Bark sounding different

[5Bordercollies]

My eldest dog Zorro has suddenly gone a little hoarse. I noticed it two or three nights ago that the sound of his bark is a llittle off. They did have a rough night Wednesday night barking till the early hours of the morning so I don't know if that might have something to do with it.

He is almost nine years old, can it maybe just be an old dog thing? His chest sounds fine, I'll try and look down his throat tomorrow see if there's anything concerning there. He eats well, is otherwise acting normal. I guess I'm just concerned because I'm not here this week, we're leaving Monday very early and won't return before Saturday late. And my vet doesn't work on Sundays. Anything else I can do/ check to put my mind as ease or at least rule out a crises?

[Sue R]

Sometimes older dogs that are beginning to lose some hearing acuity may tend to bark more loudly. Perhaps something like this has caused a bit of irritation with all the nighttime barking?

 

I think the only way you could rule out a possible problem is to have a vet scope his throat to see if there are any visible signs of irritation, disease, injury, etc.

 

I would hope and think that if his eating and drinking is normal, that he just might have overdone things the other night and be hoarse from that. I know that can happen to me after overusing my voice or even just using it a lot more than usual.

 

Very best wishes!

[Gideon's girl]

I've seen several dogs get hoarse from excessive barking, so that might be it.

[5Bordercollies]

Thank you guys, well he hasn't stopped barking. Last night something bothered them again and he and especially the girls again spent more than half the night barking everybody within Earshot deaf. He is acting perfectly normal in every other way. Eating and drinking normally so I'm hoping its just overuse. I will call my domestic worker a few times during the week and check in, I believe she will call if she thinks something's wrong. If he's not better when I get back I will take him to my vet and have him take a look. Tried looking down his throat, but with limited success, he's not keen on opening wide so I can look in there.

[CSW]

My old BC bark tone changed. It can be a symptom of DM as we found it later to be in Choco's case. But he was much older than your BC, 16 at the time. If it is noise sensitivity bothering your dog, Solliquin may help. I have had fairly good results using it with Star.

[emilyfalk]

A change in bark can be a sign of laryngeal paralysis, which, if mild, is no big deal at all. But given the history of excessive barking, I'd guess that would most likely be the cause. If it continues I would have your vet examine him so that he can use the proper equipment to have a good look down there.