coughs that are that chronic are generally much harder to treat, and diagnose. I certainly agree a veterinary trip is in order, and probably a serious of radiographs will be recommended. But if all looks normal, and it's not a collapsing trachea, allergic bronchitis will the most likely diagnosis (pretty hard to refute or prove), and medications that help alleviate such conditions may be recommended (though likely will not alter the ultimate course of the disease, but may make it more tolerable).

Google "dog reverse sneeze," and it may be that :)

Thanks for the input, all. I'll check out your suggestions.

Lukkiirish, as our vet himself said, whether our dog needs heartworm prophilaxis depends on the extent of our local mosquito population, and we don't have many. This is a Mediterranean, dry summer climate: our bedroom windows have no screens and are open year round, and we're not bothered with bugs. You could never do that in mosquito country. People who live lower down and close to water have mosquitoes; we don't. Now that I've said that, I'll consider your comments. It's true I've never seen an infected animal, and if I had ever done so it might change my evaluation of the benefits of heartworm prevention and the risks of not doing it.

Melissa, thanks for clarifying. I admit, I assumed the worst and am glad to see I'm wrong. We've seen a great many cases of it this summer so I'm pretty sensitive about it.

Lungworms? Allergies?Congestive heart failure?

Bronchitis?

See a vet, get a chest xray and have vet listen to heart and lungs.

All of these smart and concerned folks are correct. You must see a vet and investigate.

Our dog, rescued from a pound at 9 months, also had a chronic cough. Not kennel cough, not heart worm, not collapsed trachea....they trach-tubed him, biopsied his lungs, we did everything, and ruled out many things. The only thing left was, maybe, asthma. In a cosmic stroke of fate that put this dog in our hands, I myself have asthma. Our vet said it is possible to use a special doggy inhaler, though his office personnel said they knew few owners who can successfully train the dog to use the inhaler. Well, I'm here to say that it can be done. Our Australian Heeler, the most squirrelly, vocal, athletically slippery guy, learned to look forward to his daily inhaler. Voila! Almost never coughs now.

my point is though, there are too many possibilities, most quite fixable with veterinary help, that could be causing the problem. He deserves your help. Good luck, I bet he can be helped.

I think further investigation by a vet is in order, though not necessarily urgent. The dog and I went on a five hour walk yesterday, up hill and down dale: I covered 13-15 miles, the dog, who was mostly unleashed, a good deal more; and he came home brisk and fresh. He seems to cough less outdoors than inside, and I'm wondering if the house doesn't contain irritants or allergens. I've wondered about wood smoke, since we heat with wood, but I seem to recall he had the cough in the summer, too. The air is pretty polluted in our area.

I would just have the vet check him to be sure it's nothing. It could be something in the house for sure, my dog is so sensitive that if a diesel truck drives by us, she will sneeze immediately every single time. But the vet can listen to his chest, it could be kennel cough. My friend's dog had that and didn't seem like a big deal, he still ran around like a mad man but after the treatment, the cough went away.

Well if it's able to actively get through a long walk or jog like that, I doubt very seriously that it's kennel cough. My dog got that once from doggy day care and in addition to the coughing she was a bit lethargic, she also vomited a couple of times. Is your dog drinking a lot? My dog coughs when she doesn't drink enough water and the pollen levels are high.

If you do think it's allergies, you could have your dog tested. We did that with our dog because she was constantly chewing and licking her paws. The test revealed that she was allergic to several mites as well as yeast. The vet put her on a specially serum made just for her. She takes 2 drops in the morning and 2 at night and it works like a charm. The test also revealed that she was allergic to yeast and once we put her on a food that was yeast free, the chronic ear infections she was getting stopped.

A cough like that maybe be the result of a heart murmur. A slight one will not cause problems day to day. But as they age, the heart has a harder time of it and they can get a low level of fluid in their lungs. The cough is a result of that. This is the case of one of my dogs, she did not need treatment until she was about 10 years old. She is now on medication 2x per day, and wow what a difference. She seemed completely fine beforehand, but with the medication she is even more lively. I would encourage you to check it out, because if not treated it can lead to a few chronic problems and will vastly improve your dog's day to day life (if indeed the cough is a result of a heart murmur).