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Reverse Sneezing

Libish

Member
I've noticed Avery does the Reverse Sneeze when she's over stimulated about greeting people..... anyone else experience this?

Avery, being as adorable as she is, has never known an unkind person. Everyone stops to pet her and sweet talk her (don't get me started on what golf carts mean to her - oh boy, they remind her of one particularly doting individual and now she thinks ALL golf carts are affection dispensing machines) :luv: So, naturally, she views all people as friendly and wanting to give her affection and she really lights up when she see's people. Which is great... I'd rather her friendly than aloof. But, if she gets too excited then it triggers that reverse sneeze.

It's most common when we get out of the car at the dog park and start walking toward the entrance...... she just gets over excited at what's coming.... If it were allergy related I would expect it to trigger more randomly, such as when we go for walks, and it doesn't.....

I keep thinking she'd make a super therapy dog someday, then I think 'well, maybe they won't pass her b/c that reverse sneeze'. LOL.....
 
It's the same with Daisy. When we are going into the obedience class or Petsmart, or Petco, or.... Whenever she is very excited to meet people or dogs she starts in with that reverse sneezing. It's kind of embarrassing. I always think that people think she's sick or something and won't want her around their dogs (or kids or themselves.)
 
LOL. Glad to know we're not alone! It is kinda embarrassing....We get some funny looks too from people that don't know what it is...
 
LOL. Glad to know we're not alone! It is kinda embarrassing....We get some funny looks too from people that don't know what it is...

I still haven't figured out what the heck this is. I guess that means Mika doesn't do it.
 
It can look quite disturbing - often the dog will sound (and sometimes look) as if it's choking. Some dogs get really upset and frightened by it, whereas others just carry on as normal. It doesn't actually sound like a sneeze at all, it's more a wheezy sound, I think.
 
Yes, it's a distrubing sound and they suck their tummies in really tight and spread their legs apart kinda far and seem like they are choking. They aren't, but if you don't know what it is, that's the first thought that comes to mind. Then, 20 seconds or so later and it's gone.....

I've been told to pinch her nose to stop it, but that doesn't work for Miss Avery.... so I just tell her she's ok and wait it out...

One of my close friends is a vet and she says it is physiologically like a backwards sneeze... thus the name.
 
Yep -- Pickles does it too and I really don't know what's going on but a knowledgeable friend of mine told me about the "reverse sneeze" so I just go with it and it always passes.

Once Pickles did it when she saw another doggie and the other dog freaked out when she did her reverse sneeze. I guess he didn't like being snorted at.
 
Yes, it's a distrubing sound and they suck their tummies in really tight and spread their legs apart kinda far and seem like they are choking. They aren't, but if you don't know what it is, that's the first thought that comes to mind. Then, 20 seconds or so later and it's gone.....

I've been told to pinch her nose to stop it, but that doesn't work for Miss Avery.... so I just tell her she's ok and wait it out...

One of my close friends is a vet and she says it is physiologically like a backwards sneeze... thus the name.

What we have always done is push the dog's nose down so it points at the floor and hold it that way for a few seconds. Have you tried that? I know some people plug the nose while doing this, but it works for us without plugging the nose. People we know call it the "Cavalier Snort".
 
I rub the dogs' throat - always works for Cazy and for my 1st Cav, Misty, who used to be a pro at the snort! :)
 
I used to lift the head and rub the throat with my Yorkie but I think it was Cathryn who told me Bruce's way, hold the nose down. Dylan does this too and it really frightens him and he runs to me poor fella. He has a few snorts in a row.
 
I haven't tried just pointing her nose down. I'll try that next time! I'm sure it will happen sometime this week. Thanks for the tip!

Well, there are worse things than cute little dogs who get excited about being friendly huh!!! :rolleyes:
 
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Both mine do this - I just pint their noses down and cover their noses - within seconds the snorting stops. It doesn't seem to upset either of them - its just part of normal day to day :)
 
The first time Bentley did that it scared me so much....I had no idea what it was, and I was afraid he was having a seizure or something. But I posted on here about it and I learned what it actually was, and it sure was a relief. Altho Bentley seems to get a little worried and upset when it happens to him, so I hold him and point his nose down, and rub his throat...it goes away after a minute or two.
 
It doesn't phase Shelby when she does this but Jake completely freaks out. I know it was because of how I reacted to it when he was a puppy. Neither of mine does it much anymore. But.....Shelby has a major sneezing fit when she gets super excited and does a lot of barking. Cracks me up!
 
All of my girls do this, but to varying degrees. Holly is the worst, but she also gets the most excited/worked up about things. Willow does it periodically, and of course, she's quite skittish so it freaks her out. She sometimes goes and hides in a corner when she starts it. It might sound bad, but the first time she sought me out and came over to me for help when she was having an episode I was quite touched. :)
 
The reverse sneeze is also known as "Cavalier Snort" and it is actually caused by them having an overlong palate and it starting to go into their throat when they become excited. Best thing to do is put your finger on the bridge of their nose and gently push their chin onto their chest, this will "flip" the palate forwards again. If this doesn't work try popping a finger into their mouth as this will stimulate the gag reflex and again, flip the palate forwards into the correct position!! HTH??
 
Our cav. has reverse sneezing. He is about five months old. At first we thought he was choking or trying to clear his throat or something stuck in his throat. Then I came across the term "reverse sneezing", had no idea what it was. I typed "video of reverse sneezing" in Google and saw some clips in youtube. Now I know that's what our cav. has.
 
My Tanner has just started doing this (1yr old) - really scarey the first time he did it - I haven't quite figured out what his triggers are but he generally just gets on with it in his own way. Whiskey who is 4 months younger has never done it yet.
 
We just got back from our Christmas trip and Daisy did this soooo badly the whole trip every time we'd meet a new person, or when we would arrive at a new house. I do find it absolutely embarassing and I find myself explaining what it is to everyone we meet! My husband would just look at me and roll his eyes like "Why is YOUR dog doing that again?"

I try holding my hand over her nostrils and holding her snout down with my hand, but neither seems to really do much to help. There was one particular meeting where she did it about a minute, off and on! She's also developed a pretty significant snore lately. She had a bout of kennel cough she got from attending a dog show with me in early December, and I attribute some if it to that. She went through a dose of doxycyclene and isn't coughing at all anymore (actually, she never coughed very much with it, and had completely stopped by the day I got her into the vet, but since we were traveling and she would be exposed to other people's dogs, I wanted to be 100% sure. She was up to date on her bordatella vaccine, so I think that's why she had a mild case of it.)

Anyway, whatever the cause for her more frequent episodes of reverse sneezing, I hope it doesn't happen as often anymore.
 
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