First Aid For Dogs When Choking

[Garden Girl]

Hi all - gave my 9 month old Border Terrier a chicken wing yesterday and watched him eat it. When I watched him, he crushed all the bones in the wing but didnt pull it apart rather he swallows it whole - then cant swallow it and regurgitates it - chews a bit more and tries again. Anyway it looked like he was choking but managed to get it all down. So while I was having a mini heart attack worrying about him choking I wondered what sort of first aid I should know about choking dogs....I know what to do for a human but no idea for pooches. Was he even choking or is that normal behaviour for a dog?

Out of interest he used to do the same with chicken necks - chomp the whole thing and swallow it whole - thats why I dont give them to him. He is fine with lamb shanks and necks so I'll stick to them for now. My 2 month old BT chews all the meat off the chicken wing, swallows that then chews on the bones for a while - but thats because she is so much smallerI guess.

So first aid tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Jaynie

[mirajam]

If your dog is swallowing whole, it does seem best to give them something so BIG they must chew /gnaw at it!!

When our 4 yo westie X was a pup, she found one of those chicken leg 'knuckles' - the gristly bit. I asked her to give it back and she inhaled it in her haste to keep it !! (literally inhaled it )

As I watched, she started choking/ coughing and running wildly in circles.

I called to the OH (silly me!!) to 'help, call and ambulance' Then realised that was not an option

So I tipped her upside down and squeezed her tummy just below her ribs - a puppy Heimlich maneuver !

It worked, and out popped the chicken knuckle. I had to grab it before she could though, b/c she was still determined that it was hers!

After that I taught her to 'give' anything she picked up and I needed to check out

[~Anne~]

I have a pdf showing the heimlich manouvre and CPR for dogs if you'd like a copy. PM me your email addy if interested.

[SearchJane]

My puppy choked on part of a ball he bit off - I only realised when he started making weird sounds thank goodness I was right there! Anyway I did the heimlich thing - squeezed his belly. The bit popped out & I popped it & the rest of the toy in the bin.

Edited October 24, 2008 by SearchJane

[jamie]

Hi all - gave my 9 month old Border Terrier a chicken wing yesterday and watched him eat it. When I watched him, he crushed all the bones in the wing but didnt pull it apart rather he swallows it whole - then cant swallow it and regurgitates it - chews a bit more and tries again. Anyway it looked like he was choking but managed to get it all down. So while I was having a mini heart attack worrying about him choking I wondered what sort of first aid I should know about choking dogs....I know what to do for a human but no idea for pooches. Was he even choking or is that normal behaviour for a dog?

Out of interest he used to do the same with chicken necks - chomp the whole thing and swallow it whole - thats why I dont give them to him. He is fine with lamb shanks and necks so I'll stick to them for now. My 2 month old BT chews all the meat off the chicken wing, swallows that then chews on the bones for a while - but thats because she is so much smallerI guess.

So first aid tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Jaynie

My dog choked on a large chunk of turkey drumstick,I had to put my hand in his mouth and pull it out of his throat.Lost most of my thumb nail in the process,but he would have died for sure if I hadn't.

Jamie

[Leema]

My older border terrier swallows things almost whole... It's crunch crunch swallow with most things, including chicken wings.

Sometimes when my dogs get a large chunk of meat - e.g. beef heart or beef rump (don't no proper terminology...) - they often throw it up and eat it again. However, they never seem to choke.

If a dog is choking on something, you should let them attempt to cough it up. They're pretty good at that thing. Attempt to look in the dog's mouth to see if there's any thing you can see to grab and take out of their mouth.

Then you can do side compressions (the preferred method to the heimlich manouvre in people) to try to expell air quickly from the lungs and dislodge the object. If this doesn't work, then you need to respire for the dog (you should be able to get air past the obstructing object) and get to the vet!

[bingo]

I'd just stop feeding it anything with bones in it or bones alltogether. Never feed cooked bones and if you want to feed raw bones make sure they are large ones like beef shin marrow bones or something with some size and density to it. Some people also say to avoid pork as it has some disease dogs can catch though I imagine any meat eaten raw could potentionally pass on disease. If your dog likes raw chicken try it on the staight meat or maybe even turkey as it tends to be better value. But if it likes to chew, and crunch on something a lot of people swear by chicken necks I dont feed my dogs them but you could always try just keep a close eye on him/her. If you google it you'll soon gain a better understanding of why and why not you can and cant give dog certain things.

heres one of many sites on the issue

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1141359

Hope you and your dog enjoy many more pooch friendly feasts to come

[RubyStar]

I have a pdf showing the heimlich manouvre and CPR for dogs if you'd like a copy. PM me your email addy if interested.

Hope noone minds me bumping this old post. I was wondering if I could get a copy of this too, please? I tried sending a PM but it said it was disabled for this user. Can anyone please help with a copy? Ta!