i almost lost my harley yesterday
 

:(

i went to walmart for groceries and stuff. of course i picked him up a couple new toys and some new treats. they look kind of like beef wrapped around cheese stick things, they are soft. when i got home i pulled one out of the bag and they were really long so i cut a small piece off and took it over to his pen and gave it to him. i started unloading my bags and i heard him make a noise and i ran over there and realized he was choking. i took him out and he started running in circles and making kind of a yelping noise. i called for tim to help me that he was choking and we were rubbing his back and hoping he would cough it up. he got worse and went limp..... it scared me so bad, he stopped breathing, his tongue was hanging out and his eyes were half way opened. we freaked and of coarse had no clue what to do, i stuck my finger down his throat (which i know now i should not have done) and we were shaking him and yelling at him. my husband i and i just kept screaming and crying to each other to help and that we didnt know what to do. all of this was in front of my kids by the way :-( his heart was still beating so i put his nose and mouth in my mouth and i gave him a couple breaths. he came to a little and this foam stuff was coming out. he was able to get some small shallow breaths and he was awake so i kept giving him breaths and rubbing him and talking to him, then we loaded him up and went to the emergency clinic. all the way there i kept trying to stimulate him and give him breaths. when we got there i just handed him over crying and told them he was choking and they rushed him to the back and put him on oxygen. he ended up stabalizing on his own with the oxygen so they took and xray and they treat had made its way down to his stomach. one of his lungs had some fluid in it, she said some of that foamy stuff probably got sucked in (or blowed in by me i guess) so she gave him a shot to get rid of the fluid and gave him another shot of antibiotics just in case so he wouldnt develop pnemonia (sp?). he will also be on antibiotics for 7 more days.
anyway, we brought him home and he was bad traumatized (sp?) shaking, scared and looked real fragile. he started coming around some last night and he ate some. i'm still giving him nutrical too.

it just scared me so bad, i keep seeing his face and lifeless body... it was horrible. my daughter which is 7 was so upset when all this was going on she just ran to her room crying and slammed the door. she told me this morning she keeps hearing me screaming that he is dying, he is dying.....:-(
i keep thinking if i would have gave him that treat and went outside or jumped in the shower, i would have found him dead..... believe me i have learned my lesson.
he has been back to his spunky self this morning and i just keep thinking, wow i have had him a little over 3 weeks and i thought i loved him then, now i could just eat him up :-)
i just wanted to let you guys know....be careful.

wow what a scary experience. I always worry about this when I'm not home, so other than her kibble I don't really leave any of her chew bones or treats out. How scary for Harley and the whole family. I'm so glad he's doing better and hugs to you for the scare. I'm so glad you were right there when it happened. He's lucky to have a great mommy like you :D

I am sorry you all had to go through that scare. I am just glad everything turned out okay!

I am so glad to hear that Harley is ok .....what a terrible experience for you guys!! Thanks for posting so we are all more aware of what we give our little ones. (And that is not just our pups...but kids too!)

Give Harley lots of extra hugs and tummy rubs today....glad he is back to himself today!!

Oh wow! :eek: poor Harley! that must have been very scary!!! I glad everything is fine now. I'm pretty sure you'll be extra careful from now on.

:getwellso

It sounds like you need some hugs. I'm soooooooo glad Harley is OK today. It is pretty scary. I know. My little Muffin got choked many, many years ago, but I got it up. It's amazing how things like this make you realize just how much you love them, isn't it?

thanks everyone :love-hug3

Bless your heart, how scary for your entire family. Glad little Harley is doing okay now! It is so scary how fast some of these situations can arise!! Hope your day today is very uneventful!:)

That must have been horrible for you and your family. I had an awful experience with my daughter years ago where she was choking on a Starburst candy. Although I had not been officially trained in the Heimlich maneuver, I figured trying it was my only shot. Sure enough, that candy shot out of her mouth on my second try. I will never forget the frantic-ness of that moment!! Makes me wonder....... is there a Heimlich for animals?? I've heard of dogs choking on treats before and the owner always says they stuck their finger down their throat and know now that this wasn't the right thing to do....... so, what IS the right thing to do??

I'm so glad your baby is okay now. I'm sure your daughter is traumatized quite a bit. Hopefully this will turn out to be a good lesson for all and she will be okay too!

yes the dr. told me yesterday you do the hymlec (sp?) just as you would on an infant. hold them upside down and press down right below the ribs.

when he was passed out i stuck my finger in and i could feel the tip of the treat and there was no way to get it so i pushed down, i didnt know what else to do. i did scratch the back of his throat too because there was a little blood but the vet said everything looked fine. i was soo lucky that things turned out the way they did.

OMG, how very terrifying! I am so afraid of the different treats, what's in them, and what they could do to my Yorkies that I actually never give them treats. I look at how tempting they make them, but I never buy them. I give them pieces of their kibble, call it a treat, and they belive me. I am so relieved that your boy is okay now. It brought tears to my eyes reading it because I can totally picture the entire scene. What a relief to hear how well he is doing today!

I'm soo sorry, that's terrible. I would be crying if it were me but I am so glad that he survived and he is ok. I hope everything turns out fine and nothing else happens like that again.

