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Dog Throwing Up

10K views 31 replies 23 participants last post by  Blklab 
#1 ·
I'm trying to narrow down a reason why my 8.5 m/o lab is randomly throwing up. When he does throw up, it's always between 5 and 6 am. His food is always digested by that time (we feed at 6:30 am and 6:30 pm). Sometimes we'll find something in it, like a long piece of grass, a string, or something like that, which makes sense then why he may have thrown up. But this morning, it looked like it was just liquid.

He eats Fromm's large breed puppy. He isn't throwing up everyday. It's just hit or miss. Sometimes it's once a week, sometimes three, sometimes never.

Yesterday he was in his kennel for a large portion of the day. He is kind of spoiled because my wife has a home office, so most of the time he is her "office dog" during the day. Yesterday, though, she was out on business, hence the reason he was in his kennel. Could it be that he has anxiety and then gets an upset stomach?

Even after throwing up, he acts fine, eats fine, plays fine. Just getting sick of hearing "the noise" at 5 am.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Mine did the same thing after I switched him from PPP to Exclusive. When a trip to the vet for an exam and a shot of something (I don't remember what) didn't work I took it upon myself to switch him back to PPP and the problem was gone.

Try changing his food and see if that works.
 
#3 ·
#4 ·
I had one that would do that, it lessened as the dog matured. My theory, empty stomach get a little over acid waiting for breakfast. Don't know why they would produce less acid in the daytime though. You might try giving him a late night dog biscuit right before you go to bed.
 
#5 ·
7.5 month old does the same thing, same time of day too. Did it yesterday actually. One time he did actually puke up one of the kid's socks. He is a serious sock thieving bandito. It's a constant battle with my 3 year old and 6 year old to put their dirty socks up. I bet I've got a dozen scattered around the yard that he's passed. Scares me he's going to get an obstruction.

My 8 year old was a panty thief. Threw up 4 pair in one night. I learned two things.... (1) I'm glad I married a small woman, and (2) I'm glad she recognized all the panties!! :p
 
#7 ·
I think I might just add a little rice to his food tonight...and/or give him just a little bit of rice before bed. Maybe that will soak up some of the acid, if that indeed is what is causing it.
 
#9 ·
Both my older dog and younger dog, who are very hyper and on PPP throw up occasionally. It looks like white stuff digested and phlegm. Have had them checked. Spoke with my vet and he said they are prolly thinking breakfast coming soon. I have found if I feed them both a handful before I go to bed it does not happen.
Check with your vet first to rule out something serious. Good luck.
 
#11 ·
I have almost 10 year old now who used to do the very early morning barf thing when he was a youngster.
Never anything but some foamy bile. Solved the problem by giving him a large milkbone at bedtime. If we forgot to give it to him sure enough he would barf. He eventually outgrew it but still insists on a cookie before bed but now just gets a little one.
 
#12 ·
Well, I think the verdict is in, we will try a little bedtime snack for the next couple weeks or so and see what happens. We have talked to the vet when he was much younger and this was happening. They did some tests, but everything came back negative, which is good, but makes it harder to figure out why.

Thanks everybody. Best darn retriever site on the Internet!!!
 
#14 ·
What about access to water? Does he have free access to water for a couple hours before bed or, is he pretty much kenneled in the house during that time?
 
#15 ·
What about access to water? Does he have free access to water for a couple hours before bed or, is he pretty much kenneled in the house during that time?
He does have access to water, but we try to limit his water intake after 8:00 so that he doesn't have to get up in the middle of the night.
 
#18 ·
For what its worth, IMHO They eat /taste EVerything besides what is in the bowl at his age. That said if he swallows something that will not pass, his body will try the vomit route to expell it. But it sounds like you've ruled out that as a cause. Do know Green yellow liquid = stomach bile indicating irritation.


Sounds like he may be hungry anxiety to eat gets his juices flowing, cause 6:30 doesn't come fast enough for him, so he gags up that bile pile. May need to give him more opportunities to eat. He is only 8 mos old and 12hours between feedings is long when you growing and hungry.
Always determine that he is making a normal stool through his day if he is not get to your Dog Doc asap. Blockage is life threatening. And it is norovirus season nation wide.
 
#19 ·
Seeing or just even calling your vet on the phone is never bad advice?
 
#22 ·
He is as regular as the noon whistle. He poops right away in the morning and again in the afternoon. They are always firm, "healthy" looking stools.

Vet has been consulted. Everything checks out fine.

I'll try feeding a little earlier and then give a "snack" before bed and see if that helps things out.
 
#23 ·
My young one is on meds right now due to vomiting a yellowish colored liquid, He had not been himself for about a week, then a couple mornings around 1-2 AM there he goes, a day break then tried again . Took him to the vet, exam, x-rays, put on some meds. He is back to normal now and 2 days left of meds.
 
#24 ·
2 of my labs do this at about 4-5am every morning. One has been doing it since she was about 3 months old, and nows she's nearly 3. Just yellowish substance, bile looking. My vet said it happens a lot in very active dogs. Just too high of a metabolism. She said try to give a bed time snack. This helped a lot, but didn't cure it every night. I asked a friend who has 7 FT labs, and they said a few of their dogs did it too.
 
#25 ·
We used to get this a lot when I was working at a guide dog facility (where I worked for 4 yrs). Obviously we would start with an exam and/or bloodwork, but quite often what seemed to work was a late-night snack in these older puppies. Just a milk bone or small amount of kibble just before bedtime... something to help alleviate that early morning acid reflux type situation.
 
#27 ·
When my dog did what yours is doing, I asked the Vet and he said it was just bile. Nothing to worry about.

I'm not saying that's what yours is though.
 
#30 ·
I dealt with the same thing with my dog. 2 things I did to make the situation better:

1. put a large rock or something that the dog will not ingest in his food dish; that will make your dog slow down when he eats instead of "inhaling" his food

2. boil hamburger (strain very well after boiling in WATER) and mix that with rice for his/her next 2 meals
 
#32 ·
Mine was doing that for quite awhile...threw up bile most mornings early. Pumping the stomach out and would also do it sometimes in the afternoon and evening....tried several foods. Had several ear infections, then yeast infection between her toes and a staff infection that took months to clear up with months of several antibiotics. Now on prescription food...expensive....but I think we are finally making progress. No infections anymore, staph is gone and no longer throwing up. May try to introduce new foods agin since they think it was all due to food allergies.......
 
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