Collapsed trachea or Reverse sneezing?

Coco's makes this weird noise sometimes,kind of like a grunting sound.Sometimes it happens after a prolonged chase but recently it's been popping up at home/in her sleep.
Were going to the vet's this week for a general health check (and hopefully a microchip) but I've been googling what it could be...what is this reverse sneezing I hear of?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdPUX8mnFE4


Just curious if any off you have dealt with this or know what it might be...

Looks and sounds like the collapsing trachea problem. Chulita is getting worse and worse as she ages. I wouldn't plug up the dog's nostrils. They need all the air they can get. Sometimes what seems to help a little bit with my dogs (they both have it, but Chuli's is worse) is to gently massage the throat area...gentle pressure on the sides of the trachea. It seems to help relieve that spasm a little bit.

Tucker reverse sneezes...though he does it a lot more in the summer than any other time so I think it's pollen related. He also tends to do it when he's sleeping (he waked up when it starts). I know it has something to do with the soft palate and throat spasming or narrowing, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's generally nothing to worry about, they stop eventually. I've heard some people can stop bad attacked by plugging their dog's nostrils and forcing them to breathe through their mouths instead of their noses...I'd be worried about how my dog would react to that. The attacks seem to upset him slightly while they happen but once it's over he's fine.

My aunt and uncle's Shih Tzu has a collapsing trachea. It's very different and seems a lot less scary. She opens her mouth like she's gagging, shakes because she's trying so hard to open her airway, and then gags super hard, often hacking up some spit. Then she's usually good. Her episodes are directly related to collar pressure (pulling on her leash), and panting (inhaling and exhaling super hard causes her throat to get sucked shut). I hate it because it limits how much you can do with her, in hot weather I sometimes have to stop a training session because she starts panting from the minimal physical activity and work and starts hacking a lot. I've heard this condition can be dangerous, but usually isn't. It's most common in small dogs.

ETA: I've seen more than one rendition of how dogs react when they have collapsing tracheas. Not every dog does the hard gag like I described...that's just what she does. I've hears some dogs cough and some will cough and honk. Reverse sneezing is pretty much the same all the time from what I've seen, it's exactly what was in that video.

Sounds like it could be either tbh.It doesn't look as severe as the puggle,it normally lasts a few seconds and I have instinctively just took to massaging her throat.I'll see what the vet says.
Thanks!!

If you Google search reverse sneezing and collapsing trachea, there are several videos
with sound that might help you decide if that's what your dog has. The trachea sounds like a goose honking....my dog has that and for a little girl she has a "big snore" at night !!

When I have seen reverse sneezing, I hear more nose involvement...the air squeezing past the nose and the nasopharynx too. When my dogs have their collapsing trachea issue, I hear it more like your video...more throaty sounding. But maybe your vet can determine this if Cocoa will do it while being examined.

Chulita has been seeing a vet for this because it is worsening...getting quite awful. It use to be more occasional and not as long lasting episodes when she was younger. The way my vet put it was it can indeed become life threatening as they age and it becomes severe, where it's happening with increased frequency and severity. Chulita may have to have surgery to correct this. But that is also tricky. They must be having an episode to determine just where the involvement is. If it's up higher, the treatment is one way. If it's down lower, it's another. I hope your vet visit will help shed some light. Best of luck to you and Cocoa.

Well, looking at some of those videos, what I'm seeing a lot of from Chulita must be reverse sneezing, not collapsing trachea. Or perhaps she is doing both. She never does anything in front of the vet so it couldn't be positively diagnosed. (like when you take your car to the mechanic and it acts perfect) lol. She gave me some cough medicine pills which I've only given a few times because I just didn't notice them doing any good. Now I'm going to look at some of the collapsing trachea and see if she does that. But whatever it is she does, it's gotten worse in her later years. I know it's important not to let the dogs get too fat so I'm careful there.

With Chulita, it happens more often when she's playing wildly or getting excited. Lately, even mild excitement seems to throw her into a fit. But not from sleeping. So, that's different about Cocoa. Maxi, did your aunt and uncle have a positive diagnosis? That gagging happens too with Chulita...and the quivering, like she's not getting any air. I think she may be affected with both problems.

Sorry to hijack your thread Cloudcandy. I hope something can be done to ease little Cocoa's situation, whatever it turns out to be. It's very hard to know for sure, I think. I guess bronchiodilators might be used if they really, really get bad.

Poor Chulita Hope you find a solution.Coco seems to have hers most when she is running,she will stop after a while and *looks* like she is going to cough something up.Also there are times when she gets over excited with a toy that she makes a short little sound like that puggle.It isn't as dramatic,and she doesn't seem bothered by it but I do soothe her.

She might have both....the looking like she's going to cough something up sounds like a collapsing trachea. Phoebe's collapsing trachea sounds nothing like reverse sneezing at all, no honking, just a gag and hark hacking. But it might be different in different dogs, depending on how they choose to deal with the inability to breathe properly.

Here's videos of the differences, if this helps.

Reverse sneeze:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UyBrb0Hhpk&feature=player_embedded

Collapsed trachea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXHawseVuKE&feature=player_embedded

Here's a link about reverse sneeze:
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/diseasesconditionsfaqs/f/FAQ_revsneeze.htm

Thanks Cloudcandy. Maxi, I bet you're right...that it could well show up a little differently in different dogs. Thank you JM...I'm going to take a look at those videos and see if they're any different or better than a few I looked at earlier and will read the article too tomorrow a.m. when I have more time.

My mom's little pug mix sounds exactly like the OP when he reverse sneezes. The vet has heard him and checked him out and says that's all it is and not to worry about it to much.

Both my dogs reverse sneeze on occasion, Gavroche more so than Logan. I think with them it's allergy related. There are a BUNCH of dogs that board that do it when they go outside because they're excited, or sometimes because the air is cold.

I'd be interested to see what you vet says.

One of my dogs almost sounds like he has congestion he's trying to cough up. I'm thinking it's with the pollen starting outside. When he was younger, he had kennel cough and almost went into pneumonia; he was getting really sick but luckily recovered.

You may want to use a harness instead of a collar if not already using one. Small and toy dog owners use harness b/c of the dog's delicate trachea. We use harnesses on all of our Yorkies.

I definitely use harnesses on those little wee dogs. But in my dogs' case, their trachea problems are not due to injury, but to the oft inherent trait in these little dogs.