Does my Chihuahua have asthma?

Hi,

This happened to my dog. It turned out it was something called “Backward sneezing”.

Reverse sneezing, or hurfing, is when the trachea goes into a spasm. This seems to occur when a dog has become over excited, sniffed up pollen or dust or swallowed a treat and their throat is dry. People have thought the gagging nose they make is the dog choking. Some people have diagnosed this as kennel cough. The inhaling snoring snorting noise has also been called a “backward sneeze.” There is no cure for this and no preventative. When this occurs, the owner should gently massage the throat encourage the dog to swallow and stay calm. Covering the nose in an attempt to get the dog to breathe through his/her mouth helps sometimes. In severe cases putting your finger down their mouth and making them swallow can remedy the hurfing. We have found that placing a treat in your hand and allowing the dog to nibble on it really helps. If your dog reverse sneezes this is not usually a sign that they have a soft palette or a soft trachea.

However, please take your dog to the vet to make sure it isn’t asthma or kennel cough!