Brussels Griffon Reverse Sneezing — When It Is Normal and When to Call the Vet

Brussels griffon reverse sneezing is one of those things that will age you ten years the first time you witness it. My griffon, Marzipan, did it for the first time in the middle of the night about three weeks after I brought her home. I genuinely thought she was dying. She was standing frozen at the foot of the bed, neck stretched out, making this horrible repetitive honking-snorting sound like a goose being slowly compressed. I was on the phone with an emergency vet within ninety seconds. The vet — very kindly, to her credit — explained that what I had just described was almost certainly a reverse sneezing episode, completely benign, and that it probably scared me far more than it scared Marzipan. She was right on all counts. That said, there are real situations where reverse sneezing in a Brussels griffon warrants immediate attention, and knowing the difference is genuinely important for this breed specifically.

What Brussels Griffon Reverse Sneezing Looks and Sounds Like

The behavior has a very specific signature once you know what you’re watching for. The dog stops moving entirely. Head extends forward and downward, neck stretched long. Elbows sometimes splay slightly outward. Then come the rapid, forceful inhalations — not one or two sneezes, but a rhythmic series of them, anywhere from five seconds to about two minutes, with a honking or snorting sound on each breath in. The dog’s sides may heave. Eyes sometimes bulge slightly.

It looks like choking. It looks like a seizure. It looks like the beginning of something catastrophic. It isn’t.

A regular sneeze is a single explosive exhalation. Over in a fraction of a second. Reverse sneezing is the opposite — rapid repeated inhalation through the nose, caused by a spasm of the soft palate and throat muscles. The dog is pulling air in hard and fast, not pushing it out. That’s why it sounds so different and why the posture is so distinct.

What It Is Not

Choking involves the dog pawing at its mouth, retching, and showing distress that escalates rather than resolves. Reverse sneezing typically ends as abruptly as it started, and the dog shakes it off and trots over looking for dinner like nothing happened. If the episode doesn’t resolve within two or three minutes, or if the dog seems genuinely unable to breathe between honks, that’s a different animal entirely — more on that below.

Tracheal collapse also sounds similar to the untrained ear, but the cough associated with tracheal collapse tends to happen during or after exercise or excitement, produces a harsh “goose honk” cough rather than rapid inhalations, and is often accompanied by breathing difficulty that lingers well past the episode itself. Reverse sneezing clears completely. The dog between episodes should breathe normally, behave normally, and show zero respiratory distress.

Why Brussels Griffons Do This More Than Other Dogs

Probably should have opened with this section, honestly, because understanding the anatomy makes everything else click into place.

Brussels griffons are brachycephalic — that compressed, flat-faced skull structure is the entire reason the breed looks the way it does, and it’s also the reason their respiratory anatomy is inherently more complicated than a Labrador’s. Three anatomical features are at play here. First, stenotic nares — narrowed nostrils that restrict airflow. Hold your nose mostly closed and breathe hard. That resistance is what your griffon navigates on every single breath. Second, an elongated soft palate, meaning the soft tissue at the back of the roof of the mouth hangs slightly into the airway. In a longer-skulled dog, this tissue fits comfortably. In a griffon, the same length of tissue is packed into a shorter space. Third, a narrowed nasopharynx — the passage connecting the nose to the throat — which is just structurally tighter in brachycephalic breeds.

Any minor irritant — a dust particle, a change in humidity, eating too fast, excitement, sleeping in a weird position — can trigger that soft palate to spasm against the back of the throat. The spasm causes the rapid inhalations. The dog is essentially trying to clear or reset the airway. This is not a defect unique to your dog. It is a direct consequence of the skull shape that defines the entire breed. Every griffon owner I know has been through the first-episode panic. Every single one.

Other brachycephalic breeds like pugs, French bulldogs, and Boston terriers deal with the same thing. But griffons — particularly because of their small overall body size, typically between 8 and 12 pounds — seem to have episodes that are proportionally more dramatic-looking relative to their frame. Big sound, small dog. It amplifies the perceived severity.

How to Help Your Griffon During an Episode

Jolted awake by Marzipan’s first 2 a.m. episode, I made every wrong move available — I grabbed her, tried to look in her mouth, made worried noises, turned on all the lights. All of that made things worse. Here’s what actually helps.

Cover the Nostrils Briefly

Gently place one finger over both nostrils for just one or two seconds. Not hard. Not long. The goal is to prompt a swallow reflex. When the dog swallows, the soft palate repositions and the spasm typically breaks. This works probably 70% of the time in my experience. Some owners use a thumb and forefinger in a gentle pinch. The key word is gentle — you’re encouraging a swallow, not restricting breathing.

Massage the Throat

Slow, gentle strokes along the underside of the throat — from chin toward chest — can help relax the spasming muscles. Some dogs respond better to this than the nostril trick. Try both and see what your particular griffon responds to. Marzipan likes the throat massage. She leans into it now, which is both helpful and slightly absurd.

Stay Calm

This one is harder than it sounds. Dogs read our emotional state with embarrassing accuracy. If you panic, crouch down looking horrified, and start speed-dialing the emergency vet, your dog will pick up on that distress and potentially extend or intensify the episode. Sit down. Talk in a normal, boring voice. “Hey, buddy. You’re okay. You’re fine.” Keep your energy flat. This genuinely helps.

