Doggie Heimlich

[Exnavydiver]

Wow! was that a close one, Beau just walked up to us staggering and trying to wipe his mouth with his paws. His eyes were rolling and he was stumbling and falling against the furniture. I couldn't figure out what was wrong till I couldn't hear any air movement. He is a consummate "panter" and anytime he is in distress he pants harder and he was not moving any air. I grabbed him and tried a modified Heimlich on him with little success. I then grabbed his muzzle and tried to blow into his nose, all I got was a wheezy squeal. I did another Heimlich then grabbed his muzzle and shoved my hand into his mouth and felt that his tongue was blocking his throat and that there was some food behind it. I cleared it with my fingers and it sounded like he was breathing a bit. He then staggered up into the bedroom and back. His gums were pretty white. I got him out to the truck and he jumped in and at that time he started panting hard. We called the vet and I told him that Beau had just had some dry food a few minutes before. The vet thought that he had choked on the food and when he tried to drink some water that he had a spasm in his throat. Anyway we are watching him and will run him into the vet if need be but I think he is doing ok. Damn, we don't need this excitement. He is a pig when eating and I think he ate too fast and paid the price. It is hard to do the Heimlich on a dog but it works.. Dave and Betsy

[Mrs. CountryGuy]

Sounds like it was a tense few minutes, glad you were able to get that food outta there. Congrats.

Now, you and Betsy take a few minutes to try and chill and breath yourselves, I can only imagine how hard I would be shaking.

Give that big dude, Beau, an extra hug for his MOC friends, human and fur variety.

[HamRad]

Dave,

I am glad to hear that Beau is OK. I know from first hand experience just how scary that sort of thing is.

Our current little Doxie, Buddy, has had a couple of those episodes. First time I pounded on his back and then opened his mouth and reached in as far as I could with my fingers and found the obstruction. It was a piece of a rawhide chew. Silly thing didn't get it small enough before he tried swallowing it. And of course neither he nor us were smart enough to NOT give him another one. A few weeks later he did the same thing. And this time he had actually gone limp. I repeated the procedure and luckily got it out in time. NOW we do not give them those things.

One other time the same little guy came into my computer room and was clawing at his mouth like there was no tomorrow! No problem breathing but he was going nuts trying to scratch at his mouth. I caught hold of him and pried open his mouth and there way back at the back of the mouth on the roof side was a stick wedged tightly. Did I mention that he loves to chew sticks! Of course we can't stop him from chewing sticks but he hasn't gotten anything caught in his mouth in the past year! Thank goodness I'm not sure how many of those things I could handle!

Again.... glad Beau seems to be OK, good work Dave.

Dennis

[Exnavydiver]

Dennis, I grew up with 4 Dachs, and they were four legged garbage cans. Some dogs eat to live, but Dachs live to eat. One time my dad bought a 50 lb bag of Kennel Ration dry food then went out to dinner. The four pigs tore open the bag and ate and barfed that whole bag all over the house. They were still eating when we got home, damn what a mess... Dave

[HamRad]

Dave,

That is so Doxie! Loyal little guys but hardheaded! And they probably expected you to bring in a new bag for them too!

Thanks for a good laugh.

Dennis

[eeoski]

I am SOOooo glad Beau is okay! Way too much excitement for a weekend (or any other day for that matter)!

Robi

[jjackflash]

Dave and Betsy,glad to hear Beau is OK. Those darn Labs can,t get it down quick enough.
If our two had access to a 50 lb. bag I am sure they would try to eat every bit of it.
Keep us posted.
Jack

[Waynem]

Miya, the Husky/Chow, just loves to eat as evidenced by her 68 pounds. We have a container of dry food for her and I have to keep a 1 gallon water jug on it or she will flip the lid with her nose and help herself. We always moisten the dry food with water. It helps in the swallowing. If you put some dry dog food in a glass of water you will see that it expands quite a bit. So I would imagine that some caught in the furry ones throat could also expand causing the choking. Tough situation to be in.

Glad Beau is alright. Now give him some desert for being so nice.

[Tincup703]

We used to give our Doberman rawhide chews until one day she basically swallowed half on one whole. Later that night she was curled up crying in pain and we found ourselves at the 24 Hour Emergency Vet.

They took Xrays a said she had a blockage but decided to do a dopler scan prior to taking her into surgery. About 20 minutes later the tech opens the door and the dog comes running out her usual happy self and jumped into the chair beside me.

The Vet explained that the " blockage" they saw on the Xray was really just a gas pocket and when they were doing the dopler procedure and rubbing her belly with the transmitter she expelled the gas was instantly cured.

So it cost me $700 bucks for the dog to pass gas...and all this at 3 a.m.!

[KathyandDave]

Kathy found a doggie bowl that has raised partitions in it that slow down the dog's eating. It actually works. Cody now requires the better part of a minute to eat his meal, instead of seconds. Although he hasn't had a choking episode, I can visualize that in his future. This bowl might at least make the food chunks go down one in several smaller clumps, instead of a big choker.

[greener]

Poor Beau! Dave, our white boxer Brutus eats too fast as well. I use a trick I call the slow-down ball. Place a ball in the middle of the dog food bowl. One about half the diameter of the feeding dish will work. Brutus can only eat at half speed now. I`m so glad he is OK.
Judi Nye