Does anyone else find their dogs get KC more when they show.  Tigger went to her first show about 3 weeks ago and has already had it.  It has now spread through all the rest ending up with Grandma and the puppies.  I really wish people wouldnt show their dogs when they know they have it.  If you stand around listening you can hear dogs coughing.  Mine are all vaccinated against it but Tiggers throat is so scared by it she coughs a lot now naturally she has had it 5 times since we have started showing. 

I agree with you totally!   Owners know when their dogs have KC, but still take them to shows!  At my last show I heard a dog coughing away and kept mine well away from it, but how many weren't so lucky.

Sarah.

The most infectious stage of KC is before any coughing begins, or so I have been told therefore you could be spreading it without even knowing. If what I was told is correct then when the dog is actually showing sign of KC they are not actually infectious - please corrct me if I am wrong - maybe I should do some more research before commenting LOL! :)

Kennel Cough is an air borne virus hence passed to others in close proximity to dogs which are coughing, sneezing, sharing water bowls etc or if within a short period can be contracted from the clothing of someone who has handled an infected dog.  It takes approximately 7-10 days for the symptoms of the disease to become obvious although the dog has already been infected.

Regards Teri :)

Thank you  ;)

I suspect you are right Enfielrotts :) Kayla had kennel cough over Christmas and I think I can pinpoint the show she caught it...but I had already been to another show the following weekend and she had been going out for walks and meeting other dogs, 3 days later I heard the first cough and we missed 2 shows until I was sure she was completely over it.

So I, inadvertentley, may have spread it but she wasn't showing any signs and I had no idea until that first cough that she'd been in contact with it......knew as soon as I heard it what it was and I'd never heard it before. But I then immediatley stopped going to shows, training and she was confined to the house and garden for about 3 weeks in all.

So maybe this is what happens, luckily Chloe didn't catch it, she left the room every time Kay started coughing :D Clever or what?! But I did all I could, like to think I played a small part in stopping it spread but I know that some people are deliberaltey not so considerate.

Emily

Bali caught it from training, it has to be because he had not attended a show before hand and never meets any other dogs where we live (Very rural) however there were no coughing dogs at the ring craft class either which is why I thought what I was told was true so I do think people spread it without realising - not a nice thing to have but mine never act any different apart from a cough :)

I've shown for over 25 years and my dogs have never had KC!!  So I don't know, can't believe that I've been that lucky!

As others have said it is airborne so you can pick it up easily whilst just walking your dog, you don't have to come into close contact with another dog to get it!  Same with Parvo etc.

I agree that some do not know they have it but if your dog is coughing which plenty were at Bath then you keep them away simple.  If it is not infectious while the coughing is occuring how comes Terry Thorn stopped judging while one of the dogs was checked over for coughing at a champ show? 

I would have to agree.  There was a whole load of our breed went down with it after our club show in April, and there were no dogs coughing at all.

The strangest thing was that most of the affected ones were in one section of the ahll and had it by the time one would expoect,(7 to 10 days). 

I was most shocked to learn after Birmingham National that one of mine had been crated right next to one that develeoped it after two weeks following the show!  None of mine got it.

Generally if dogs have ahd the smae form of it befor next time they are less likely to get it, or only very mildly.

I last had KC here with mine abut 5 eyars ago, and the older ones didn't get it that had it before.

There was a lot of it in my area, including a bitch I had looked after had it aa short while after getting home ( I had pups at the time) so was worried mine might have been exposed, but she must have caught it from their other dog once home.

My two youngest (5 1/2 and nearly two) have never had it, yet are the most shown.  All my dogs go out an about among otyher dogs every day, so maybe their immune systems are well boosted?

3 of my staffords got kennel cough at a show last year. I did a search on it and found out some very interesting things one was that as it is a virus dogs can still carry it for up to 3 months after recovering from it.
The 3 dogs that got it were then withdrawn from anyshows till they had got over it. the wierd thing was i have 6 staffords altogether and they all mix but the 3 that didnt attend the show never got it at all.
if people were honest they wouldnt take their dogs but some just think of the win they may miss out on for not going.
If people read the declaration properly as well on the show entry forms they would realise that the dogs should not be shown any dog who has knowingly been exsposed to an infectious or contagous disease during the 21 days prior to the show. You should not show your dog until 21 days after they have recovered.I have been showing Staffords for 9 years and this is the first time my dogs had ever had it.
regards gwen