Last week Hope came down with a doozy of a cold. So congested she thought about auditioning for the horn section of the local orchestra. Since Torque is her constant companion, it made us wonder – can my dog catch a cold?

Catching colds is a human thing

Turns out that, while dogs can suffer from a variety of respiratory diseases, colds aren’t usually among them. At least not the same ones that people get. 

Most people know that colds are caused by viruses. And, theoretically, you can only catch each one once. There must be a whole heckuva lotta cold viruses out there!

Dogs can show the same symptoms we have: stuffy/runny nose, sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, and generally feeling like crap. But the viruses that cause the symptoms in dogs are different than the ones that we get, according to the PetMD experts.. 

The dog in our house who most often gets respiratory illnesses is Tango. Every so often he’ll go on a sneezing rampage and the dreaded green snot trails out of his nose. He’s usually pitiful for a day or so, then goes back to being his normal role of supervisor and fun police in the house. 

Same level of concern

We’re not quite sure why it matters if it’s the same, or a different virus causing the same symptoms. When you feel sick, you don’t really care which virus is causing it, you just want it to go away. From the research we’ve done, the same is pretty much true of dogs. So the answer to “Can my dog catch a cold?” is not really. But he/she can get something that looks, sounds, and acts just like one.

As long as you’re dog is functioning normally (eating, drinking, pooping, peeing) and just seems “under the weather,” apparently there’s not much to do about it but let the virus run its course. 

It’s just a cold, after all.

Seriously symptomatic

After a couple of days, Hope was back to being just a little sniffly – the cold virus ran its course and is heading out. And Torque is just fine.

If you think your dog may have a respiratory virus, don’t let it go on for too long. After a few days, if you’re not seeing any signs of improvement, or if the symptoms worsen, it’s time to call the veterinarian. Hopefully it’s no big deal, but there are more serious illnesses that start with the same symptoms.

Just like us one way

And, just like colds can run rampant through a family/school/workplace, dog viruses can be just as contagious from one dog to another. If you have multiple dogs, like us, try to keep the “sicky” separated, although we know how difficult that can be.