Veterinarians say respiratory diseases in dogs are not un-common. Just like people, dogs can get something like our common cold, called "kennel cough", that's vaccine preventable.
Dr. Kimberly Dodd is the Director of the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. She says there are key differences between this mystery illness and other respiratory diseases.
"Dogs start to develop sort of a chronic pneumonia...there are some reports of dogs who start with a cough that very quickly evolved into a more severe syndrome."
Dr. Dodd says at this point there's no indication that this respiratory bug is passed from dogs to other animals or humans.
She says they do recommend pet owners to fully vaccinate their dogs before kenneling them.