Hi. I'm new to the board. I have a one year old, white, toy poodle. She has been reverse sneezing daily (ever since she was a pup). She rapidly sucks air in and wheezes (a loud honking noise). Her hind legs push back and she looks like she is in severe stress. Her neck is stretched out and her head is pointed to the ceiling. I called the vet and they told me not to worry about it. I have tried different things and I have found that when I cover Molly's nose, it forces her to breath out of her mouth and she stops. I am so happy because I hate watching her reverse sneeze. I just wanted to post this information in case other dog owners are having problems with reverse sneezing. :lol:
Please let me know what works for you.
Meg (and Molly)

I have a mixed breed -looks like a cross between a chiauahha and a doberman- with a black tongue - but only 15 lbs.
She has had quite a few episodes of reverse sneezing in her short life. The last one being the longest.
I went on-line and did a bit of research where I found to either pinch the nostrils or rub her throat.
Tonight she had her first episode since I found the info, and I was able to try it. I pinched her nostrils (she was not real happy about it) and it worked. The episode lasted a few more seconds and we have not had anymore since.
I believe excitement and stress sets her off.
It is a very frightening experience but harmless.
She also lets me know when one is coming as she comes to me and climbs on me to pick her up. Thank goodness for the internet!!

Hi M & M: I've had many, many dogs and I got an explanation about the "reverse sneezing" from a vet, and it makes sense. This only happened with my small dogs, because dogs that were BRED to be small & this was not a natural occurrence. Like a lot of in-bred physical characteristics, they can cause problems. Like the way bull dogs have breathing problems due to their engineered compactness. My dogs did this and the vet said because the throat,trachea, or esophogus (sp?)was so much smaller than would be natural, the dogs get choked (however anyone gets choked on something), or get dust or an irritation in it's throat. When trying to clear it, the coughing or action makes the inner throat COLLAPSE and the dogs does the inverted sneeze type action. Just try and calm the dog down, rubbing throat, soothing talk, etc. and usually the dogs relaxes and this takes care of the collapsing or narrowing esophogus. Small dogs are so close to the foor, I imagine they suck in all kinds of irritants, probably amazing they aren't reverse sneezing a lot more! Bye the way, we used to call this "wolfalitus" cause there wasn't really a name for it and we'd know what we meant. lol. Hope this helps. Kiss your dog for me, my dogs Buster and Sammy send their best. Deb

I have a rottie that does this the vet told me that it may be caused by an enlongated palet in the throat and they a re trying to flip their palet, you can help by rubbing their throat.

Hi all ... I'm new to this forum and really want to thank everyone on this site about the info. on reverse sneezing. I've always had large dogs (Dobermans and Labs) until Tuesday (I lost my 16 year old black Lab last Tuesday). I stopped at the local shelter and adopted a 5 year old Lhasa Apso female who I've fallen in love with. Last night snuggling in bed she started to what I thought was gasp for breath or choke. I stuck my finger down her throat which stopped it. She did it again this morning; I did the same which stopped it. My vet is out of town through the holiday weekend; he vet checked her yesterday. Any more info. anyone can provide would be very helpful. After losing my Lab on Tuesday to 2 weeks of illness, I was very afraid of losing Maggie May last night. Deb

Hi again ... had another wonderful night with Maggie May sleeping on my pillow next to me. Thanks for the tip about pinching the nostrils when she starts reverse sneezing. It works. She doesn't seem to mind when I do it either. What a wonderful forum. I'm so glad I found everyone. Deb

Originally Posted by Jake123

I have a rottie that does this the vet told me that it may be caused by an enlongated palet in the throat and they a re trying to flip their palet, you can help by rubbing their throat.

This is true some times. Allergies can also cause reverse sneezing if the soft pallet swells or the throat is irritated, And some dogs eat or drink too fast, and food or water goes up, instead of down, and will cause reverse sneezing as the dog tries to clear the offending irritant from their nasal passages.

Reverse sneezing episodes will resolve on their own, with no lasting damage. But if your dog does this a lot, with no obvious reason, your vet may need to use a scope and look for tumors or foreign bodies that could be the culprit.

Reverse Sneezing (Pharyngeal Gag Reflex) - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!