Choking when excited

[Pavane]

Barkleigh is almost mute--but he can bark if he wants. He just rarely does and only a short woof to alert us of something odd.

He is silently happy and will wiggle all over with no vocalizations or squeals or anything. So when we come home after being gone awhile, he is so happy and tail wagging and jumpy but recently he has begun making gagging and choking sounds. I'd rather he just make a real sound. The only way to calm him is to massage his neck and throat. This is worsening. We rarely walk him with a lead on his collar--he can run free on our property and we are going to revert solely to his harness, but should we be worried about a throat or other problem with his trachea or something?

[Cathryn]

This sounds like "backsnorting" to me, it is incredibly common in Cavaliers particularly when excited, basically they have an overelongated palate which they start to swallow resulting in the choking noise! Best way to stop this is to place your finger over the bridge of your dogs nose and to gently push his head downwards towards his chest, this will "flip" the palate forwards again, if this does not work then pop your fingers into thier mouth or massage the throat area, but keep the head bent forwards!!

Hope this is of help??

[pippa]

Pippin does this all the time when excited and I often find that I have to take the normal procedure a step futher and put my finger in his mouth as he seem to roll back his tongue also! It can be alarming but once every one knows what to do if it happens it is easily sorted.Pippin seems to run away from us in panic and we have to catch him. While Gus barks around alerting us to the problem as he seems to realise whats going on and has often come to get us when it's happened!

PS. As with all problems if you are worried I would advise consulting your vet.

[Caraline]

Beau does this also if he gets overly excited. I just stop whatever it is he is getting excited over, tell him to settle down & keep him still until he stops. I've tried the pushing the nose up & tried pushing it down, but none of that seems to work with him. It is mainly just calming him that does the trick.

[Pavane]

I am sure you are all right. I sort of felt it was a flap of some sort. I calm him and massage his throat a bit on the outside. It happened again when we went to the pet supply store where he adores all the smells, not to mention the pens of bunnies! We got him fitted for a brand new harness. It fits well and we'll use it from now on. I was starting to get concerned about tracheal injury.

While this harness is okay, it is a bit "rough" for my taste. Anyone know of US suppliers for something softer, perhaps made of cloth?

Thanks!

[mishy]

Mishka used to do this a lot. The vet advised me to lift her up and take her out into the frest air and it worked. However as she neared the end there was a problem with her windpipe and breathing. The 2 may have been connected worth asking the vet for advise.

[Cathryn]

I am sure you are all right. I sort of felt it was a flap of some sort. I calm him and massage his throat a bit on the outside. It happened again when we went to the pet supply store where he adores all the smells, not to mention the pens of bunnies! We got him fitted for a brand new harness. It fits well and we'll use it from now on. I was starting to get concerned about tracheal injury.

While this harness is okay, it is a bit "rough" for my taste. Anyone know of US suppliers for something softer, perhaps made of cloth?

Thanks!

You could try a Puppia!! Try looking on Ebay, or do a search on here for guidelines on sources, supplies and sizing, many of our members use them!!

[Caraline]

A lot of folk here are Puppia crazy. If you like fashionable & very cute... way to go. Be careful if they get damp though as they do strech.

[Pavane]

The only trouble is to pick the color! We have a lot of purple, but I think he'd look smart in beige with brown trim, being a Blenheim. Then again, the orange would go good with his Florida Gator team leash (orange and blue). Oh dear! Have ended the choke fast with head down and finger in the throat. It is odd that this just started (18 months).

I measured Barkleigh who weighs about 23 pounds. Odd for a dog who never eats! But he is very long with a big chest and the vet says he has a perfect body. But he measures out to an XL puppia. (Not wanting anything to bind.) Actually he is between a L and XL.

We don't walk in the rain much--has a nice try spot under the house--part of which is on raised columns (for Florida floods). But it is hot and humid a lot. I am tempted by the brown houndstooth, but it looks a bit hot for here.

Thanks all, you've made me feel better. I will have our fantastic vet check this out next time we visit.

[Caraline]

If he is between sizes, go for larger rather than smaller. I've seen so many pictures of Cavaliers squeezed into tiny, tight Puppias. It can't be good for them.