How You Could Save Your Dog's Life When It's Choking

Pets & Animals Blog

It can be utterly terrifying when your dog chokes on something. You don't need to stand by and hope for the best, and in fact the canine heimlich manoeuvre can be administered quickly and easily. This simple procedure could easily save your dog's life, so it's important to know it. If you think that your dog is choking, wait a short time to see if they are simply retching, which will often be followed by vomiting. If your dog is in fact choking, they will generally be more distressed than if it was a simple retching. Look inside their mouth and see if you can spot what they're choking on. Remove it if possible. Do not try to put your fingers down their throat to induce vomiting, as this can push the foreign object further into their throat. If the object cannot be removed, you will need to administer the canine heimlich manoeuvre.

Large Dogs

Large dogs cannot be easily picked up and held with enough control to perform the heimlich manoeuvre, so you need to do it from above.

1. Straddle your dog and wrap your arms around its body.
2. Identify the breast bone, where the rib cage starts.
3. Make a fist with one hand, and press it into your dog's abdomen, just above the belly.
4. Firmly run your fist along the abdomen, ending at the breast bone, where you will push your fist slightly inwards.
5. With larger dogs, you might wish to use your other hand to move your fist for added pressure.
6. Repeat until your dog coughs up whatever it was choking on.

Smaller Dogs and Puppies

Smaller dogs and puppies need to be picked up and held from behind when you perform the heimlich manoeuvre. Exercise extreme caution when working on a puppy as their bones are more delicate than those of a fully-developed dog.

1. If your dog is wriggling and difficult to hold, it can be helpful to have another person hold it while you perform the manoeuvre.
2. Again, you need to make a fist and apply pressure to the dog's abdomen.
3. Move your fist upwards along the abdomen, ending at the breast bone. Again, you will push your fist slightly inwards as it arrives at the breast bone.
4. Repeat several times until your dog coughs up the foreign object in its throat.

If your dog should not cough up the object in its throat, then the matter should be considered to be a vet emergency. Seek medical attention immediately. If your dog stops breathing, you should perform CPR and mouth to mouth resuscitation (or in the case of a dog, mouth to nose).

17 January 2017