# What do you do when they choke?



## thaliasmom (May 3, 2007)

My puppy started choking this morning. I swear I felt like I almost lost him....after it was over I had to sit down for a minute; I was really, really scared. 

Now, I've had my hand down a dog's throat plenty of times. They eat things they shouldn't, etc, and my hands are pretty small, so I tend to just dive right in. But in this case, the food seemed to be taking up all the available room- I could barely get my hand in his mouth, much less maneuver the meat around. And, ps. puppy teeth are sharp, and he was *not* cooperating, trying to get away and paw at his face. 

None of our dogs has done this before. Little K, like our other dogs, has been an excellent and careful chewer. Our closest ER vet is 25 minutes away.

Is there a system, or list of steps that people use when these things happen?


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## dd (Jun 10, 2003)

You can do the Heimlich manoeuvre on dogs. Put the dog in a vertical position so you can get your hands on the ribcage as you would on a human being, then compress.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

You won't be able to grab slippery, slobbery wet raw food with your bare hands. Grab a towel (I have paper towels right by where I feed the dogs) and use that to get hold of the food item.

I teach my guys that when my hand goes near them while they are eating GREAT things happen - I give them more food!

That way their first instinct when they see my hands approaching is NOT to pull away or try to swallow faster. It makes a great difference when choking happens.


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## lucymom (Jan 2, 2009)

This is a good question, as it's been a concern to me as well, being new to raw, I worry that choking is a potential issue. I realize that it is with kibble as well and perhaps I'm not well informed, but all it takes is one or two scary stories to put me on edge.

I think I will look for a website or youtube video that shows how to do the Heimlich on a dog--for example, how do you put a 100 pound dog in a vertical position?

I've retrieved rawhide (NEVER AGAIN, back when I did not know better) from the gulllet of my dogs, but the choking on food possibilities worry me......


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## thaliasmom (May 3, 2007)

Thanks guys, good to know about the Heimlich and the paper towels. 

You're right, too, Laurie, and I've had my hands down his throat plenty of times already (for example, he found a ball of glass a week or so ago, and it was literally halfway down his throat when I got it out), and we regularly play with their "teefies" and gums for just this reason, but he was starting to panic, and I learned that a panicking dog is a different ball of wax.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

I might wonder if, during the sheer, red-hot PANIC of the moment, a dog might not clamp it's jaws good and tight, regardless of training, great owner relationship, etc? And a panicked choking dog might be hunched over-- not really possible to get a curved-over dog into a vertical position. Maybe it's helpful if someone has a strong husband there to pry open the dog's clamped-down jaws, help the dog stand vertically somehow even though curled up.. I can't imagine it would be easy even then. For those of us alone, it's a scary idea. Even with help-- a truly, justifiably panicked dog is STRONG.







I'd have to hope that ideally, I could pry open my dog's jaws and just use the papertowels about my hands to remove the food gob... but I am envisioning a panicked, terrified powerful animal hunched, clamped down, with the strength of terror. Has anyone been through the worst and had it been okay?


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## samralf (Dec 23, 2008)

My 80# Collie was choking on a chip and was really starting to panic. I rushed over to him and thankfully he trusted me to help him so he calmed right down and let me open his mouth and I stuck my hand down his throat and grabbed the chip.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Winnie, my Corgi mix, once got a turkey neck stuck in her throat. That's when I learned that you can't grab hold of slippery, slimy raw foods. This was back when I fed them in the basement and it was laundry day so I grabbed the first item of clothing off the laundry pile to use.

It was a bit of a struggle but I was able to get my hand down her throat and remove it. Her knowing that I wasn't trying to 'steal' the food (training) and my yelling at her STOP (more training) made a big difference.


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## Brightelf (Sep 5, 2001)

I'm so glad that this worked for Winnie! I will keep papertowels on hand always.


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