Dog Gag Reflex Question

[1 bruce 1]

This title probably sounds as stupid as this question.
We have a nine year old mixed breed dog. We've had him since he was four.

Background: ever since we got him, he's had on and off problems with throwing up randomly, it never lasts and is a once or twice thing (usually happens once every one or two months). It's usually a bit of food and bile and if it doesn't pass we have some stuff we give him that clears it up...but that's not the concern we have.
Ever since we've had him, he's also loved toys. We throw toys for him a lot. Very often (at least daily) he'll grab up a toy (stuffed animal squeaky type), play shake it and run around with it, then abruptly spit it out and gag. He does not do this with tennis balls nearly as often. What he does reminds me of what a person would do if something went too far back into their throat (please don't hate me for using this example, I mean no disrespect, but picture what a bulimic must experience when inducing themselves to vomit, but nothing is happening yet...), but his gag reflex seems so...sensitive and easy to trigger.
He does NOT throw up during this, nor does he cough or make coughing noises, but he always does this at least twice per episode. Oftentimes he'll lie down after the first gag in a crouched position.
Then he acts like nothing is wrong and goes on playing. Sometimes it happens again, sometimes it doesn't. He also has a bad habit of regurgitating water/food sometimes, and occasionally this causes him to inhale or something and cause a reverse sneezing episode. It's totally weird.
We're kind of stumped. It's not a life threatening thing right now or anything, but we're really curious if something is wrong (physically). When we rescued him we were told that the vet suspected a hiatal hernia, but couldn't verify it. We mentioned this to our vet and they agreed it was a possibility but it can be difficult to diagnose because the dog needs endoscopy. I do not wish to put him under for that unless it became a situation that his life was affected.
Also, he NEVER does this gag thing while eating. His heart has been checked by two vets and both vets said it's "very strong", no murmurs or anything concerning. He is heartworm negative.
(As a side note....he's a happy, super out going dog that loves to learn and loves to train and loves to eat. He LOVES people and absolutely adores children of all ages. He has some fear issues (nothing serious, and absolutely NO fear aggression, he just avoids or tries to get away if something upsets him) but he's made some strides in the last 5 years. He's done some agility training and has never had any problems with a trial situation (noise and all) but did have some reservations about the see saw, but got past it. I wouldn't call him high strung but I wouldn't call him 100% laid back, either. He's an excellent house pet and thrives on routine and predictability. He's also EXTREMELY sensitive to our moods, and if he even suspects we're upset (in general), he goes off by himself. He's sweet, he's silly, but he's kind of neurotic.)
Any thoughts?

 

[Columbine]

You say he's a mixed breed. Do you have any idea of which breeds? (guessing is fine, just trying to get a sense of his shape and build, especially head/muzzle/face shape). Some breeds/types (eg pugs) can have an elongated soft palate that can partially obstruct the airway at times. I found that info here, along with other possible causes.

It does sound bizarre, especially as it only happens with his toys. Maybe try to take note of which toys trigger this and what shape they are. Thinking about some of my lab's toys, there are definitely some that could, if picked up and shaken the wrong way, possibly trigger the gag reflex.

Just in case it's not a simple case of toy obstruction, try keeping a journal/diary if all his activities each day (e.g. when and what he's fed, when he's walked/trained and what it involved - especially if he eats grasses/plants when out, when he goes for his toys, how he plays with them, any gagging incidents). Its just possible you'll find a pattern or trigger that you weren't aware of.

The vomiting food/water could simply be because he ate/drank too fast (this happens to my girl occasionally), or it could be something else. I don't know enough about canine digestive systems to be sure of what I'm saying here, but I'd have thought that some kind of hyperacidity might be possible. My old greyhound used to suffer something like that intermittently, and would bring up bile (or bile and grass) in the morning before he was fed. He did have a very delicate tummy though, and he had cardiomyopathy too.

The lying down in a crouched position is the same behaviour as both my old HCM boys (dog and cat) when they were having breathing issues/fluid on the lungs. Any vet would be able to pick up on that with a stethoscope, so it's unlikely that this is what is going on with your boy (though it never hurts to double check if they've not listened to his lungs as well as his heart ). I'm simply saying that it's presenting like some kind of breathing issue, so that might warrant investigation if it's not already been ruled out.

I'm sorry I can't be more help. It's certainly puzzling, and concerning too as you haven't yet found the reason/cause. I hope it's something as simple as part of a toy going a little too far back, so triggering the gag reflex

 

[1 bruce 1]

He's built like a sight hound and not terribly large. His head and muzzle are streamline but not as extreme as a collie or a greyhound, not blocky at all. He looks like a very small, refined featured, very slightly built Border Collie if that helps =)
The diary idea sounds awesome! He has NEVER eaten grasses or plants outside since we had him, even if he feels sick.
The crouching thing only happens for a split second like he's trying his best to bring something up. He doesn't lay like this normally, only if he's having a gag thing going on. Otherwise he's normal and active and has never had any breathing concerns, but his stamina IS low (he has great speed but very little stamina. Totally like a cat. But we don't physically condition him as he's not a serious competitor!)
A lot of his problems have roots in stomach acid, and we have things we do to combat this. I haven't seen any pattern to a stomach flare up with these episodes but I will watch closer.
Thank you for the great ideas!!!

 

[Columbine]

He sounds absolutely GORGEOUS! inkheartpump:

I hope you can pinpoint the cause, and that it's nothing serious

 

[1 bruce 1]

He sounds absolutely GORGEOUS! inkheartpump:

I hope you can pinpoint the cause, and that it's nothing serious

Thank you! Me too =)

What's weird is this doesn't always happen when he plays, but it's like he gets gagged and feels like he needs to bring something up that isn't there. For now, his life is not affected and he's otherwise happy, healthy, and borderline insane (in a good way) yet one of the snuggliest pets we own.
If it's a hiatal hernia, he will probably just live with it because diagnosing and surgery is tricky.
Something I forgot to add, a surgery he had shortly after coming to us for an unrelated issue seemed to make the episodes more frequent. I wonder if it had something to do with a trach tube or something (not blaming the vets, as I know sometimes stuff just happens that no one can predict or control!)
Right now he's curled up in a teeny tiny ball on a rug, staring at me with huge, round, owl eyes, ears up, tail tip wagging because I whispered the "d" word. ("Dinner").

 

[MeganLLB]

Is your dog older? Sometimes older dogs create more mucus and they choke on that. As far as regurgitating food, is he eating it too fast? Even though your dog physically doesn't resemble a brachycephalic breed, all those symptoms are common in dogs with an elongated soft palate- gagging, reverse sneezing, regurgitating. That's the only thing I can think of that all those things have in common, but I'm sure there could be another explanation, I just don't know.

 

[1 bruce 1]

He's roughly nine =)
He eats very fast, but never does this gag thing when he's eating, ever! It's so strange. Just when he has certain toys in his mouth.
He DOES reverse sneeze sometimes, I don't think you're too far off the mark.
I'm just glad it doesn't affect his quality of life, but it's SO strange.

 

[MeganLLB]

He's roughly nine =)
He eats very fast, but never does this gag thing when he's eating, ever! It's so strange. Just when he has certain toys in his mouth.
He DOES reverse sneeze sometimes, I don't think you're too far off the mark.
I'm just glad it doesn't affect his quality of life, but it's SO strange.

My dog reverse sneezes and gags occasionally too. I think it could be a combination of age and his anatomy. If it's not causing a problem I wouldn't worry about it.