The American Beagler Forum

I have a four year old female who has had a laryngitis type thing for about 3.5 months now. The only noise she makes are squeaks and wines and when she is hot scenting she will leave out an occasional bark. If the other dogs are close they hear her and hark in, but if they are a short distance away they have a hard time hearing her. I was thinking it might be an allergy but nothing in her diet or environment has changed. I went to the Vet early on and tried antibiotic with no success. Any Ideas?

a lot of times a "night barker" will lose their voice.

I know she barks at things that go bump night in the summer time but in the winter they spend more time in their box. I kinda don't think that is her problem.

I knew of another beagle that had this happen. When vet checked it had a cuckle burr in throat.

I'd check her teeth. I've been told that infection can drain down throat and cause voice issues. Your vet probably already took a look at them and the antibiotics should clear up any infection. I had a male many years ago with this issue and his voice never returned to normal.

BiL

One of my running buddies had a young pup loose her voice to the point she was running almost mute. He's got a really good licensed vet that's an old beagler who sent him to a specialist. The specialist had the proper equipment to get in and find out the real problem. The specialist is an old military vet who's clients are usually asking him to cut a dogs vocal cords so that they can't bark.

Anyway, what was found to be wrong was bacterias growing on the young hounds vocal cords. Ecoli, sudsmonus, and two others that I have no idea how to spell or even say correctly. Rest and meds were given to the hound to address the problem. Just got this: its called Psudamonus

I have no idea if this is your problem, but some things require a specialist with the proper training, knowledge, and equipment to find the real problem. A local vet may not be what you need.

Side note for everyone: A cap full of bleach in a hounds drinking water goes a long way. It's an old timers trick. My grandfather always did this and so do I.

Have you checked for an ear infection? Most of the time when I have seen a dog lose their bark or tighten up it is due to either bacterial or fungal ear infection.

I've got one now that has the same systems. I at first thought she had strained her vocal cords when she tried to climb a fence with an electric wire around the top. She screams when she is hit with tri tronics on level one. Each time she climbed the fence I heard scream and she did it at least three times. The next day I took her hunting and she had a strange bark. The next day I could barely hear her. I let her rest three days and she was a little better today. I'm going to rest her a week before I run her again. She was also coughing a little so maybe the screaming in response to the electric fence irritated her trachea.

Too much running in Maine Steve.

I have a female that the same thing happened to back last summer! She used to have a high pitch squeal that she rolled out sometimes to a fast course chop. Now her squeal just sounds like a tweety bird but she still throws out the chop sometimes! She was like this after being in heat and she never barks in the kennel! Its been around 8 months and she still hasn't got any better!

Try LA200 for three days. Squirt down the mouth/throat.
3cc first day, 2cc the second, and 1cc the third.

Thanks for all the information guys! I think I might try JCM's idea first. I have some zymox otic, which works well for ear infections and is the easiest thing to do. My dogs do occasionally have ear troubles.
John Pa, she might still have a pine needle lodged in her throat from Maine!!!