I do have to disagree with Reece on this. I know there have been confirmed cases of domestic animals with rabies in this country. How do I know, well read this. I take in rescue dogs and rehome them. Several weeks ago I took in a dog from a guy who was moving and couldn't take her with him. Anyway, the day after she got here she went bonkers. She tried to attack me, she wouldn't eat or drink, she became very restless. That was the first day she was here and I thought maybe she was just an aggressive dog that someone needed to dump off - sometimes that happens with rescues. So, I called my vet and planned to bring her in that next morning to have her looked at and possibly euthanized because she was dangerous and unable to be adopted out. The next morning I went out and she was unconscious and unresponsive and heavily salivating. I took her in to my vet and he put her to sleep because at that point there was nothing that could be done. He did a necropsy with me there and didn't find anything irregular or abnormal about her. The ONLY way to test an animal for rabies is to cut off its head, send it in to the state lab and have the brain tested. This was done and came back negative - thank God. But my vet and I were both very worried it was rabies because for 1) this dog had NOT been vaccinated for rabies 2) this was a farm dog and it is very possible it could have been exposed to a rabid animal 3) the symptoms were very similar to how rabies presents itself and 4) my vet had 3 confirmed cases of rabies in domestic animals (2 dogs and 1 cat) in the last 5 weeks prior to this incident. I live in central Nebraska USA and yes rabies is possible for your pet to contract so make sure you get them vaccinated. Your dog does not sound like he had rabies to me. If you still have his body and it isn't too decomposed you can call a vet, tell them you suspect your dog died of rabies and you were exposed. They will want the body and they can send the head in to be tested for rabies. If you don't still have the body, there is not much you can do other than go to a human dr and tell them the same thing. You are probably safe though and I wouldn't worry too much.