What Not to Do

• Do not stick your fingers in the dog’s mouth — you will get bitten, and it does nothing useful
• Do not hold the dog down or restrict movement during the episode
• Do not spray water in the face
• Do not pick the dog up and shake or jostle it
• Do not try to induce vomiting — this is not a foreign body obstruction

Most episodes last under a minute. After it passes, give the dog a few seconds to reorient, then go back to whatever you were doing. Normal behavior resumes fast.

When Reverse Sneezing Means Something Serious

Here is where breed-specific knowledge actually matters, because generic brachycephalic articles tend to wave everything away as “normal for flat-faced dogs” without giving owners a real decision framework.

Frequency Thresholds

Occasional reverse sneezing — once every few days, or a cluster of episodes that then goes away for weeks — is in the normal range for this breed. Multiple episodes per day, every day, is not something to normalize. That pattern warrants a vet visit to rule out underlying causes: nasal polyps, chronic rhinitis, allergies, or early-stage respiratory issues. “It’s normal for the breed” should not be used as a reason to skip the conversation with your vet.

Call the Vet Immediately If You See These Signs

• Blue or purple gums — this indicates inadequate oxygenation and is an emergency, full stop
• Labored or noisy breathing between episodes — if the dog is not breathing normally when not in a reverse sneezing episode, something structural or infectious needs evaluation
• Nasal discharge — especially if thick, colored, or present on one side only
• Coughing in addition to reverse sneezing — coughing and reverse sneezing are distinct, and the combination can indicate respiratory infection or early tracheal collapse
• Episodes that don’t resolve within two to three minutes
• Loss of consciousness or collapse during an episode — rare, but a true emergency
• Sudden dramatic increase in episode frequency after months or years of stability

Tracheal collapse is worth naming directly here because it is more common in small brachycephalic dogs than in the general dog population, and it can look deceptively similar to severe reverse sneezing. The distinguishing feature is that breathing difficulty in tracheal collapse does not fully resolve between episodes. The dog sounds congested or wheezy at rest. It coughs when it drinks water. It struggles after brief exercise. If any of those patterns sound familiar, that’s a chest X-ray conversation, not a “wait and see” situation.

Long-Term Management for Brachycephalic Brussels Griffons

Managing reverse sneezing in a griffon is less about treating a medical condition and more about reducing the triggers that set off the soft palate spasm in the first place. Several practical changes make a measurable difference.

Weight Management

Extra weight in a brachycephalic dog is not a cosmetic issue. Even one or two pounds above ideal body weight increases pressure on an already compromised airway. A griffon who should weigh 10 pounds but weighs 13 is carrying 30% excess body weight — proportionally significant. Talk to your vet about your specific dog’s target weight and get there. This single change reduces episode frequency more reliably than most other interventions.

Harness Over Collar

A collar pressing against the trachea and throat during walks — especially if the dog pulls — is a direct mechanical irritant to the exact anatomy involved in reverse sneezing. Switch to a well-fitted harness. The Ruffwear Front Range harness (around $45) and the PetSafe Easy Walk (around $25) both work well for small breeds. No exceptions on this. The collar can stay for ID tags; it should not be the attachment point for the leash.

Elevated Food Bowls

Eating from a bowl on the floor forces a flat-faced dog to compress its airway further during swallowing. A raised bowl — 3 to 4 inches off the ground is appropriate for most griffons — reduces post-meal reverse sneezing episodes noticeably. Slow-feeder bowls help if your dog inhales food, which is a common trigger.

Avoid Extreme Heat

Heat and humidity are significant triggers. Brachycephalic dogs regulate temperature through respiration with an airway that is already doing extra work at baseline. Hot, humid conditions push that system harder and increase reverse sneezing frequency. Keep your griffon in air conditioning when temperatures climb above the low 80s. A $30 cooling mat isn’t a luxury item for this breed — it’s practical management.

When to Consider Soft Palate Surgery

Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome surgery — which can include soft palate resection, nares widening, or both — is a real option for griffons with severe, chronic respiratory symptoms. It is not a first-line response to occasional reverse sneezing. The surgery costs between $1,500 and $4,000 depending on what’s being corrected and your geographic area, and it carries the standard risks of any procedure under general anesthesia in a brachycephalic dog (which are higher than average — anesthesia is harder for this anatomy).

The conversation about surgery becomes worth having when daily quality of life is affected: consistent exercise intolerance, poor sleep, frequent cyanosis, or reverse sneezing episodes so frequent and severe that the dog is visibly struggling. A veterinary internist or a board-certified surgeon, not just a general practitioner, should be involved in that evaluation. Some griffons do exceptionally well post-surgery. Others have anatomy where the expected gain doesn’t justify the risk. It’s a case-by-case assessment.

The thing I wish someone had told me the night Marzipan first stood at the foot of my bed honking like a broken foghorn: you will get used to this. Not because you become callous, but because you learn to read your dog. You learn what her normal episodes look and sound like, and that knowledge lets you spot, instantly, when something is different. That calibration is the whole game with this breed. Know your baseline, know your warning signs, and don’t pay JustAnswer $5 to tell you something you can learn for free.