heavly breathing

Question
QUESTION: hi my name is Katie and i have a German shepherd puppy named bear he is 3 years old and i came home from babysitting and he came up to the car (the man i was babysitting for car) my brother told the dog to stay but he didn't so my brother gave him a very hard hit on the stomach i was sitting here and all i hear is him deeply breathing like he is trying to catch his breath but he did nothing and when i grow up i want to be  vet so i tired to lay him down but when i gave him a treat for doing that he was breathing heavier, i think it was from the hit but I'm not sure do you know what i should do ?!?!?!

sincerely Katie

ANSWER: Katie I don't know how old you are but you need to get an adult to help you look at Bear's gums and see if they are still pink. Hitting a dog hard in the stomach can rupture his stomach, his liver, or his spleen and kill him. It could even rupture his diaphram making it really hard for him to breath and that will suffocate him. I have seen it happen at the vets before.

You need to press on his gums and see if his color is pink and if it's white you need to call a vet right away or take him in to the vets. This can be an emergency if his color is pale.
Get your mom or dad to look at his gums and breathing. Get a flashlight to do it.

Let your parents know this might be a real emergency!!
Please write to me later and tell me what happens with him ok?
I hope he will be okay.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: its Katie again i am 13 just started high school,and all i want to be is a vet  i did the pressing on the gums and i think they stayed the same.bear doesn't like me much so the only way he comes tome is if i give him a treat I'm trying to break him out of the habit of growling at me when i try to pet him  anyway his gums stayed pink but what does that have to do with his heavy breathing??

Answer
Katie,
Why do your parents own a dog that growls at you? Do you know how dangerous that is?

His gums being pink indicate whether or not he is bleeding inside from being kicked. Is he still breathing hard or has he calmed down?

I think you need to tell your parents that this dog growls at you. Why does he do that? Is he afraid of kids?

The last German Shepard that I knew that growled at kids attacked one and bit a huge hole into his side.
Growling dogs are not good pets. I hope for your sake that he is neutered too because if he isn't that makes him even more dangerous.

I think that it's wonderful that you want to be a veterinarian so do lots of reading now and learn also how to read a dog by his eyes and they way he moves his body around you. The first give away from a dog is his eyes then then way he carries his tail and his ears. Flat ears with growling is very, very dangerous. Ears that are up but with some growling is a warning but not as dangerous yet.

Never, ever trust a dog that growls at you. Period. They go from a growl to snapping your face off in about a half a second with no warning sometimes. Be very careful of Bear. He is not a puppy at three years old. He is an adult dog and it sounds as if he has no manners.

I hope he will be fine but you be careful with him.