# Why Don't Dogs Get Colds?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 5, 2008, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361 "2008-07-05T09:51:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361/1 "2008-07-05T09:51:42Z")

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My dog will occasionally sneeze, and cough, but never seems to have the symptoms that we humans have, when having a cold. Are dogs immune to the human rhinovirus? Or is it because dogs have a nasal structure which is inhospitable to the virus.  
Years ago, I read that the human nose offers a unique environment, which is favorable to the virus-lots of protein (snot), and a cool temperature. Anyway, what’s the story?

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**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361/2 "2008-07-05T16:53:38Z")

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[QUOTE=ralph124c]  
Are dogs immune to the human rhinovirus?  
[/QUOTE]

They are. Far as I know no rhinovirus infects dogs ( one of our resident vets maybe can correct me on that ) and in fact very few effect any animal period. There seems to be some very minor bovine and equine rhinoviruses, but by and large it is a scourge specific to our species.

Dogs do get their own versions of adenoviruses, one of which causes a variety of “kennel cough” ( roughly the dog equivalent of a cold ). Another causes hepatitis.

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**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361/3 "2008-07-05T17:36:36Z")

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To the OP, it is not totally true dogs don’t get sick. We found our dog as a stray. Out in the pouring rain, he had pneumonia. We got him to a vet in time.

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**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361/4 "2008-07-05T19:13:22Z")

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Pneumonia is not a cold.

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**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361/5 "2008-07-05T19:26:58Z")

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And the OP never said “dogs don’t get sick”.

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**Author:** ![notlikely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@notlikely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notlikely)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-dogs-get-colds/455361/6 "2008-07-05T23:50:47Z")

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My dog was sick about two years ago, he coughed, he had a runny noise and even had laryngitis. Maybe it was was one poster called Kennel Cough. Anyway after we took him to the vet, who said “he was a dog cold” what ever that is, he was well in about a week.