My Pug Is Trying To Clear His Throat

If your dog is making sounds like they’re trying to clear their throat, this isn’t an immediate cause for concern in most cases. Just like people, dogs airways can get irritated by anything from food remnants to their own mucus, to dust to pollen.

If your pug is trying to clear their throat for a few minutes, as long as they seem to be able to breathe okay, and aren’t choking on something, there’s no reason to be too concerned. In most cases, your dog will be able to clear their own throat after making those coughing sounds for a while.

What To Do If Your Pug Keeps Trying To Clear His Throat

If your dog keeps trying to clear their throat over a long time period, that becomes a bit more concerning. Some things to try if your dog keeps trying to clear their throat after several minutes:

Offer them water.

Check for foreign bodies in their mouth or nose.

Potential Causes Of Your Pug Clearing Her Throat

Foreign body. This could be anything from part of a dog treat that they didn’t chew well enough to swallow, to clothing or children’s toys that they tried to eat, to grass or weeds from outside.

Illness like kennel cough or canine viruses. Various viral illnesses that dogs can get can cause coughing and throat-clearing symptoms. Typically if your dog has a virus, they’ll exhibit other symptoms as well. If your dog keeps trying to clear their throat and they have any additional symptoms such as loss of appetite, excess sleep, weakness, changes in breathing, etc the odds that it’s a virus would be higher.

Collapsing trachea. Pugs are prone to collapsing trachea, which primarily presents as coughing. Often this coughing will sound high-pitched like a squeak or a honk. It’s a dry cough, rather than a wet one. In some cases collapsing trachea may also involve some noises that sound like throat clearing.

Allergies causing a sore or itchy throat. Some dogs may make sounds like they’re trying to clear their throat in response to an itchy or sore throat. If their throat is sore, raw honey can help. You can mix half a tablespoon of honey into a small bowl of warm water and let them drink it.

Could you be confusing it with a reverse sneeze?

Sometimes people think their pug is trying to clear it’s throat when it is reverse sneezing. Reverse sneezing is when dogs inhale forcefully pull air through their nose and mouth. Often times they will pull their ears and neck back while doing this. If your dog is reverse sneezing, gently massaging their neck under their face can sometimes help.

If throat clearing is ongoing or severe

Then make a visit with your vet to determine a cause and to find out your treatment options.