Steveclark 9 Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 Hi All, Just looking for a few opinions before I take my lurcher to the vets. I have a 2yr old Beddy/Whippet who use to be very energetic and playful in her first year until her first season at 1yr. After this i noticed a real difference in her. She became very lethargic and uninterested in pretty much anything from walks to playing with other dogs and my other dog. She went from running about with my spaniel to following behind me, head down, tail down and a real lack of any kind of enthusiam for life. When at home she will just sleep and if she does move she looks like a 14 yr old dog not a 2yr old one. I suspected a problem and last year took her to the vet and had a complete blood test. This came back ok - no problems. As she is the first lurcher I owned and I'm use to spaniels i put it down to the breed. But recently, and she has just finished her season about 3-4 weeks ago, she has become even worse. She is not interested in anything, and I mean anything apart from food and ........................lamping - when i take her out lamping she reverts back to her old self. She's pulling on the lead all night, looking down the beam alert and focused. She whines when my mates dog is running out of excitment/frustration at not having her go. And when she runs her rabbits she is as quick as lightning and has a good 70% success rate. You can really see her come to life and she has that twinkle in her eye again. The next day and until the next time we go out lamping she reverts back and you would honestly think something was seriously wrong with her the way she mopes around. Is this typical of lurchers? Particularly beddy/whippets? She's getting enough good quality food and she has raw meat and veg in the morning and either rice and mince beef in the evening or skinners working dry mix, and she's keeping her weight so it not due to that. Any info or advice would be much appreciated as I am starting to get really worried about her!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AirgunGuy 362 Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 I don't have a lot of experience with these dogs but i've had a full Whippet for around 6 months and it sounds as though your Beddy/Whippet has the temperament of a Whippet. I have a GSP and a Weimaraner and they're always on the go, always full of fun and energy but my Whippet just lazes around doing nothing most of the time and when at home, you wouldn't even know he was there...............but put that wee dog in the field and he springs to life. When out on the lamp he's totally alert and focused. When out during the day, he goes and hunts and will charge through anything if there's a scent...he's a completely different dog. I've had him knocked out and stitched up already and when out he can come back full of cuts and tears as he is fearless in the field and will charge through anything if there's a scent of a rabbit. As soon as he gets back in the car or gets home then it's back to curling into a ball on the sofa. I personally wouldn't be overly concerned about it as Whippets can be like that. As long as he's doing a job for you then notiing to worry about imho Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skycat 6,174 Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 Hormones. Post season bitches often do nothing but sleep and eat: a sort of phantom pregnancy. Lena, my red Airedale lurcher, turns into a total couch potato, doing nothing but sleep and hide in a corner after a season. She stays like this for around 2 months after her season, then gradually comes back to life. But she still wants to hunt like a demon during this time. When she's not like this she plays quite happily with the other dog. Shuck, her sister, on the other hand, seldom plays with any of the dogs at home. She's a grouch, intense and moody, and she spends her life waiting to go out and work each day. Also, as dogs (bitches) mature, and learn what their role is in life, they tend to sleep or rest until they can work. Depending on their temperament and type they may spend hours doing nothing but sleep and doss around, only coming to life when they go out on exercise or work. Once the puppy growing stage has gone many dogs are like this, especially those who can put all their energy into working/hunting etc. They see no need to play during their down time at home. But it could also be that they've been told off for playing too much at home, disrupting other dogs. If other dogs have told them off for being too boisterous or silly at home, the dog can withdraw into itself, having learned not to piss off other dogs or humans by messing about. Two possible scenarios there, though from what you said, it seems more likely your dog's behaviour is linked to her hormone activity and her recent maturity. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Malt 379 Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 Think yourself lucky! I've got a 4 year old male beddy whippet here and he's still acting like an overexcited pup 24/7.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steveclark 9 Posted October 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 Thanks for the replys guys. I think I'm still gonna get her checked out by the vet again for my own piece of mind but I'm more confident now that it is due to her being a post season whippet x. She is just so different in comparison to the spaniel and so different to how she was, that I can't help thinking something might be wrong, and I wouldn't want to leave her this way if its something simple and can be sorted easily. Thanks again for the advice. A bit of a weight off my mind. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
beast 1,884 Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 skycat do you think there would be any benefit for steveclark to have his bitch spayed? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steveclark 9 Posted October 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 I'm getting her spayed at the end of the rabbiting season anyway. As i have no intention to mate her and have enough problems with hormones around the house with the unspayed spaniel, the missus and the 2 daughters!!!! :laugh: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chook1 184 Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 My deerhound bitch go's like this after every season most call it post season depression, it normaly takes her a while to come out of it, last's around the same time as a pregnancy would do, but she does go back to normal after that period is over, so may be worth a vet check if its lasting longer. If it is due to this once spayed she should go back to normal. Think thyroid problems can also cause this, so may be worth looking in to that also. How ever some dogs can just be like this once their mature. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rake aboot 4,936 Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 So you have a dog that is quiet all the time apart from when you take it lamping ?? Sounds perfect !! lol Seriously, I wouldn`t worry, dogs change and having a quite biddable beast that works hard sound like a good deal to me ATB 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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