[Julia]

We have an 8 month old Shitzu who has suddenly started making a strange snorting sound. Sounds very much like a pig grunting. He will stand very still and snort and his whole body goes along with this snorting noise which last a couple of seconds. He only does it maybe once a day.

Spoke to the vet and he thought he may have a chest infection and put him on antibiotics, but he does not seem ill, we live on acreage and he runs around and plays like any other young dog and eats very well.

I spoke to the breeder and he said the dogs mother does this strange noise sometimes and you see it in quite a few shitzu’s but could not give me any more info.

Can any one tell me what this is and is there a cure?

Thanks Julia

[disorder]

I believe it's called "goose honking"

Have a read of this thread, it's sounds as if you might need to take him back to the vet and get his throat checked out.
My dog does it about once a month but I'd be really concerned if your pup was doing it once a day everyday.

http://www.dolforums...howtopic=117863

hope that helps

[Cavandra]

Many breeds do it, Cavaliers do it when they are excited , on the lead & pulling etc........... Pinch their nose & make them gasp,through their mouth, point the chin down when doing it. Is it a reverse sneeze type spasm ????????

[Julia]

Cavandra, on 4th Feb 2008 - 09:52 AM, said:

Many breeds do it, Cavaliers do it when they are excited , on the lead & pulling etc........... Pinch their nose & make them gasp,through their mouth, point the chin down when doing it. Is it a reverse sneeze type spasm ????????

Hi Cavandra and Disorder

Thank you for the info. Sounds like what he has. I read the thread a bit scary that is for sure.
Yes he does it far more if he is excited. Does not snore, and sleeps well.

Gee why are vets SO expencive? I will try you idea of pinching his nose Cavaliers and see if that helps. I will also talk to the vet and see what he says but i know I will not be able to afford his fees ! So if he needs an op will have to look around for a cheaper vet.

Thanks
Julia

[Cavandra]

If your dog requires surgery for the elongated soft palette, I would be rather concerned about taking your dog back to the same Vet that prescribed antibiotics & misdiagnosing the condition like that. It should have been the first thing the Vet thought of considering it is a problem in the breed!

If the Vet cant diagnose it, then surely they havent experience in the condition & therefore no experience in the surgery requirements either, JMO...........I would be in touch with your breeder for advice, and a recommendation of Vets familiar with the condition.

It is extremely common in short faced breeds, and it is not common to have it surgically corrected as a rule.

[puggy_puggy]

Yep it's 'goose honking'. It's to do with the soft pallet.

When your dog starts doing this open up his mouth and make him breath through it rather then his nose. A few deep breaths through his mouth should stop him from honking.

My pugs will 'goose honk' every now and again. If they get to excited, get water down their noses in the bath or for other rasons that I am not aware of.

I found that during winter when it was really cold and we had the heating on my girl pug was doing it every morning because of the cold air and the lack of moister in the air from the heating.

The pugs will usually sort themselves out with thier 'goose honk' so I usually leave them. But if it goes on for to long I will open their mouths and make them breath through it, as I explained before.

If the 'goose honking' becomes a regular excesssive thing for your dog you may want to look into getting his 'soft pallet' shortened.

[Julia]

puggy_puggy, on 5th Feb 2008 - 04:16 AM, said:

Yep it's 'goose honking'. It's to do with the soft pallet.

When your dog starts doing this open up his mouth and make him breath through it rather then his nose. A few deep breaths through his mouth should stop him from honking.

My pugs will 'goose honk' every now and again. If they get to excited, get water down their noses in the bath or for other rasons that I am not aware of.

I found that during winter when it was really cold and we had the heating on my girl pug was doing it every morning because of the cold air and the lack of moister in the air from the heating.

The pugs will usually sort themselves out with thier 'goose honk' so I usually leave them. But if it goes on for to long I will open their mouths and make them breath through it, as I explained before.

If the 'goose honking' becomes a regular excesssive thing for your dog you may want to look into getting his 'soft pallet' shortened.

Morning Puggy Puggy
Yep did it again this morning but not as bad as the last few days. We just had visitors with a toddler and he is not use to that so I am really hoping it was stress that set it off. Also seems to be after breakfast but he does go very quite after he does it so I think it scares him a bit.

Our vet is more into livestock so if it does not improve I will take him to a small animal clinic.

Spoke to the breeder his mum does it and the breeder said it was far worse when she was young and sort of grew out of it as her face grew a bit.

[BC]

Vinnie does this occasionally. I normally just let him be and it goes away in a few seconds, but if he goes for a bit longer than I would like, as the others have said, I block his nose and make him breathe through his mouth. He does not really appreciate me doing this but it stops the snorting.

[chuckie500]

I have two shih tzu crosses. Only one does this sort of thing once in a blue moon. I mentioned it to the vet & they didn't seemed to concerned. He described as a sort of reverse sneeze. He sort of inhales and snorts at the same time. It might last about 30 seconds and then he is over it.

[Tonymc]

I would open the Dogs mouth and check the Dog"s bight. Tony

[disorder]

What's a bight?

[Julia]

Hi Tony

His bottom jaw sticks out below his top jaw, does this make a difference ?

Julia

[mona]

Sounds like reverse sneezing to me ( also known as goose honking among other things)
He should be fine ... it is one of those small dog traits ....

[Julia]

Morning Mona

He seems much better the last 2 days. Vet said it was a Viral infection, this caused an upper respatory tract infects and put him on antibiotics. The infection apparently caused flem at the back of his throat and that caused this "reverse sneezing"

Thank goodness he seems better now, dont like the idea of surgery at all.

Smacko covered in Honey also helped sooth the throat he really like that I can tell you.