Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kirby'sPerson on January 30, 2010 at 1:33am

Hi there! I think you will get lots of responses to this from Corgi owners whose dogs do the same thing. Kirby is going to be 12 (!) at the end of February and has done this since we first got him at age 18 months. It's very scary looking. If we are talking about the same thing, the dog just stops and makes grunting sounds. It takes a seeming eternity, but,as you wrote, lasts maybe 30 seconds. Hopefully you will feel reassured knowing that Kirby has been doing this his whole life and is an active healthy Corgi, just beginning to show signs of his age!

I have heard it call "reverse sneezing". From what I know it is a Corgi "thing" that is not indicative of anything ominous. It looks worse than it is. (I don't know what it feels like for our canine babies, of course). Others might be able to give more info on it. I do know that a lot of Corgis have allergies and this may be related to them.

P.S. Zero is a cutie and I love the name.

Permalink Reply by Kirby'sPerson on January 30, 2010 at 1:46am

Meant to add, it's not just grunting sounds....it's a snorting/grunting/noisy breathing with rapid or seemingly labored breathing. People I have met on walks look horrified if it happens then, and are reassured by my lack of panic. When Kirby has these I don't touch him or anything. I just stand or sit by him until its done.

Permalink Reply by Kristi Reckard on January 30, 2010 at 1:48am

Grace gets that a lot too. When I took her to the vet, they were not concerned. I notice with Grace it seems like you said at night or when she eats. I thought maybe a bone was caught in her throat but when I took her to the vet, they pushed on her adams apple and she started it again. My mom has a small dog and hers does it too. I dont know what it is but I don't think it is an issue. You could take him to the vet and have him xrayed for 65-75 dollars and make sure nothing is clogging his neck. Let me know if you figure it out because we sure haven't!
Good luck
Kristi

Permalink Reply by Abbea and Vivi on January 30, 2010 at 7:19am

Yep, it's caused reverse sneezing, and it's nothing to worry about! Dogs sometimes get something in their nasal passage that causes them to do this, sometimes just their own mucus or a hair. I've heard that massaging the throat (near the adams apple) or gently pinching their nose from the sides helps them stop, but it should stop on its own eventually. I don't think it causes any distress to the dog. It's kind of like when people have sneezing fits and sneeze several times in a row.

Permalink Reply by Dexter, Marple, Dennis and Nancy on January 30, 2010 at 9:28am

Yep, Dexter does this too. When it first occurred, when Dexter was probably 8-10 weeks old, we hovered over him thinking that we'd killed him with his latest treat (thinking we'd accidently killed him was a frequent fear back then). Dexter was - and still is - completely unphased by the episodes, and they tend to happen less often now.

Permalink Reply by Jessica and Zero on January 30, 2010 at 11:57pm

Thanks for the replies! I youtubed reverse sneezing and it's the same thing. Zero likes to dig in the backyard, so I'm assuming the dirt that gets in his nose could be one of the causes. It makes my boyfriend and I feel much better! Thank you again!

Permalink Reply by Alice on January 31, 2010 at 8:10pm

Finn does it too. He didn't start until he was about 10 months old and it worried me the first time. It sounds like the build up to a sneeze, like the ah-ah and no choo. It is definitely reverse sneezing. Finn does it usually at night too. Keeping the floors clear of hair will help. Allergies can bring it on but this is not the only cause. It's nothing to be worried about though. They say when your dog is doing it if you get them to walk around or cover their nose and rub their throat it will stop the episode. I usually just pet him to calm him when he does it unless of course it's the middle of the night and he's in his crate, then he's on his own.

Here's a link about reverse sneezing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_sneezing