Could someone please explain a "reverse sneeze"?

[Mary Plummer]

I'm wondering if that's what Mr. Blue did over the weekend. We were out in the yard, and he was sniffing along the fence line (squirrels are out in large numbers these days). All of a sudden, he started what I can only think of as exhalations; it seemed like he was breathing out through both his nose and his mouth. It sounded kind of scary, almost like he was choking. By the time I got over to him, he had stopped and was sniffing normally. He didn't cough anything up, and all other systems were fine. He hasn't done it since, nor has he been coughing or sneezing more than normal (say, in the middle of the night when it has the effect of waking me up)

[Marty]

Yes, that sounds like it.....I always thought of it as a "snortle." Biscotti does it sometimes, and it is scarey even now. I have found the best way to stop it is to put your hand over the snout to force them to gulp and restore normal breathing.

[Mary Plummer]

Thanks Marty! I like the word "snortle"; it is really descriptive, isn't it? Do they know what causes it? I was wondering if maybe he had breathed something in that he didn't like and was trying to get rid of, like a particle or a really noxious smell. Of course, from my observations, the only smell Mr. Blue seems to find noxious is skunk spray, up close and personal, and I know it wasn't that, thank goodness!

[JMM]

Jonathan does it all of the time when he gets really excited. He's naturally a little snotty (mild allergies) and I think the excitement throws his breathing off and he gets in that funny snorking mode. The magic trick is covering both nostrils with your finger.

[Marty]

I have read where it could be allergies....but if he was sniffing grass, he just may have had something tickle his nose. Biscotti starts up just laying on the sofa, so hers is probably an allergy (it happens more often during pollen season).

[davet]

its really like post nasal drip.. another thousand yeaars and dogs will learn to spit then they wonpt do it..but as above there are multiple causes and sometimes if you clap you hand behind them and frighten them or startle them they will gulp and swallo it