There are many reasons why a dog may have tremors, some of them are completely natural and others, however, are of a much greater nature. But…. What should I do if my dog trembles?
Knowing the main reasons we can verify that our dog is well or discover what happens to him to assess whether we should go to a veterinaryn. From Dogsis we will review all the reasons and explain what the causes are and the possible solutions.
Index of contents
- 1 My dog trembles in cold or bad weather
- 2 My dog trembles at times and for no good reason
- 3 My dog trembles when excited or afraid
- 4 My dog trembles when he sleeps
- 5 Other reasons a dog may tremble or tremble
- 6 My puppy is trembling. What should I do?
My dog trembles in cold or bad weather
Dogs have a vital system very similar to that of humans, so when it is cold their body begins to emit small electric shocks into the muscles, which cause the tremor. Just like we do when we are cold, our dogs tremble to warm up.
The movement of muscles during tremors produce heat that our dog takes advantage of to relieve his cold sensation. We must remember that dogs have a higher body temperature than humans and although they are covered in fur, they also suffer from cold.
Sometimes the tremors occur only when the dog gets wet, it is very normal since the coat of hair that protects them from the cold is unusable and their body begins to generate heat through these muscle tremors.
In short, it is completely normal for a dog to tremble when it is cold. To prevent you from catching any cold related illness like lto Kennel Cough or it just gets disheveled, we just have to take it to a warm place and avoid it being wet.
My dog trembles at times and for no good reason
There are many breeds of dogs that have muscle spasms, which are at first glance completely identical to a cold tremor for example. These dogs do not suffer from any type of disease or need any treatment, nor do they tremble because they are cold or sick, they are just like that due to their own genetics.
It is possible that you tremble when they are sleeping or when we are caressing them, in reality their tremors appear at any moment and without any justification. We should not give any importance to this type of tremors, they are totally normal.
The most common races that by mere genetics have tremors are:
- Doberman
- Chihuahua
- Yorkshire
- Chow chow
- Bulldog
- Samoyed
- Springer
My dog trembles when excited or afraid
Nerves are also one of the main causes a dog can start to tremble. For example when we are playing with our dog and we take away the ball to throw it at him, it is quite normal that due to the excitement of the moment our dog begins to tremble.
Also when we have spent a while if seeing our dog and he is very excited to see us, he can tremble with emotion. It is something that they cannot control, their nervous system is so active that their body emits tremors to relax it.
When a dog is afraid or anxious, it also trembles, as it happens with many other animals, among which, of course, humans are included. The fear, anxiety and even depression can cause our dog to start trembling or have sporadic tremors.
Preventing this type of tremor is easy when it comes to arousal, just we must practice relaxation techniques with our dog and in a short time we will appreciate how the tremors diminish. However, tremors from fear are impossible to eliminate, although we can help our dog by socializing it and trying to make him lose his fears.
My dog trembles when he sleeps
This type of tremors is totally normal, most of the time it is because our dog is dreaming of running or in a situation that causes excitement or nervousness. Too it is very common that while they tremble they gasp, growl or even bark.
It is very important to respect him and never wake up our dog when he is dreaming, since he could wake up disoriented and be scared or even in the worst case, bite us (obviously unintentionally).
The cold can be another reason why our dog trembles while sleeping, something we will know if the ambient temperature is very low. In that case we must cover it with a blanket or put the heating on to prevent it from getting cold.
Other reasons a dog may tremble or tremble
Regardless of the reasons already mentioned, it is possible that our dog may have a drop in blood glucose which would cause these tremors. It is something that occurs mainly in small breed dogs, very common in dogs with little muscle mass or with very active puppies like those of the Boxer race and that is solved by providing food to our dog.
On the other hand, there are ailments such as rheumatism or muscle pain due to injury or wear, which cause tremors in our dog or in some parts of it, such as for example in a paw. These types of tremors are only eliminated by solving the problem, that is, with adequate medication for the ailment, thus avoiding pain.
Other more serious diseases can also cause muscle spasms or tremors, distemper, epilepsy in dogs or even the ingestion of any toxin that produces the poisoning in our dog. When it comes to poison, the dog may not only be trembling, vomit, gasp, and feel listless or strange. It is also common when it comes to a disease of viral origin, that our dog trembles and also does not want to eat.
If we have any suspicion that our dog may be sick, have any ailment or even that it has been poisoned, we must go to the veterinaryn obligatorily. There is no home remedy or magic plant that can cure this type of tremors. We must solve the original problem so that they disappear.
My puppy is trembling. What should I do?
When it comes to a puppy we must take many precautions since his immune system is still very weak and any problem or illness can be much more serious for him than for an adult dog.
If our puppy trembles, we must ensure that he is not cold, that he has eaten well and that his mood is correct. The puppies of the breeds that we have indicated above also suffer tremors that can be classified as normal. But … how do you know if it is normal or not?
We will not explain tricks or methodologies, if our puppy trembles and we
do not know the reason, the best thing we can do is go to a vet or if we trust him, call him on the phone and explain the problem.
Puppies are so delicate, that we recommend consulting with the specialist, if only to rule out other viral problems.