[believev]

OK... So my girlfriend has a Yorkie. It's 5. Actually it's not hers, because her parents take care of it 99% of the time. I have been going over this house for a year now and from the minute I walked in the door the dog was absolutely mortified of me. It's so bad that it starts to shake immediately and sometimes throws up just from looking at me. With time that got a little better, now it just hides when i come over. She said if it doesn't know someone it always hides. whatever, that's not the issue here. The dog is afraid of me and I think it's not socialized properly. They are all women in that house, and it just thinks i'm going to hurt it..

With that said.... The dog is also incapable of leaving hte house. At least that's what htey say. I found all this to be rediculous until 2 days ago when I convinced her to bring the dog up my house while her parents were away on vacation. I figured it would be easier if we can take care of him without having to run up her house ever couple of hours to feed it and take it out. They really baby this dog, it gets fed better than I do. It gets heated up chicken with all kinds of cheese on it. I consider it to be very spoiled. I have sat with it several times and pet it, and taken it for walks, only to come over the next day and he hides immediately when he hears my car.

Anyway.. so we bring it up my house, where we let it hangout by the pool outside with us. It's breezy and about 70degrees not too hot or anything. THe dog is in the shade and it immediatly starts to pant excessivelty. Within about 15 minutes, it was gasping for air and making all these wierd gurgling sounds.. Honestly I dont like this dog.. mostly because it doesn't like me and it's a constant nuisance, but i felt real bad for it here.

I really thoguht it was going to die. We took it inside and i left the room so she could be alone with it, thinking it would calm down, but it only got worse. It was taking what seemed like thousands of little gasping breaths every minute. It wasn't getting anthing into his lungs.. I think he was horribly hyperventiallted and just couldn't take any air in. He was able to run around and walk and stuff, but it was making these wierd gasps.. so fast and over and over.. nonstop.. so she asked to take it home and I agreed, with fear that it would just keel over at any moment. Anyway the 15minute ride back he continued.. didn't get worse but didn't take a full breath the entire time. I figured if he wasn't breathing he would have died for sure, but he didn't and a few hours passed, so he was getting air somehow. He was drooling all over the place.. The ride home, i got stuck with him on my lap with a roll of paper towels wiping his face every 2 seconds b/c he was drooling all over the place.. he never stopped gasping for air the entire 15 minute ride

anyway.. what can cause a dog to act like that, and is there any way to fix it. If it were up to me I would just make it sit there until it relaxed, but I know thats wrong. This dog needs to calm down b/c the parents are goign away alot now and we dont think it's right that we have to take care of the dog but on the DOG's terms.. we have to drive 15 minutes. take him out, feed him 3 times a day.. ontop of cooking his chicken. it's rediculous. if he could just stay here, he'd be safe and everythign but he was freaking out last time..

any suggestions.. I suspect the dog had a panic attack of some sort and hyperventillated. There was no danger for him and he wouldn't have been hurt, so can he really die from being so nervous? Should I just let him work it out on its own?

ANy suggestiosn would help.

he really is a cute dog.. he's real fat b/c of the cheese and everythign, but he doesn't pant like that at home ever.. it was definately cuz we took him out of the house.
Thanks