Cough

[madshark]

My 11 mo. old Pit, Baby, has a real dry cough.  She is up on vaccines.  I don't hear her cough until I go outside.  I almost think she has hurt her throat the way she hits the end of her chain.  She has a 2" wide collar.  I have not seen her coughing anything out.  Any ideas.

Mark Duncan

[uglydog]

Mark it could be kennel cough. vaccinated or not.  We had a  bad case go throuhg my whole kennel a couple of years back and now that you mention I think Im gonna purchase a tray of vaccines and get busy. It can help but does not cure it or completely prevent it. it takes about twoo weeks to run it's course but took nearly 6 weeks from start to finish with all my dogs, very frustrating

Dry dusty conditions can cause irritations some dogs are similiar to people with allergies.

one other thing that comes to mind is upper respiratory infection.

these are only suggestions and can only be diagnosed by a vetrinarian

[jlingle]

Hey mark, is she still coughing? 

If it is kennel cough, then along with the cough, watch for a snotty nose (dried boogs around the nostrils or running boogs) and be VERY careful that your dog doesn't get dehydrated.  If you think it's dehydrated at all, or stays off feed more than 2 days, you'd better get her butt to a vet.  Kennel cough seems like an annoyance, but will kill dogs graveyard dead if it develops into pneumonia.  With regular kennel cough, you can usually knock it dead with tetracycline pills (I give 500mg per day) and 3cc penicillin (im) each day, IF you catch it early.  The whole key is catching it early. 

A really easy way to check for dehydration is to grab the hide on the dog's back & pull up as far as it'll go & release.  If it snaps back, you're fine.... if it stays cinched up and very slowly lowers back down, your dog's most likely dehydrated.

EDIT:  Okay, I don't wanna sound like a know-it-all here.  If I did, then just ignore the whole post & go about your merry way.  I work on the family greyhound farm & we have 300-400 dogs inside kennels at all times & I have to fight enormous battles with kennel cough at least once each year.  What I pecked out here in the above paragraphs may not actually work next year.  The kennel cough seems to evolve a little each year, and one year a steady dose of Baytril & cephlexin worked.... the year after that it was amoxicillin and baytril, the this past winter it was tetracycline & penicillin, next year who knows.  As with anything you read on the internet, take any advice I spout off with a grain of salt.

[madshark]

I think Krystal hit it on the head.  She only coughs when I go outside and the dogs start stirring up a lot of dust in the yard.  Also when it rains and the ground is damp she doesn't cough.  Baby's part of the yard is where the grass is pretty much completely gone, so when she gets excited and runs around a lot she stirs up a big cloud.  The puppies are loose in the back yard as is the useless house dog  , so when they get to running around that area it raises a heck of a lot of dust.  I'll keep an eye and ear on it though just to make sure.

Mark Duncan

[uglydog]

Mark, If it is still going on Mark get it checked out, even if it is dust long term will lead to serious respiratory problems. It is much better to be safe than sorry. Most times my hard headed self has to learn  the hard way.

[catchdog7469]

I have a dog I bought from south texas after i had him for a couple weeks he began to cough like he had been smokin for 20 years after taking him to two vets and ruling out heartworms and kennel cough they came to the same opinion that it was fungus is his lungs. They say it stays in the ground in dry areas and when the dog is hunting and winded he inhails it into the lungs where is grows in the air sacks they said there is a cure, but it can take up to three years to be 100% and since the dog was already seven years old at the time it the cure would be so hard on him it would most likely kill him. Told me just to keep a close eye on him and when he gets winded after a long run to pick him up and let him rest. They also told me dogs can get this fungus if they are kept around chickens and or other birds over time from the dropping. I have had the dog two years now and he hunts just like the rest of them but after a long hard hunt he is through and requires aleast three days rest to recouperate.

[madshark]

No coughing for a couple weeks.  Everybody is doing well.  Just need to get them in the field.