This is a warning to all dog owners. No ball smaller than a baseball should ever be where your dog can find it.
We’re sitting in the living room and Chance, The Noble Weimaraner is with us. He starts pacing around and pawing at his mouth. He looks like he is desperately trying to get something out. I straddle him and put my arms around his chest, lock my hands together and using all my strength (100 lb dog, 102 lb Honey) pull up, right where his rib-cage ends. I do this 2 more times and a little pink ball pops out. This ball is from one of those 25 cent machines in the grocery store and had been in a bowl in our living room.
An immediate search of our house found 4 more of these dog-killing balls, and all have been garbagized.
I can’t imagine life without Chancey. As a reward I received an extra nice face-kiss.
Please feel free to share your own Heimlich stories.
Good thing you were home when it happened. I’m glad you saved The Noble Weimaraner. Now you and he(her?) can still catch that prowler together. Unless of course you’ve been convinced it’s better to call the cops. Again, good job on saving the pooch !
Possibly, the only one I ever met chewed up the owner’s metal doorknob in his brand new house. The doorknob was dented and toothmarked and looked like hell. I don’t know what kind of metal it was but damn that doggy must have powerfull jaws. Sure was a good looking dog though. He let me pet him in between barking at me and sniffing my toolbox.
Wow, the lurker must awaken again… Honey, if you keep starting threads like this I’m going to officially lose my lurker status… anyhow.
Honey, on behalf of all dog lovers, let me say “Thank You”… I always smile when I hear of someone saving the life of their (or some one else’s) best friend… I also choke up, because a doggy almost met an untimely end…
and I’d like to support your statement about nothing smaller than a baseball when a dog is going to play with it, but I’d like to expand on that rule… (and yes, that wasn’t a quote, it was a paraphrasure)
I’ve had big dogs all my life, and a baseball for a big dog is a good rule (plus baseballs are tough and can survive a dog chewing on them)… but if your dog is too small to pick up a base-ball, what I’ve found is something that is 2.5 times the size of the dog’s nose, avoids the choking problem… but I’d really like other dopers’ input on what is the guideline for size of a dog toy (2.5*nose is what I’ve heard and experienced, anyone else?)
Just a reminder, you can also do CPR on your furry friends. Lay them on their sides and compress the chest side to side, not front to back. For mouth to muzzle breathing, hold the mouth closed and blow into the nose.
As for a good rule - the ball should always be about 2 times the size of the dog’s schnoz. If they’re able to tilt their heads back and put the whole thing in their mouth while chewing away at it, then it’s too small.
I’ve never had a dog choke on anything yet - but I’ve often stuck my hand into my dog’s mouth to retrieve something he or she has picked up and could choke on!
I’m just really glad to hear the pooch is okay, Honey! That must have been quite a scare.
The first thing I did was open his mouth to see if whatever was in there could be pulled out. I couldn’t see anything and didn’t want to stick my hand down his throat for fear of pushing whatever it was, down even furthur.
CrazyCatLady
When I tell non dog-lovers that I would give my dog mouth-to-snout the usual response is “ewww, that’s disgusting”. But honestly, it would be less icky doing mouth-to-snout on my dog than doing mouth-to-mouth on some people I’ve met.