The effects of single IV administered doses of dexamethasone on response to the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test (baseline plasma ACTH, pre-ACTH cortisol, and post-ACTH cortisol concentrations) performed 1, 2, and 3 days (experiment 1) or 3, 7, 10, and 14 days (experiment 2) after dexamethasone treatment were evaluated in healthy Beagles. In experiment 1, ACTH stimulation tests were carried out after administration of 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 5 mg of dexamethasone/kg of body weight. Dosages greater than or equal to 0.1 mg of dexamethasone/kg decreased pre-ACTH plasma cortisol concentration on subsequent days, whereas dosages greater than or equal to 1 mg/kg also decreased plasma ACTH concentration. Treatment with 1 or 5 mg of dexamethasone/kg suppressed (P less than 0.05) post-ACTH plasma cortisol concentration (on day 3 after 1 mg of dexamethasone/kg; on days 1, 2, and 3 after 5 mg of dexamethasone/kg). In experiment 2, IV administration of 1 mg of dexamethasone/kg was associated only with low (P less than 0.05) post-ACTH plasma cortisol concentration in dogs on day 3. In experiment 2, pre-ACTH plasma cortisol and ACTH concentrations in dogs on days 3, 7, 10, and 14 and post-ACTH plasma cortisol concentration on days 7, 10, and 14 were not affected by dexamethasone administration. The results suggest that, in dogs, a single IV administered dosage of greater than or equal to 0.1 mg of dexamethasone/kg can alter the results of the ACTH stimulation test for at least 3 days. The suppressive effect of dexamethasone is dose dependent and is not apparent 7 days after treatment with 1 mg of dexamethasone/kg.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)