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dog voice

2 year old waler male, Had a very loud bawl, but I think he had been barking in the kennel, lost voice. Happen 3 months ago.
Im training the dog for my buddy, and have got him to stop barking in the kennel, had him on antibiotics , voice is still not what it was. I have searched other fourms have not found any real answer.
Anyone have any luck with resolving this issue.
What we have planed
1. keeping him from barking in the kennel, I suppose hunting him will also bother it.
2. He has gone threw 3 weeks of antibiotics.
Ruled out any object stuck in or near the voice box.

Chris, try a bark collar.

From past experience...antibiotics help somewhat...however...the voice never came back 100%.

I have the barking problem solved while he is with me.
The only time he barks now is when I hunt him. Im thinking that is also bad for him till it comes back. Thanks for your reply.

Why was this dog on antibiotics? Did a vet tell you to do that? What would make you assume that a strained voice from over barking required some sort of antibiotic? Just curious. I'm not trying to start anything, but administering antibiotics to a dog who strained their throat is a waste of time, money, and is dangerous because you're helping other bacteria become resistant. Some of the bacteria you're killing is beneficial.

First, I would feed the dog cultured yogurt to build back it's beneficial bacteria that was destroyed from innapropriate antibiotic use.

You then treat the root cause..over barking. Sounds like you have that under control now which is a good thing. Bark collars, a hose, etc. Anything to keep the dog quite in the kennel. Dont forhet tomreward for being quiet out there or in the dog's eyes..there's no real benefit to staying quiet.

I would give the dog a mild child's cough syrup only if you think the dogs throat is irritated. I would also do everything you can to help the dog NOT bark, for several MONTHS. That means no hunting or training! With that amount of layup time, you can work on obedience and handling. When the dog is ready to restart hunting, it should handle like a dream loading, handling, coming, heeling, kenneling and sitting on command.

The bad thing is, most dogs never fully recover their voice after a bad strain. Some get back a decent volume but it's never the same that it was. I hope your dog makes a great recovery, and sorry if I was blunt in my response but I wanted to be clear.

It would probally be best to keep him quite for a while, no hunting or barking in the yard.

Autumn

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The dog white blood cell count was down, so thats why the antibioics. My question is directed to any one that has had this problem in the past, and to what they may contribute to a cure.
We are not guessing as to why, we know its do to excess barking. That we have undercontrol. I find it hard to beleave excess barking alone would leave this kind of damage for so long.
I have had dogs that I lost and found a few days later with strained voice but all came back after a few weeks.

I had a dog that had some voice loss. I got prednisone from my vet and it helped alot.

20 MG tablets.
40 MG (2)tablets for 2 days Given both tablets at the same time.
20 MG for 2 days
10MG (1/2) tablet for 2 days.
Worked for me. Hope this helps, worth a try I think.

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We are having the same problem right now. This was the loudest longest bawl mouth dog we have ever heard, now he can barely squeek out a sound. He has had this for 3 months now. Really can't think of a reason for this happening, nothing had changed. We just had his throat scoped and his vocal cords look perfect, not injured or damaged. He did have some internal allergy signs the vet said, we took out his tonsils, they were swollen, and cleaned his teeth then he was put on allergy medicine. We had already tried steroids, they didn't work either. It has been 2 weeks since the tonsils were removed and he still has no voice. We are at a loss to what has caused this and heartbroken, as we had the most beautiful voice. If anyone has any info or experience please let us know....ANY help will be appreciated. Our next step will be to go to LSU vet school in Baton Rouge, hope they will be able to tell us.

Kristi Landry

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opera singers

and untrained pop singers often get "nodules" on their vocal chords, which are benign growths that limit voice volume. These can be removed, and professional singers often pay to do this, but it would be pretty extravagant surgery.

Another cause of voice strain is chronic low level allergies that cause a dripping from the nasal pasages down the throat. Don't know if this works in dogs, but in humans, it is often seasonal, with pollen peaks in spring and fall. Molds and other irritants can also cause problems, allergic or not. A low dose of benadryl may help alleviate allergies. Things that might cause irritations--chronic chemical smells in the kennel (try changing cleaning chemicals--vinegar is generally well-tolerated); exhaust fumes (is the kennel next to the driveway/garage? improve ventilation). These kinds of problems might not be enough to cause voice strain, but could limit the dog's ability to recover from voice strain caused initially by excessive barking..

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Emily, very good info, sometimes we don't realize what our dogs are exposed to. Our voiceless dog did have some allergy drip and we just finished a course of treatment for that. As of today it is still no better, but maybe need to just give it some more time. I think us hound owners take for granted the voices our dogs have until its gone, I know we sure do miss his voice.

Kristi Landry

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Kristi
Just was wondering if you had noticed excess barking? Did this come on real fast? Keep posting any progress or not.
Im trying a total lay off keeping him alone, and close to us making sure there is no more barking. If that does not work Im at a lose as to what to do. This dog was real loud as well. Good luck

He was with a handler when it started, but we don't really think it was excess barking that caused it. We really are at a loss for this too. He doesn't bark any more than our other dogs, but it is almost impossible to keep him completely quiet. This has been going on for about 3 months now. Will keep you posted if we find out something that helps we will let you know, you do the same, please. Good luck.

Kristi

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Landry's Atchafalaya Bluetick Kennels

I Hunt and Recommend Cajun Lights

emily

you have heard the voice on my julie female,at one time she lost her voice from getting lost and tree barking as we couldn't locate her when we found her next morning her voice was gone a person that lived near where she was said he heard her barking all night,well robitussion given everyother day and her voice came back to where it was.
the points you made are very good points as i have seen alergies take a dogs voice away so you could hardly hear them

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