My dog loves doing agility work, but suddenly he just doesn't want to do it. I noticed that he has been drooling a lot too. Any suggestions on what could be wrong?

Hi Ed,

My wife and I acquired a black lab / beagle mix (Shadow) from the humane society about six months ago. Shadow will turn two next month.

We thank you for so much info on your site, and we've purchased the puppy DVD, basic dog obedience, and all of us have been learning a lot. It helps that Shadow is the smartest, most engaged dog I've ever had.

His sit / down / sit&down stay / heel, and come have been great. We've even been doing some agility training with him with the help of a friend of whose dogs compete in agility. He just LOVES going thru the exercises.

HOWEVER == Last week during one of the training sessions he just "shut down." He refused to heel ... insisting on walking directly behind me -- and preferring not to walk at all. I brought him alongside with a firm correction, but he didn't seem "right." I ended the session.

Last night it happened again, but I noticed a few signs before it did.

- During a down/stay he 'vomited' a very small amount of water.
- Just before he 'shut down' he started drooling quite heavily.

This afternoon, this normally super-playful dog didn't have the will to jump over even the lowest jump settings. He normally loves to fetch, but showed absolutely NO interest in it.

And, he's drooling again.

Any thoughts?

- Dan