What a scarry thing you went through. You both need lots og huhs and kisses.:kiss: :kiss: :kiss: :boy_hug: :boy_hug: :hug: :hug: :hearts-xx :hearts-xx :ittykiss:

I'm so glad to read that harley is okay!! I know how dangerous the treats can be as I also had a choking experience with my first yorkie - because a treat got lodged in her throat! Thankfully, hubby was home (trained in cpr) and he got the treat out before things got any worse - vet checked her the next morning and she was fine! Give him an extra hug from some caring friends down south!

OMG I had chills reading that ...and while you tried to do the right thing - the important thing is HE IS ALIVE !! What a close call - and I know choking is such a horrible thing to see - there is some help on saving a choking dog I believe at the top in a sticky -

You sure need a hug and I'm so glad everything came out ok - that was smart getting him to the vet so quickly. What a scary experience and he's a lucky little guy....it's really hard to know what treats are safe and what isn't - so don't beat yourself up about that.

OMG. glad Harley is ok, What a scarey experience that must have been for you and your family.
Here is a link to hemelich (sp) http://warreneckstein.com/pettips_hm.html

how scarey, so glad your lil guy is doing better. You just have to be so careful with these lil ones, it's hard to tell whats right to give them. I give Lillie these little tiny natural chicken bites, there very small and there great for training.
Best of luck to you.

I think I know the treats you're talking about. They are brown/yellow - twisted - long - very smooth, etc.

I have fed these to my dogs for years and have never had a problem. Actually, they aren't something that a dog should really have a problem with.

But - remember a puppy or a baby can choke on almost anything -- as can people. How many times have we heard about people choking in restaurants on a piece of meat or something.

I suppose you should have used the Heimlich maneuver - the same maneuver we use on people who are choking on something.

***** I think this was just a freak accident - I don't think this treat is something that is prone to cause choking anymore than the thousand other things our puppies eat or chew on.

I remember once my two-year-old son almost choked todeath on a piece of bread. It just got stuck in his throat and didn't want to come up or go down and he was turning "blue." My dear father turned him upside down and pounded him on the back and out came the piece of bread......

Sorry about your experience - choking is no fun and it's always scary..right?


Carol Jean

That sounds like the most horrible experience I've ever heard. Glad little Harley is ok now! We never know what to do when things like this happen. I'm so glad the emergency clinic was open for you all.

WOW, how scary.... Glad to hear that your baby is OK... sounds like you really did the right thing for her.... d

Wow he is so lucky to have had you outside when it all happend. It is really hard to see your little guy just stop breathing like that. I was just there 9 weeks ago. And yes every thing happens so quickly. And it is nothing for us mom's or dad's to breathe for our babies to get them the help they need. I am so happy your little baby is doing much better today. Give him a lot of hugs and kiss...
And by the way. Yorkies aren't the only ones things like this happend to. I had just recieved a email from a Disabled pet person yesterday. She had taken her Golden Retriever out for a walk and he was 2 years old. This was Saturday. She rewarded him for doing so well and for being patient she gave him a treat. And she made sure to put down the name.JERKY TREATS. She gave him a one inche piece and he started choking. Her husband (a ER doctor) started the hymlec on him with no avail, and they also put their fingers down his thoat. They tried mouth to snot to the ER vet and their dog passed away. The ER vet said there was nothing that could have helped this dog. Because they put their fingers down his throat to get the piece out it enlodged it even more and the throat swelled so the air was not getting to the dog. So I guess it doesn't matter what we do sometimes it just isn't good enough.
Myself I alway break everything up for my little guy into very, very small pieces. I even cut his food up. I am so scared of the choking. But now I know to also break everything up for the big dogs too.

I am so glad Harley will be okay...Bless your heart...give your daughter and Harley a big hug...I know that it scared all you to death....:( Thanks for sharing with us....these little ones are so precious but sometimes I even forget how fragile they can be.....

That had to be so scary for you! I'm really glad that Harley is okay!

Oh what a horrible experience for the whole family. It was a good thing you at least thought to give him mouth to mouth.

I'm glad it all turned out ok. I hope your little girl wasn't too traumatized.

Whoa glad hes feeling better! this reminds me of the time my dog got a hold of a steak bone it was maybe a square one inch cube type of bone I was chasing him all over the house and he wouldn't spit it out when I finally got him he swallowed it :eek: he had this HUGE piece of bone caught in his throat I was so scared I had no idea what to do so I started patting him on the neck right under the bone and he started choking and coughing and he finally spit it out :shocked7q what a scare you must of had I know exactly how you feel:(

I'm glad your baby is OK... That's a very scary situation, I had Pepper choke once on a piece of chicken that I was cutting up and one piece fell on the floor... He snatched it before I could blink and tried to swallow the whole thing, silly pup... It must've got sruck in his throat because he started choking as well, I panicked as well (shame to say) and tried to get that piece out of him. I got it out and he was OK but I was very shaken and all... They're so tiny and seem so fragile sometimes. Give your little one hugs from me...

Thanks everyone for your kind wishes:) He is definately back to normal chasing my cats and running around like a lunatic. The only thing thats different with him is any time I pick him up now, he makes these little squeaking noises:confused: He sounds so cute but I don't know why hes doing it..........

What a horrible scare. I can't imagine how terrified you were. I'm so glad Harley made it through and is back to his self. Give him a big hug!!