Not sure where I should put this but this seems the best fit. Perhaps we could rename this forum "Labrador Health & Safety". We had a terrible scare with with our 4 month old puppy yesterday. We were playing fetch with a ball, trying to teach her "drop it" when she brought it to us. We would give her a treat when she properly dropped it at our feet. Well, apparently, she would sometimes get so excited about us throwing it again that she wouldn't finish chewing and swallowing her treat. She just held it in her mouth and stood there, ready to launch once we threw the ball again. One time, after getting the ball, she suddenly stopped, dropped it, and started choking and gasping for air. Apparently, while running with the ball in her mouth, she inhaled an unfinished treat! I quickly did the Heimlich Maneuver on her and she was, thankfully, OK. She might have coughed it out on her own but I wasn't about to wait! Very scary! So, something to keep in mind. Not treats with fetch or other running games! And know how to do the Heimlich on your dog. Hopefully you'll never need it but here are a few ways to help if your dog is ever choking. I used the abdominal thrust version on our pup.
Scary. Glad all ok. I must say, I wouldn’t be sweeping my finger inside the mouth as per pic - a stressed dog might clamp down hard... finger gone. If you need to put your hand in the mouth, advice I’ve been given is first put a wide stick or something big in the mouth to keep the jaws apart before putting your hand inside.
Thanks very much for posting that. I had a scary incident once when Tuppence choked on an apple which she had scavenged. Thankfully she eventually coughed it up again, but it took several minutes and was very frightening. I’m glad your puppy is ok.
Yeah, not the first option I'd say. Leave sweeping through the mouth as a last resort if the pup loses consciousness. Thrusting the abdomen is easy because it's just like trying to pick up the dog quickly, but with fists.
I think it's also worth noting that my dogs quite regularly choke on their treats, and it's really not something to panic about most of the time. I wasn't there, so I'm not saying what you did wasn't the right thing in this case, but I'd also not want to be advocating applying the Heimlich manoeuvre unless absolutely necessary as it can damage internal organs, cause aspiration of stomach contents and other dangerous side-effects. Option D would be my first go-to in the case of an obstruction that was really preventing the dog from breathing (shallow gasps, squeaking or clearly no air going in, which is far more serious than the more common loud choking/coughing sounds). Labradors have cavernous mouths which are perfect for carrying large game but it does mean that treats, especially soft ones, can get stuck inside the roof of the mouth. If I'm playing games where the dog carries something, I tend to use hard treats which the dog tends to crunch up, so I know it's gone. Things like kibble, sea jerky cubes or sea biscuits are perfect. Another clue is to wait until your dog licks his lips after giving the treat, which is a good indication it's been eaten and not stored.
Frightening indeed. So glad all is well We are also taught to give small pups - up to 12 weeks - soft treats (slightly soaked kibble) and only give treats from below at any age. .
Thank you VERY much for this cdwarrior. When Maisy was about 4 months she ate her kibble so quickly she started choking and gasping for breath, she came to me to help her and I then knew I needed to know more first aid, it was extremely frightening. This is a really helpful post especially for those new pup owners. I do use treats with fetch and mobile games but wait a bit until they have gone as they (or Maisy anyway) just hold it in their mouths then run off to play again. I guess play trumps food sometimes, even with labs!
We have an acquaintance who's dog (some kind of spaniel I think) choked on a ball that he caught. Some how it went back in his mouth so far that they could not get it out and the dog died. I can't really picture it, but it happened.
Yes I have heard a couple of these stories from my friend who works at a vet office. I always get nervous when axel runs with his ball and he sucks it in further for a better grip (don’t know how to explain it)
Glad all is well and no harm was done. Vanilla used to do this a lot. We ended up with not throwing the ball again until she had chewed and swallowed the treat. Took a short while for her to realise but once she knew all was well. Now and again she will do it and you can see her dropping the treat as she picks up the ball/stick etc. She drops it and picks up the treat and swallows it then back to the ball/stick and comes back.
I'm glad your pup is ok. I generally use treats that are crunchy like Fiona has described and for the same reason.
