Heimlich for dogs

This morning I saved Tater Tot’s life.  She was eating her breakfast and a piece of her kibble lodged in her throat.  I’ve never seen her body look so stiff and rigid as she desperately and unsuccessfully tried gasping for air.  The piece of kibble completely blocked her airway, and she could not breathe.  I raced to her side, pried her mouth open and swiped my finger down her throat and hooked it around the piece of kibble.  After I removed it, she started gasping for air and coughed a lot.  I was in shock – mostly at the possibility of what would have happened had I not known what to do.  What if I wouldn’t have been able to reach the kibble in her throat?  What if I wouldn’t have known what to do?  Honestly, I had A LOT of experience removing random objects from Tater Tot’s mouth back when she was a puppy, and I’ve had to sweep her mouth before to retrieve said random objects, but never in a truly life or death situation where she could not breathe.

I originally came across the article below a year ago and wanted to share it with you all today.  If your dog ever has a blocked airway, knowing what to do could be the difference between life and death.  And when your pets mean the whole world to you, like mine do to me – being prepared is vitally important.

Giving Your Dog the Heimlich Maneuver (courtesy of dogster.com)

If a dog starts choking or appears to have difficulty breathing, it may have an obstruction in its throat. Employ the following maneuver to repair the problem.

1. Open the dog’s mouth and look at the back of its throat (Fig. A). If you can see the object causing the choking, remove it (Fig. B). If the dog is unconscious, pulling its tongue forward will give a better view and perhaps dislodge the object.

CAUTION: Even an unconscious dog may bite on instinct. Be careful.

2. If the dog is small enough, pick it up and hold it by the hips with its head hanging down (Fig. C). For larger dogs, hold the hind legs in the air so its head hangs down. These techniques may cause the object to simply drop out. If not, you must perform the Heimlich maneuver.
3. With the dog either standing or lying down, place your arms around its waist with hands clasped around its stomach. Close your hands into one fist and place it just behind the last rib.
4. Compress the stomach by pushing up five times rapidly (Fig. D).
5. Sweep your finger through the dog’s mouth to see if the object has dislodged (Fig. E).
6. If it hasn’t, strike the dog sharply between the shoulder blades with the flat side of one hand (Fig. F), then repeat abdominal compressions. Alternate these procedures until the object is dislodged.
7. If the object is dislodged but the dog no longer appears to be breathing, begin artificial respiration and CPR.