Have you ever been sitting in the living room, watching the game or visiting with friends only to be interrupted by a frightening sound coming from your pet beagle, snorting as it lays near you?

You may be concerned that your dog is having an allergic reaction with all the choking sounds, but this is actually a pretty common experience for a lot of beagle owners.

My own beagle makes a number of sounds like this, where it’s not quite a cough, or a sneeze, or even a snore. In our house we just settle on ‘snorting’ as a catch all name for this noise. After a lot of research, I’ve found that it’s perfectly normal for beagles, and will detail what to look out for if you think these noises are out of the ordinary or indicative of a health issue.

There are several different types of snorting, and all tend to be extremely common among small hounds like beagles. First, let’s break down each of these types so we know the exact differences that we might be dealing with.

Different Types of Beagle Snorting

Snoring

Tons of different types of dog breeds are prone to snoring, especially beagles. Beagle snoring tends to be pretty soft compared to a lot of breeds, but it can be consistent throughout the night, which can get pretty annoying for some dog owners.

While nightly snoring isn’t an immediate concern, depending on your dog’s body weight and overall health, it could be indicative of eventual cardiovascular issues that you may want to keep an eye on. Snoring has a spectrum of severity, ranging from quiet and mild to fairly loud almost as if your beagle was growling. If the snoring becomes a bit more violent throughout the night, and is clearly causing your beagle some distress, the root of the cause may be sleep apnea, which you’ll want to confer with a licensed veterinarian about.

Reverse Sneezing

Reverse sneezing is a behavior that’s pretty unique to beagles. According to Pet MD, this action is perfectly normal, and is really just an involuntary reflex as beagles try to catch their breath. It can be associated with sneezes, coughs, swallowing food, and any other actions that require their airways.

This reverse sneezing tends to come on in an isolated episode, but it can also be constant depending on your beagle’s health. If you find that these reverse sneezes don’t entirely ever really go away, you may want to consider consulting with a vet to discuss certain treatment options. Most of the time this can be handled with light prescription meds and conservative sinus treatments, but there are rare cases where a closer look needs to be taken to make sure your beagle is breathing properly on their own.

Standard Snorting

Lastly, standard snorting is a noise I’m sure we’re all a little familiar with. This is different than a reverse sneeze or a sleeping snore because it typically happens when they’re awake, and is much shorter in duration.

Snorting can also happen for a few different reasons, including an upper airway blockage, which commonly takes place when beagles explore and track scents, because they keep their snouts low to the ground to notice all of the smells in their surroundings.

Snorting is typically volunutary, compared to reverse sneezing and snoring, and you’ll notice that your beagle might start to act a little annoyed if they haven’t cleared their airways after a couple of snorts. If your beagle is having a lot of trouble, I’d recommend trying to place a warm towel on their head to help clear out their sinuses, or maybe run a warm shower to get some steam into their airways to help make their airway passages open up a bit more.

If the snorting persists and it continues to seem voluntary, something may be seriously stuck, which could require a vet’s visit as well.

Causes of Beagle Snorting

Why do beagles snore?

Beagles are prone to snoring in particular because they have an elongated soft palate. The soft palate is a tissue that is located in the back of the beagle’s throat.

When your dog breathes, this small flap of tissue moves around and can at times block the air passages. When this air passage gets blocked, it can cause dogs to snore involuntarily. Typically, this is not something to worry about, but having an obese beagle can greatly increase the likelihood of this reaction during sleep.

Additionally, this tends to happen to older beagles. Older beagles tend to have harder times losing weight, and the soft palate becomes generally weaker with age, making it more likely to cause a blockage during sleep.

Overall, snoring isn’t a large health issue to be concerned about, but if its bothering you as the owner, you may want to consider assessing your beagle’s weight and diet to see if that helps.

Why do Beagles Reverse Sneeze?

The underlying cause of reverse sneezes in beagles can come up from a few different factors. And while experts claim that there is no officially known reason, research indicates that it’s mostly due to irritants in the air. Beagles tend to track more closely to the ground than other types of dogs, and it makes sense that they’d be inhaling more irritants for this reason. Additionally, beagles have longer snouts than most dogs, meaning there’s more surface area for irritants to affect.

Other irritants that you can control include cleaning sprays, perfumes and colognes, as well as drastic changes in room temperature and pressure.

Why do Beagles snort?

Like snoring, the reason behind beagle snorting could likely be due to their elongated soft palate getting in the way, but it could also be because of irritants. Weight tends to play a factor as well, but snorting could also be a sign of asthma or allergies, depending on the environment that they’re in.

Dogs are known to be sensitive to a lot of the same types of allergy triggers than humans are, so you may want to consider any plants or materials that might be irritating your beagle.

How to Cure or Prevent Beagle Snorting?

If your beagle snores excessively and is overweight, you may try helping your pooch to get some exercise and shed a few pounds. While it’s normal for beagles to snore, this issue can be exacerbated by excess weight, so helping them get some physical activity in and improving their diet may help ease some of the snoring issues.

Another trick might be to adjust the position of your dog’s bed. If they snore when they sleep in a particular position, you could put a pillow under its head so that the neck is stretched out, rather than curled around. This may help ease snoring, as well.

If your Beagle frequently suffers from reverse sneezes, I’d recommend that you try washing the dog bedding often. This may help to ease dust and allergens that cause your beagle’s spasms.

Another trick that many beagle owners recommend is using a humidifier, which can also help since having dry air can cause irritation and increase the likelihood of allergen exposure. With our family beagle, this seemed to make the biggest difference in the snorting. Simply having some added hydration to the air can limit pollutants that tickle your beagle’s throat.

If a reverse sneeze happens, it’s best to just try to soothe your dog. This is not a cause for concern, but you can pet and stroke your dog until they are able to calm down. Another trick is to lightly blow in their face or cover their face for a moment. This will help them to swallow, which can help stop the spasm and hopefully clear out the irritant.

While the reverse sneeze is not a medical emergency or even health concern as it might initially seem, it may cause your beagle to become nervous or even experience some anxiety. If you are able to identify what it is that causes the reverse sneeze you can limit the exposure your dog has to that particular irritant.

Whether they seem to be allergic to an air freshener, or particular spice that you cook with, try removing those irritants from their environment. Otherwise, the best you can do is to continue to be calm and try to soothe your dog in the moment. This may also help with snorting, if your beagle suffers from allergies and and is frequently snorting to try and sneeze the allergens away.

Ultimately, there is not a one-size-fits-all cure for beagle snorting, and typically it is not something that will be completely resolved. Because of their elongated soft palates, Beagles will unfortunately always experience these types of issues, but just like in humans, snorting, sneezing and snoring are rarely concerns for major medical attention. Only if these issues arise suddenly and persist unceasingly should you feel the need to consult a vet.

Final Thoughts

If you were beginning to be concerned that your beagle was actually a pig in disguise, don’t worry! Beagles are lovable creates and they can snort a lot. Whether they are snoring while sleeping, reverse sneezing or just snorting, it is likely that nothing is wrong. Help your pup out by remaining calm whenever they have a spasm and consider what might be the underlying cause. Typically snorting, reverse sneezes and snoring are no cause for concern and leave no lasting side effects on your dog.