Coughs After Hard Runs

[Sirius 1,391]

I have had a couple of dogs who have suffered with a 'dry hack' after hard runs, this develops once the dog is rested post run. The dogs are in good fit condition with a good bill of health, no kennel cough, lung worm, heart worm etc.

This usually passes after 24 hours.

Does anyone have any tips of things that they have used that may help relieve the symptom of a 'Dry Cough'?
I have been using Honey and found it gives some relief as well as being useful after a hard run.

I would like to here of what others use?

 

Regards Sirius

Edited December 6, 2013 by Sirius

[sandymere 8,263]

From back along.

 

Exercise induced bronchial-spasm.

 

Its not uncommon to come across questions and references to canine athletes presenting with laryngeal /bronchial symptoms post exercise, often presenting as coughing soon after or the day following high intensity exercise. My first experiences of this go back some 20 years to when I trained greyhounds under permit to Henlow Stadium, I noted that dogs had a tendency to cough for a day or two following racing/trailing after having a lay off. Ive also come across similar in coursing dogs and working lurchers when they have had a particularly hard run and as it seemed to settle once the animal was at full fitness Id put it down to lack of condition, the diagnosis seemed to fit as the episodes reduced as the animal gained racing condition without the need for further intervention.

 

Later in life I became involved in health with an interest in respiratory conditions. One lunch break whilst reading posts on a greyhound forum I saw a question referring to a dog coughing the morning after a race. The advice offered was all about kennel cough, with a variety of suggested treatments varying from antibiotics to garlic. Taking into account the time span of evening racing and a symptomatic cough the next morning it would be unusual for a viral or bacterial infection to show so quickly. It brought back memories of my racing days and what I d called an unfit cough, now as a nurse I had the facilities and knowledge to allow me to look for a proper cause and diagnosis as an alternative to kennel cough and so this is what I set out to do.

 

I searched veterinary journals and web sites but found little in the way of answer so I began to look at medical and nursing journals for similar symtomology. Exercise Induced Bronchial-spasm, (EIB), this is often termed exercise induced asthma, had obvious correlation and seemed the nearest reasonable diagnosis. EIB is often a diagnosis by exclusion rather than anything else; sufferers often dont have compromised peak flow in normal circumstance and no underlying diagnosis of asthma. It can be a problem even in Olympic athletes presenting as chest tightness, dizziness and commonly a post exercise cough. The exact causes are not really known but a suggested area is hyperinflation and drying of the lungs causing inflammation and a resultant increased mucosal production. The increased mucus is then coughed up for a period until the lungs recover. The symptoms seem to reduce on increasing fitness so the correlation seemed to make sense. Once the human or dog is fit it will be able to work at a lower level of lung capacity and so have a lower level of the drying stimuli and symptoms will subside.

 

There are treatments used for human athletes that include inhalers and anti mucosal medications but if increased fitness is a viable treatment in dogs I would question the need of pharmaceutical intervention. Im sure in some human athletes there is an underlying aspect of asthma and then the drugs will have a major effect but feel that this is less likely to be the case in canine athletes. So back to the original question rather than jumping straight into kennel cough treatments for a cough the morning we after a hard run we should consider EIB as an alternative. Perhaps what is required is a look at our pre event preparation and take on the advice given to humans with this type of condition, warm up well, cool down well, maintain condition to a reasonable degree and build up appropriate fitness after a lay off.

 

Ps I note that this seems to be exacerbated in cold weather with both me and the lurchers.

Edited December 6, 2013 by sandymere

[Sirius 1,391]

Interesting stuff, and I agree fitness must play a part as the dog when it has happened has not been at the peak of fittness but in no way unfit. It does always seem to be more likely with the onset of the colder weather.

Regards Sirius

Edited December 6, 2013 by Sirius

[skycat 6,174]

An old time coursing man said to feed the dog a good lump of goose fat before running: something about coating its throat: obviously this would only affect the very upper reaches of the airway, but he swore by it. Trouble is, if a reasonably fit dog, say one used for lamping rabbits, gets an unaccustomed run on a long ear, its lungs are working like bellows for a lot longer than usual, so what Sandy said makes sense.

 

Often found when coursing that once the first few hard runs had passed the dogs were fine and never coughed again, unless they'd gotten a throat/lung full of fur or mud. I found that giving dogs a spoonful of honey after the runs also helped.

[Millet 4,497]

Like Sky say's after they have had a few good long run's and they have reached there peak fitness it should stop..

[sandymere 8,263]

Skycat I'd second kicked up debris are likely to have a similar effect, I found that it often happened on heavy going tracks when the dogs came off covered in wet sand, the soft running made for a harder run but also could well have been that some sand was inhaled. In this case one would expect a cough would commence very soon after the run rather than the next day as is often the case with EIB.

[Sirius 1,391]

Thank you for the input people. The classic 'fur in the throat' never helps the cough, usually it gets hacked up like a mucus furball .

[Millet 4,497]

Just to add my bitch is near peak fitness and she has had 4 good night's out on the bunnies with no coughing at all..but recently she has had 2 long hard run's which caused her to cough a few hour's afterward's..it will stop eventually as it has with all of my dog's and that had nothing to do with sand or fur..