I wanted to post an update here about the coughing. I followed someone's advice about elevating the water bowl since I noticed that Reggie seemed to cough most after drinking water. I also happened to be at the groomer's shop who is also the person who sold me Reggie and noticed one of her s**tzus coughing just like Reggie does. I asked her about it and she said that lots of little puppies do that and it is the soft palate of their throats getting irritated or "stuck" a little. She said they will outgrow it. Another thing I noticed was that Reggie was chewing the fake fleece lining on his doggie bed as well as had a fleece doggie toy and this seemed to make him cough. So I took the toy away and covered his doggie bed completely with a sheet. I has been about 2 mos since I did all this and Reggie almost never coughs now. He has grown a good deal more and I don't even have his water bowl elevated but I did exchange it for a deeper one so the water level is closer/higher up when full. The only time he ever coughs now is when he drinks his water too fast or if he gets a bit of food or something hung in his throat from eating too fast. I feel sure that he has basically outgrown that coughing stage and that it sure enough must have been a soft palate thing. |