I have never heard of dogs coughing up hair balls, only cats, but my Toy Poodle, who is 14 years old, has started coughing up hair balls. It has happened twice now in the past 2 months. The first time he did I called the vet and asked the question, "Do dogs?" and the girl in the office said "No" When I explained that my little one had she just said that if he is healthy and not showing any signs of being sick to not worry about it. This evening he coughed one up again and it is about 1/2" wide and 2 1/2 to 3 inches long. Does anyone out there know if this is normal and it's O.K. or is something wrong that I should get more info by having him checked at the vet. He wasn't feeling too good this afternoon and had a warm nose, but after  the ball came up he was chipper again and nose was cold. He is my Buddy and I do not want to take any chances with him, so if anyone can advise me I would be greatly appreciative. Thanks.
AZpenguinn

I posted a similar query a while back after my dog coughed up a fur-ball. I got this response from a poodle owner...

>My toy poodles get this very rarely. Normally in winter when I let their coats grow a little thicker, they are always cleaning and preening themselves so some fur is bound to be swallowed.

I have no idea if it's 'normal' but, so far, my boy (not a poodle) has only done it once and was perfectly fine afterwards.