Our Loso Opso went for a ride with my wife this weekend, short trip downtown. He threw-up in the car, and we thought maybe he just got car sick. He was kind of moving slowly the rest of the day, not looking too good. About five hours later I noticed "hey, he's really not looking good and acting odd". My wife took him outside for some fresh air and a minute later I noticed he was looking huched up a bit and dragging is back legs, his back legs were as stiff as a board. She put him in her lap and tried to relax him as he started to kind of kick and wimper. Then, which was really alarming, he looked straight up in the air, to the point where his head was so far back he was almost touching his back, and he stayed like that. Soon he started to kick violently and cry out. He would move his head back to a more normal position from time to time, but only briefly, then back to straight up and back. We took him in the house and I called the vet, this was about 1am Sunday morning. I found out there's no emergency vet on call in our town, the nearest town that does is one hour away. We decided he was in too much pain and had to do something. We loaded him up, my wife drove, and I held him. He was still kicking, with his head up, wimping, and letting out an occasional terrible cry, it was awful. His heart was racing and I knew the little guy's heart wasn't going to hold up under that stress. 20 minutes down the road he started to calm down, I was hoping he'd passed whatever it was he'd gotten into, maybe bird bones, or a rabbit bones. He was always killing birds and rabits, or trying. My impression was that he had a bone stuck sideways in his intestines maybe, but I just don't know. Then his heart slowed, and he'd died right there in my arms. We were and are devistated. The pain he went through was horrible. The next morning, my wife and I walked our property and found some bird feathers, maybe he ate a bad bird? We're not sure because we also have cats that live outside and hunt the birds too. From what I've described, does anyone know what might have happened? Coincidentaly, he died the same day we were expecting and received our newest member, a Chiwawa. He couldn't have come a moment sooner, but we dont' want the same happening to him. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help,

Oh my gosh, I don't think it was the bird or rabbit bones. because raw bones are ok for dogs to eat. If the animal had eaten poison then yeah, it could have harmed him. Not sure if the movements he was doing was all because of the pain, or if it was seizures. They usually do some odd movements when seizing.
There are so many things it could have been. Possible failure or organs, possible blockage from eating something he should not have.
Never ever ever give a dog cooked bones. They can splinter and do alot of damge internally. Could he have gotten ahold of a cooked bone?
I am so sorry for your loss, it made me upset just reading what happened to your dog.

Thank you for your response.
We looked all around, and there's really nothing like cooked bones or poisonous materials, or anything of that nature that he could have gotten into.
I forgot to mention he was continuing to "try" and vomit through out the day after the initial vomitting in the car, but only a very little bit of white foamy substance would come out, maybe the size of a silver dollar. Plus, he was only 5 years old.
Thanks again for your response, and any other responses would really really appreciated.

wow thats sad what happened to your dog, I have no idea at all what could of caused this to happen but gosh it broke my heart just reading it , I would call your normal vet and tell him the story of what happened im sure maybe he could tell you what happened more then any one of us could.
I would of had a autopsy (sp) done just to find out what happend to the poor thing, to make sure it wasnt contagouis.

Again, so very sorry for your loss- I do hope some one can help you figure out what happened to your dog-

I am heart broken to read this

You and your family are in my prayers today

my deepest condolences to you and your family

heath, i am so sorry for your loss. how terrifying and awful. it sounds like your dog may have eaten something poisonous. have you looked at all the plants on your property? many common plants are deadly for dogs and cause the symptoms you described.
again i am so sorry.

We live in the desert on 2.5 acres. On our property are plants like creosote bushes, cactus, rose bushes, a palm tree, and oleander's.

Heath I am pretty sure that Oleander can lead to stomach problems and heart failure. Double check on that...it may be what caused your dogs death. I am very sorry for your loss.

http://www.dogpack.com/health/poisonplants.htm

altho lhasa's are not one of the breeds that commonly bloat, it sure sounds like it.

It also sounds like poison. Could he have gotten into antifreeze? cleaning supplies?

Oleander IS poisonous and if eated can lead to death. I can't see a 5 year old dog eating that though, unless he's just like my dog. She would munch on leaves for the heck of it. Just to annoy me and make me chase her. We got rid of our oleander bush. There was two russian kids a few years back that died from eating oleander leaves.
Being your dog would kill small animals. It could have eating an animal that had eaten something poisonous. Very sad. Please keep an eye on your new chihuahua.

Was the dog eating and drinking prior to this?

Little dogs can suffer from hypoglycemia and this causes seizures which can lead to death.

So sorry!

Last night, I spoke with my wife about what I've read online, and about everyone here's feedback (thanks for that) and something occured to us. This is terrible, and I'm hurt we didn't think of this earlier, perhaps we could have saved him. We realized our 8 year old boy was helping his mom clean the kitchen floor that morning. He was spraying some kind of Clorox floor cleaner all around the floor trying to help her out. When we remembered this, it all became very clear what happened. He must have sprayed it in the dog food by accident, which sits on the kitchen floor. When I realized this, I was certain, that's exactly what killed him, it makes sense. It makes the situation that much sadder. Of course we can never let our son know this, it hurts too much already. The poor guy already cried his eyes out the morning he found out his buddy died. Life can be so tough sometimes, but we have to live and learn I guess. Our beautiful dog will be forever missed.

Not to debunk you theory, but he would have to squirt the food quite directly and thoroughly for this to happen. I mean a little misting is not going to kill a dog.