Anything that irritates the air passages causes sneezing and coughs. The cause can be anything from a foreign substance to an infection or even a medical condition like tuberculosis.

Coughing by itself is self-perpetuating and causes dryness in the throat, which in turn causes more coughing. Coughs may occur in spells and abruptly or may even be chronic. Coughs are also classified as dry, moist, wheezy, choking and weak.

Dog coughing is a problem that pet owners face every now and then. However, since there are various causes of canine cough it becomes difficult to pin point the exact reason for the coughing bouts that your dog might be experiencing. Sometimes, it helps to keep a note of how and when the dog coughs to establish the real cause behind the condition.

Coughing when the dog is resting may indicate problems with heart function, trachea and lungs. On the other hand coughing when excited or while drinking water indicates irritation in the trachea. A problem with the voice box (larynx) or esophagus usually leads the dog to cough during or after meals. An overweight small dog whose cough sounds like a goose is a symptom of tracheal collapse.

Basically cough is a body’s natural way of indicating that there is something wrong inside the body and especially in the respiratory system. Dogs, like humans, cough due to many reasons. The type of cough is often, but not always, sufficient indication of the cause. A dry hacking cough is a typical symptom of kennel cough in dogs.

Kennel cough is an infection that dogs usually acquire when exposed to other dogs with a similar infection. Dogs that have been recently boarded or those that have returned from dog shows are at a higher risk of contracting the disease. Kennel cough is commonly caused by parainfluenza, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and mycoplasma. Other possible infectious agents include adenovirus, reovirus and the canine herpes virus. In majority of the cases it is a disease caused by a combination of bacterial and viral infection.

Parinfuemza and Bordetella bronchiseptica commonly appear in conjunction with each other in most cases of kennel cough. Symptoms usually develop within a week of exposure. The main symptom that is indicated is a dry hacking cough. The dog strains to vomit and usually coughs up a white foamy discharge. The disease is actually self-limiting and disappears on its own if unattended. But severe cases manifest themselves as an inflammation of the windpipe, conjunctivitis and nasal discharge.