously of having sessions with a good dog behaviourist because she is showing a lot of anxiety. I bet a few sessions with both you and her together would begin to calm her down a lot.
Maybe your vet could recommend someone local?

[roxy2007]

Thank you both for your info!
We are going to the vet on thursday yet again to have everything checked out just to play on the safe side =)
SAM999898, This makes perfect sense because she is a HYPER stressed out dog. On top of everything else she only restarted this a day after we moved. We also have quite a few other animals in the house and she in constantly being very protective of me and trying to be between them and me. And yes, when she's alone she sometimes has seperation anxiety (only sometimes) and will destroy everything in the bedroom (which is where she's left when we are out because she can't be trusted alone in the house with the other aniamals). very interesting, thank you both so much!

[SAM999898]

hi i have a rottie who jumps around in her sleep shes very active in her sleep so i researched what i could about dogs and the way they deal with stress.Dogs are most likely to pant when they feel stress and do so only when they are calm or resting.Im not saying ur dog is stressed just that it sounds like my dog whenshe sleeps.My vet said to me that dogs tend to do their stressing when they are left alone or are resting.If shes feeling pain from her hips that can cause her to stress as well.Comforting her should help her slow down some of the panting u might want to have her analized by a specialist to see if shes feeling any anxiety.U said she was a rescue dog maybe something happened to her and shes still feeling the affects.Remember dogs never forget.Hope this helps alittle good luck and my prayers are with you both..

[ginger899]

I'd get a proper heart check, and a thyroid check too. It might be neither of these things, but it's best to know for sure.