Could my dog be suffering an allergy to barley?

Question
I have a 3 year old springer spaniel. He goes to the farm with my husband quite regularly. At the moment the fields are full of barley and my dog loves running and jumping through it. Since doing this yesterday he came back with a cough and has been coughing up phlem. He is still like it today and he looks a bit under the weather. Do you think he has an allergy to the barley, my husband seems to think so as he was alright until he went to the farm. I will take him to the vets if this persists.

Answer
Dogs can be allergic to absolutely anything, just as we can be. Expressing an allergy as a cough is a bit more unusual for a dog, however, as usually their allergies are expressed through skin issues, complete with itching, scratching, and licking, but they certainly can cough if they inhaled something into their lungs (pollen, dust, etc.), and that is aggravating them.

It is also possible that your dog picked up kennel cough somewhere in his travels. That is highly contagious and easily spreads from dog-to-dog. Kennel cough usually lasts around two weeks, so I would keep him away from other dogs until he has stopped coughing, just in case.

If he worsens, I would most certainly get him into the vet.