# Reverse Sneeze



## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

Tonight Sophie had her first reverse sneeze episode. Last time I had heard that loud snorting sound was during past winter's months. I had already forgotten she even had them! During winter she is sensitive to very dry air and candle scent (as I observed). Sophie would even wake us up at night because of the horrendous sound...poor thing. I was just wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue with their Vizsla? Apparently there isn't really a cure for it. What I do is just block her nose for a few seconds with my palm so she can't inhale, and she is usually good to go.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Yeah, Rosie does it. At first, we were really spooked about it. I didn't even have a name/explanation for it, until the vet told us it was a "reverse sneeze." Now, we don't really worry about it at all. The vet said it could be just a dust particle (kind of like what happens with us).


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

I think my dog has had that, too! Does it sound like a strange sort of sniffle with a little gasp for air? I hope that's it because I've heard it a few times and wondered with the heck it was.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I think the thing that makes it a "reverse sneeze" is the fact that it seems to happen on the "inhale". It is very disturbing. Willie had a compromised immune system when I adopted him from the pound, and he was doing a lot of those "reverse sneezes". It scared him, too, and he would come over and lean against me and look worried. 

Four days after I got him, he had his first Vet appointment, and I asked the Vet about it. Willie even did it, right there in the exam room. The Vet said that dogs, just like people, can catch a cold. The "reverse sneeze" is an involuntary action that helps to clear out the sinuses. As for the cold, he told me that it would run its course, just like human colds... and it did.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Sam did this last week. We were wondering what it was, thank you for the explanation.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

laurita said:


> I think my dog has had that, too! Does it sound like a strange sort of sniffle with a little gasp for air? I hope that's it because I've heard it a few times and wondered with the heck it was.


Yeah, it sounded to us like she was gasping. What you're describing sounds like it. They do a few short gasps, then stop, then they may have another cycle of a few short gasps. I think of it as: if a sneeze is ah-ah-ah-choo, this is just the "ah-ah-ah" part.


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

thank you sarahf and mswhipple. Your explanations nailed the symptoms to a tee!


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

I did some research online on this, and it appears that it's harmless. Thank you, everyone, for the great discussion. I thought I was one of the few who had had this issue or had even heard about it. Our vet told us on the phone last year when we called:" Oh, it's just the reverse sneeze, no biggie!" Well, it was a biggie for us since we thought our dog is having a seizure or dying


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

If it's any comfort, I've had many dogs over my lifetime, and they've all done that. I knew it was called a "reverse sneeze" but what concerned me was that Willie was doing so much of it. That's why I asked the Vet. In the end, it turns out to be useful to the dog in clearing out the sinuses.


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

Mswhipple, it is comforting to know that the issue is pretty common. Thank you


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