# Dog coughing after barking



## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

It's not always, but I have noticed that Meeko sometimes coughs when he barks/snarls a certain way. He does not do this when I ask him to bark or growl on command, but when he is telling Dante to get away, he ends up coughing.

I have a vet appointment tomorrow morning for his booster so I'm going to ask about it then... but I am worried that he has a collapsing trachea 

Any thoughts on what it might be?


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## TobysDad (Aug 11, 2013)

I don't have any explanation as to what it could be, but I adopted a senior Boston Terrier years ago who had lived a rough and tumble life. When she got excited and barked, she would always 'hack' afterward. She didn't do it everytime, but it seemed that when she was more excited the hack and cough followed the barks. She showed no other ill effects from it though, so hopefully it is just 'one of those things'. Please post any answers you may get as I'd like to know what causes it. Good luck!


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Could it be a reverse sneeze triggered by the excitement of telling off the other dog?


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Well we had our vet visit today.

He didn't seem worried. He said it could be anything -- getting a bit of spit stuck in his throat from barking too excitedly, the house being a bit dry, reverse sneezing, etc. lol. I guess I am just being a little paranoid.

I guess it's just one of his "quirks". I mean it doesn't happen often so it's obviously not anything serious.

I also got the OK to maybe start agility (luxating patella is not that big of a concern apparently), and he didn't want to give any boosters besides the one for lepto, etc. which he said my dog most likely won't need for the rest of his life


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Toby coughs after barking as well. Sometimes he coughs just to cough too, he also does this really weird 'choking' sound and to get him to stop we have to push his tongue down with our finger to clear his airway and then he's fine... Vet's never been concerned about it.


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## Kayota (Aug 14, 2009)

A lot of small or brachycephalic dogs do this. Their soft palette is just too big for their mouth a lot of times. Dogs weren't really intended to be small or flat-faced and while I love that they are it does come with some problems. Roxie just hacks for no reason from time to time.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

BostonBullMama said:


> Toby coughs after barking as well. Sometimes he coughs just to cough too, he also does this really weird 'choking' sound and to get him to stop we have to push his tongue down with our finger to clear his airway and then he's fine... Vet's never been concerned about it.


Yeah he does reverse sneezing as well, but it isn't the same sound. This coughing sounds like he has something stuck in his throat that he's trying to clear.



Kayota said:


> A lot of small or brachycephalic dogs do this. Their soft palette is just too big for their mouth a lot of times. Dogs weren't really intended to be small or flat-faced and while I love that they are it does come with some problems. Roxie just hacks for no reason from time to time.


Yeah I am aware of reverse sneezing, etc. in smaller breeds... but I guess I just worried because my friend recently got an x-ray done on her dog after she noticed similar coughing, and found out that he had a collapsed trachea (very mild case).


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Yea when Toby does his cough, he sort of gags too so it looks like he's definitely trying to bring something up, but like I said - vets never been concerned.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

BostonBullMama said:


> Yea when Toby does his cough, he sort of gags too so it looks like he's definitely trying to bring something up, but like I said - vets never been concerned.


Yeah I just hope it isn't a collapsing trachea or something. My friend had an x-ray done after he dog was doing the same thing and it turned out it was a very ild case of it. I mean, my vet told me it is probably nothing to worry about... so I guess I will just keep an eye and if it worsens then I will probably opt for an x-ray as well.


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## Chichan (Apr 1, 2014)

taquitos said:


> I also got the OK to maybe start agility (luxating patella is not that big of a concern apparently), and he didn't want to give any boosters besides the one for lepto, etc. which he said my dog most likely won't need for the rest of his life


Meeko has luxating patellas?
Stage one I'm assuming.
I read that 45-50% of poms will be affected in their life time. 0.0


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

Chichan said:


> Meeko has luxating patellas?
> Stage one I'm assuming.
> I read that 45-50% of poms will be affected in their life time. 0.0


Just one and yes, a very mild case  Vet did not tell me the grade, but he said it really wasn't that bad and as long as he wasn't a sport dog (just doing agility for fun), and I was supplementing (which I already do -- he gets glucosamine and MSM), it shouldn't be an issue


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