Elderly dog constantly whining

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

I mean CONSTANTLY. Every 'out' breath is a whine. She goes "Breathe in, whiiiiiiiine, breathe in, whiiiiiiiiine, breathe in, whiiiiiiiine, breath in, BIG SQUEAKY SIGHING WHINE." She's always done it on/off but lately it's so much worse/louder. Vet says there's nothing wrong, it's just the way she is. It is driving us all CRAZY.

Does anyone else have a dog that's breathes like a living squeaky toy? How do you cope with it??

What breed? Is it a breathing difficulty?

I have 2 labs and they don’t do this, it other dogs I have met who do are typically on drugs such as Gabapentin , which can make them whimper.

But if your dog has always done it sounds like a respiratory issue down to conformance/ build/ genes.

She's a Border Terrier, no confirmed breathing issues. She's did have a severe heart murmur back in 2020 but every time she sees a vet they have a good listen and there's no sign of it anymore, it fixed itself. I can't remember what they called it though.

She's done the whiny breathing since long before that though.

And she's around 11 or so I think.

I can’t really help but we also have a border terrier and she sometimes does this. We call it the wheezy whine! She does tend to just do it when she’s building up to letting us know she needs something, I.e. when she’s hungry.
It would send me round the bend if she did it all the time as it’s quite stress inducing!
I would question nothing being wrong though, seems like a change in habit? Could you speak to the vet again? Maybe try some form of pain relief to see if it made a difference then work back from there?

Is it definitely breathing related or could it be the start of doggy dementia?

I have wondered this tbh, her nightly ritual after we've eaten tea she'll do a circuit of the kitchen floor and the dining room hoovering up any crumbs we may have dropped and then flop into her bed for the evening and not really move. Lately she's been doing her usual circuit, flopping into bed, then getting up a few minutes later to do the circuit again, then flopping into bed and getting up again a few minutes later... etc this now goes on for maybe 5-6 circuits before she finally settles down for the evening completely. That and the excessive whining are making me wonder if there's something going on.

I'd definitely get her to the vets for a check if that's the case ☺️ there's medication that can help with dementia.

I’ve just been googling to see if anybody else has this annoying problem with their dog and come across this post.

I have a 14 year old Border Collie who does the EXACT same. In addition to the whining and crying he also paces. I have no idea what’s wrong with him, he’s always been a bit of a whiner but it’s getting worse and worse.

I want to add there is nothing physically wrong with him, he’s incredibly healthy for his age. He just LOVES to cry all the time. He still gets his walks every day but they actually make him worse.

I did wonder about dementia tbh and just wondering if you did ever confirm it or not? My boy HATES the vets so don’t really want to unnecessarily stress him out tbh.