Natural Remedies for a Stuffy Nose in Canines

If your dog suffers from a cold or allergies, it will sneeze and suffer from a stuffy nose. At the first signs of sneezing, wheezing or nasal discharge -- indicating congestion -- bring your dog to a veterinarian to determine the underlying medical cause. Treat this condition and use natural remedies to ease your dog's symptoms of congestion.

  1. Moisture

    • To relieve a dog's stuffy nose, keep its nasal passages moist by using a humidifier in the house. Keep the dog indoors as much as possible, especially during the dry winter months. Break up the phlegm and mucous in the dog's nose by exposing it to warm moist air, with the use of a vaporizer near its bed. Alternately, you can also place it into a bathroom with you when you take a shower so that it can breathe in the steam for 10 to 15 minutes and its congestion can drain, recommends the book, "Joey Green's Amazing Pet Cures."

    Discomfort

    • Your dog's nose may become dry and uncomfortable from constant pawing and crusty discharge. Wipe away this discharge with a tissue moistened with warm water. Mix up a saline solution for your dog with 1/2 cup boiling water and 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt. Add four drops of goldenseal extract once the solution cools until warm to the touch. Use an eye dropper to give your dog three drops of the warm solution in each nostril to relieve stuffiness, kill viruses and shrink any irritated, swollen tissue in the nostrils, recommends "The Natural Remedy Book For Dogs And Cats."

    Feeding

    • To prevent dehydration, give the dog some lukewarm, low-sodium chicken or beef broth for it to eat. If the dog is not eating properly, because the congestion blocks its sense of smell, add the broth to some canned or dry dog food to encourage it to eat. Feed the dog canned food, heated for a few seconds in the microwave, to enhance the scent of the food for the dog's compromised sense of smell. If making the broth from scratch, do not use onions or garlic in it, as these are toxic to dogs, according to the Vetinfo website.

    Warnings

    • During treatment for a simple cold or allergy, you can provide your dog with some symptomatic relief from its congestion by keeping its nose moist with some petroleum jelly or vegetable oil. If you see your dog sneezing continuously or notice discolored mucous around its nose, bring it to a veterinarian to properly diagnose its condition. The congestion is only a symptom of a possible virus, allergy, foreign body in the nose, tumor, infection or even congestive heart failure in dogs, according to the Vetinfo website. Left untreated, these conditions can result in serious secondary infections, fever, lethargy or even death.