Other dog conditions

What to Do if my Dog Is Choking

Max. D Gray
By Max. D Gray. Updated: January 16, 2017
What to Do if my Dog Is Choking

I am sure that you've been scared to death more than once to see your dog has started gagging due to choking. The fact is that we are looking at our poor pet in terror and aren't sure what to do to help our loyal friend, and this is a situation that occurs more often than we would care for. At OneHowTo we teach you what to do if your dog is choking.

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Steps to follow:
1

Many dogs are too eager with their food and usually fall victim to this. However, it is not uncommon to find that our dog is choking on a dog food pellet or a piece of bone . What is important, above all else, is to stay calm to avoid frightening our pet even more.

2

If your dog sees that you are nervous, it can make them anxious and they are already dealing with enough of that right now. By panicking, you will only put your dog in distress and the anxiety will make them breathe faster, which could complicate this situation by lodging the blockage further into their airways.

3

Thus, it is clear: it is up to us to keep calm. Speak to your canine friend in a calm and soothing manner. This will help them to be calm down and concentrate on the task in hand of dislodging whatever is preventing them from breathing properly. Of course you have to rule out putting your hand in their mouth. Your dog is already having too much difficulty breathing and putting your hand into their jaws will only make it worse for the poor animal.

4

As with humans, the Heimlich manoeuvre saves lives. For dogs, perform the following procedure: lift your pet's back feet and hold them between your legs. They can support themselves on their front paws with their heads pointing down. Hold them below their diaphragm and thrust until the force of the air force dislodges the blockage out of their windpipe.

5

As you can see, staying clam is just as important as performing this manoeuvre to avoid making your pet even more nervous. In addition, it is very useful to have the telephone number of an emergency vet handy, in case medical intervention is needed as soon as possible.

For a healthy dog, make sure that you are up to date on all his vaccinations and antiparasitic medication.

If you want to read similar articles to What to Do if my Dog Is Choking, we recommend you visit our Pets category.

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What to Do if my Dog Is Choking