# Dog breathing strange.. help?



## Equestiana (Aug 8, 2007)

Hey everyone,
One of my dogs, Ziggy, has been breathing strange since I came home tonight. Honestly i dont know how to explain it.. it's like she's gasping for air but is still breathing just fine. Theres no wheezing or anything, i've never heard her do it before.. It's not constant, it's been coming and going for a few hours now.. She's not uncomfortable or anything. Her gums are the right colour, no runny nose or eyes, tongue is the right colour.. It's got me stumped! If it gets worse or doesn't go away then i'll for sure be calling the vet but i'm interested to hear what you guys think it may be...

The only thing that has changed recently is a massive snow storm that hit last night. We got about 1 1/2 feet of snow, we NEVER get snow.. Just rain, I think this is the 2nd time she's ever seen snow.. She likes to eat the snow, could this be the problem?


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## Mirpanda (Jan 29, 2008)

That's what my dog started as...is yours coughing at all? My dog turned out to have a collapsed lung and air leaking and staying in the chest which caused it to collapse...I would go to the vet ASAP, just in case.


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## LittleMoonRabbit (Jan 7, 2008)

One of my best pieces of advise is to go onto Youtube and search for things like "reverse sneeze" and "collapsing trachea" and possibly even "strange dog breathing" to see if you can compare it to something on there. The first time my dog reverse sneezed, I panicked... I searched online, read about a reverse sneeze and decided to search it on youtube. sure enough, I got over a dozen videos of dogs doing the exact same thing mine was doing. However, reverse sneeze attacks only last in the order of 1-3 minutes, once a day- not on the order of hours like you are describing. Keep an eye on your dog, and if things get worse, don't hesitate to rush to an emergency 24 hour vet clinic. And, regardless, if your dog is fine through the night, I would still bring her to the regular vet in the morning.


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## Equestiana (Aug 8, 2007)

So she hasn't made any more weird noises since i posted... 

She wasn't doing it regularly for a few hours, just showed up every once in awhile.. Similiar to how hiccups show up! I looked up on youtube and it sounds EXACTLY like a reverse sneeze. I've never heard of that before... I looked up other noises as well but it doesn't sound like anything else. Could she just be reverse sneezing from a bit of a cold due to the weather?


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## LittleMoonRabbit (Jan 7, 2008)

Changes in temperature can trigger a reverse sneeze attack... they can also stop them (your dog is reverse sneezing in the house, take them outside- sometimes the cold air can snap them right out of it.) My dog most commonly gets her episodes after eating or drinking too fast- it's like the food or water gets the back of her nose and irritates it, causing her to spasm. Reverse sneezes are harmless- just scary to watch until you get used to them. If what your dog has is a reverse sneeze, you can also try holding your fingers over your dog's nose which forces them to breathe through their mouth, rub their throat, or try to distract her with a toy. All these methods were suggested to me by other members of this forum. I can't get my dog to hold still enough to cover her nose, but rubbing her throat seems to relax her and distract her, and the attacks seem to end much quicker that way. However, as I have said before, it never hurts to bring your dog to the vet, just to make sure that what she was experiencing was in fact a reverse sneeze, and not some other breathing complication.


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## Equestiana (Aug 8, 2007)

yeah, i'll still give the vet a call to make sure its nothing major. She slept fine and is fine today, not showing any signs of anything


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