Is it normal for a dog to get dry heaves?

My dog is a boxer female. She is about 8 or 9 years old. Last night she was suffering from a case of dry heaves. She has no other symptoms and isn't in any pain. The dry heaves ended sometime in the morning. She seems fine now. Should I be worried?

[puprock97]

What did your dog eat that day? What kind of food?
It might just be your dog was thirsty and needed some water, so no, I wouldn't be too awfully worried.
If it happens again, I think I'd see calling up the vet for an appointment.

[SaziNinja]

Was it like a couhging type of dry heave?  My family's older miniature pinscher does that and she's been diagnosed with an enlarged heart and fluid in her lungs.  You might want to get a vet to check it out.

[ginger899]

It is just possible she has something stuck in her throat. I would wait a few hours to see how she is. If it doesn't happen again, fine. But if it continues, or happens again another time, I would take her straight to the vet.

[cet1491]

Sorry it took me so long to respond. In answer to SaziNinja's question, yes it was a coughing type. But she is better now. I think she might have been sick because my other dog threw up the same day. Thanks for all your help everyone.

[skydnsr]

If both dogs vomited the same day, it makes me wonder if they ate something they shouldn't have, maybe something they got ahold of in the back yard.  I also think there are contagious "stomach bugs,' for lack of a better term, that go around in the dog population.  My vet thinks that a lot of the self-limiting episodes of GI distress that dogs have are caused by corona-type viruses.

[cet1491]

Well my boxer had the dry heaves and my chihuahua vomited. But I do think it was some kind of stomach virus.

[skydnsr]

Dry heaves is vomiting with nothing on the stomach to come up.