What is normal for my dog?

How do we know when our best friend is hurt. We cant always tell if there is something wrong with our dog, because they cannot tell us. What we need to know is what is normal for our best friend. All animals have vital signs and they are different from our own.

Temperature:

Taking the temperature of your dog is very important. To check your pets temperature is to have a thermometer and a paper towel. You need to approach your dog with a soft calm voice and then hug them firmly as you move their tail out of the way. Make sure your thermometer is registered at zero. Then slide the thermometer into the rectum of your dog. They may jump a little but you need to hold them firmly and talk to your pet softly. The temperature should be at the following;

Normal temp is between 100.5 F – 102.5 F
Abnormal: Hypothermia 102.5 F

Dog Respiration:

When your dog is resting you can usually see them breathing by watching their chest rise and fall. One thing you can do is watch their breaths and if you count the number of times they breath in one minute. This is their normal respiration.

Puppies respiration: 15-40 per/min
Dogs normal rates: 10-30 per/min
Toy breeds rates: 15-40 per/min
If a dog is panting the respiration can be over 200 pants/min

The normal Heart rates for your dog:

The best way to feel your dogs heart rate is by feeling their chest on the left side for heart beat, or you can feel in the inner thigh for a pulse. If you count the number of beats in a minute you will get the heart rate of your dog. What is a normal heart rate?

Puppies heart rate is 110-130 beats per/min
Dogs heart rate is 70-120 beats per/min
Toy Breads heart rates 120-220 beats per/min

If your dog seems dehydrated, you can check by feeling he extra skin in the back of their neck. If it feels like bread dough then they are really dehydrated. You need to get them water as soon as possible.

With these basic vital signs you will know if your dog is sick or is in need of you help. If you dog’s vital signs are out side of the norm you should call your local vet for assistance.

To become more confident in knowing what to do, you can take a dog CPR class and know what to look for when your best friend is having a medical emergency. Pet4CPR can help you and we can make sure you know what to do for you dog and show you when your dog is actually having a medical emergency. You dog will thank you for taking our course.