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Why is my dog panting heavily after coming inside, not hot?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 60 lbs

My dog is panting more heavily than normal. She just came in from outside. Her gums look fine, she doesn't appear to be injured and keeps drinking water. Its also not hot outside.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on March 12th, 2017

Poor Happy! Good on you for checking her gums to make sure they look normal. Even though it's not hot outside, she could have worked herself up running around outside leading to her panting. Her drinking could be an effort to cool herself down. You can put a fan on her to see if that helps with the panting, and make sure she has plenty of access to fresh water at all times. Keep monitoring Happy, and if you do notice that her gums turn red or pale, she starts vomiting, becomes dizzy, shows weakness, has a bright red tongue, or the heavy panting continues over the next few hours despite trying to cool her down, I would have her seen by a vet right away. There is also a chance her panting could be due to a medical illness, such as cardiac disease, respiratory disease, or heartworms. Even if her panting stops, I would still have Happy seen by a vet tomorrow for a health check to be safe.

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