What Is Canine–Kennel Cough? WORDS, WOOFS & MEOWS

by Don Hanson ACCBC, BFRAP, CDBC, CPDT-KA

The most typical symptom of canine cough is a persistent dry cough that almost sounds like your dog is “honking” like a goose. When we adopted our dog Shed from the Dane County Humane Society many years ago, she started showing symptoms of canine cough in a few days. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to hear a flock of geese “honking” under the bed. Most of the time, dogs will appear healthy except for the cough. Dogs will eat normally and will still be active. However, they may gag and produce white foamy phlegm. In addition, exercise and pressure from their collar against their trachea (from pulling on the leash) may cause a bout of coughing.

antibiotics, as secondary infections can occur from canine cough. You must also keep your dog away from other dogs while it has canine cough to prevent it from spreading the disease.

is transferred from one person to another. Like people working with the public or school children, the more dogs your dog associates with, especially those unvaccinated, the greater the opportunity to contract canine cough. That’s why the canine cough vaccine is often recommended for dogs that: frequent the dog park, attend daycare, are boarded or groomed, are in a training class, go to dog shows or dog sport events, visit the veterinarian frequently, or are just around lots of other dogs. In addition, most boarding kennels, daycares, and training classes require guests to be vaccinated for CIRDC.

If your dog is coughing repeatedly, taking the dog to the veterinarian is a good idea. While canine cough often resolves on its own, there are several other infections, as well as cardiac issues, that cause coughing, which can be fatal if not treated. In addition, pneumonia can result as a secondary infection to canine cough. Typical treatments for canine cough include a cough suppressant and possibly

There are different types of vaccines for canine cough/CIRDC; however, because there are so many infectious agents that can cause the disease, a dog can be vaccinated and still get the disease. However, the vaccines do often reduce the severity of the disease. Vaccines can be injectable or given orally or intranasal. Dr. Ronald Schultz (Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) recommends that dogs around other dogs be vaccinated annually with the intranasal vaccine that immunizes against Bordetella. Since the typical path of infection for these diseases is via the respiratory system, Dr. Schultz feels the intranasal approach, which immunizes via the respiratory system, is the most effective way to administer this vaccine.

Don Hanson lives in Bangor, Maine, where he isthe co-owner of the Green Acres Kennel Shop (greenacreskennel.com) and the founder of ForceFreePets.com, an online educational resource for people with dogs and cats. He is a Professional Canine Behavior Consultant (PCBC-A) accredited by the Pet Professional Accreditation Board (PPAB)and a Bach Foundation Registered Animal Practitioner (BFRAP). Don is a member of thePet Professional Guild (PPG), where he serves on the Board of Directors and Steering Committee and chairs the Advocacy Committee. He is also a founding director of Pet Advocacy International (PIAI). In addition, Don produces and co-hosts The Woof Meow Showpodcast,available at http://bit.ly/WfMwPodcasts/,the Apple Podcast app, and Don's blog: www.words-woofs-meows.com.The opinions in this post are those of Don Hanson.

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