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.

Kennel cough in canines is as common as head cold in humans. It is caused by a number of agents – viruses as well as bacteria. The most common agents that cause kennel cough are parainfuenza (viral) and bordetella bronchiseptica (bacterial).

Kennel cough is a respiratory infection of the bronchi and throat that causes a prolonged dry hoarse cough. The infection as such is neither serious nor painful to warrant panic but long spells of honking cough can be extremely frustrating for the owner and uncomfortable for the dog. Medically, kennel cough in dogs can potentially lead to weakening of the immune system and secondary infections like pneumonia.

Common symptoms of kennel cough include fever, listlessness, spasmodic and prolonged cough, lack of appetite and nasal or eye discharge. The severity of the infection determines the level of symptoms that are manifested. In most cases, your dog may behave normally with a dry cough as the only apparent symptom.

The best treatment for kennel cough is to let the condition run its course as there is no cure for this condition. The most that dog owners can do is to attempt to ease the discomfort of the dog.

When an external stimulus is able to pass through the nasal hair and reaches further to irritate the nasal mucosa, it sets of the semi-autonomous response of sneezing. Occasional sneezing is normal and is generally caused by foreign substances that irritate the nasal mucosa. Sneezing can also be caused due to a sudden change in climatic temperature and humidity.

While in humans the functional aspects of sneezing have not been established, it is not considered to be a good sign in domestic pets. Sneezing in healthy dogs may be indicative of numerous conditions including upper respiratory infection in canines.

A veterinarian assessment is called for if your dog is continuously sneezing. The first thing that needs to be eliminated is the presence of a foreign substance in the nasal passage since the sneezing can be caused by something as simple as a blade of grass that is disturbing the system. In such situations too it is better to seek veterinarian help to remove the object since you may irritate and damage the mucosa in the process.

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.

Kennel cough in dogs is a fairly common condition. It occurs when a dog comes in contact with or is near an infected dog. The most likely time when this can occur is when the dog has been kenneled for a period of time.

However, being kenneled is not the only manner in which dogs can contract kennel cough. Dogs may get infected even when they have not been recently boarded. This is because an infected dog can potentially pass on the infection to another by sneezing and coughing.

The most common viral agent that causes kennel cough is parainfluenza. The incubation period of the virus is three to four days. It is only after the incubation period that the dog shows any signs or symptoms of the infection. The duration of kennel cough in dogs is approximately six to ten days unless there is another bacterial agent that results in extending the normal period of the condition.

Although bacterial cultures and isolation of the virus is possible to identify the agent causing kennel cough, blood tests are usually not performed since the characteristic nature of the symptoms are fairly easy to diagnose. A brief reference to symptoms, history, and recent exposure to other dogs is enough to obtain a conclusive diagnosis.