Oprah's Heartbreak After Losing One of Her Dogs

Posted by Clare Bristow

golden-retriever-puppy Oprah talks about the loss of one of her Golden Retrievers, Gracie, in the August edition of her magazine O, The Oprah Magazine.

Gracie choked to death after swallowing a small dog toy that belonged to Sophie, one of Oprah's other dogs. Desperate attempts to save Gracie were in vain, and she died a short time after swallowing the toy.

What would you do if you found your dog choking on something he'd swallowed?

The signs that your dog is choking are that he's: retching, drooling and/or pawing at his mouth.

If this is happening try not to panic - easier said than done - because this will make your dog more anxious and distressed than he already is, and it will be harder to treat him effectively.

First, open your dog's mouth as far as you can and if you can clearly see the object he's swallowed, remove it if you can easily do so.

If he's partly swallowed something like string or wool, do not pull this out because you can damage his intestines by doing so. In this instance take your dog to the vet or emergency clinic immediately.

If the object cannot be removed easily try to dislodge it by keeping your dog still and then giving him a sharp strike between the shoulder blades with the palm of your hand.

Should this fail to remove the object, try lifting your dog up by his back legs so that his head is tilted towards the ground. The force of gravity can help to remove the object.

Finally try the Heimlich Maneuver - hold your dog around the waist with your left arm, and make a fist with your right hand and place it just behind your dog's ribs. Pump the abdomen several times in quick succession and this should dislodge the object that's been swallowed.

Always speak to your vet after you've removed an object from your dog's mouth. Some of the treatments above need to be administered with a lot of force to be effective, and can cause internal injury to your dog as a result. By explaining what your dog was choking on and how you removed it your vet can decide whether or not he needs to examine your dog for the signs of any internal injuries.

Hopefully none of us will have to witness our dog choking to death; however, knowing what to do when your dog is choking will greatly increase the chance of a successful outcome.

Unfortunately, as Oprah found out, there are times when accidents just happen, and whatever we do is not enough to save our dogs.

Read more about Oprah's heartbreak at people.com

Did you enjoy this post? Subscribe to the Dog Topics feed to be notified every time a new post is added to this blog.

Filed Under First Aid for Your Dog, Blog

Sorry, No Related Posts Found

Comments

4 Responses to “Oprah's Heartbreak After Losing One of Her Dogs”

Johann on July 20th, 2007 12:16 pm

Hi Clare, that is very sad…..We had a friend tell us about how she saved her dog from choking recently, so I wrote a post about performing the Heimlich and CPR on your dog, and how and where you can learn those skills. Here's a link if you want to pick up any of it:

http://blog.johannthedog.com/2007/07/little-first-aid.html

Thanks for posting this, it's so important!!!!
Clare on July 20th, 2007 9:06 pm

Hi Johann, many thanks for your comment and the link to your article which I'll pick up in a post over the weekend. As you say, thank dog Tish knew what to do to save Cruella!
LISA on September 22nd, 2007 3:45 am

I was so sorry to here about Grace I to lost my dog Sam in Nov 2006 It was the hardest thing for me and i still cry about today. It gets batter each day but I still miss her. You are in my toughts and prayes and I know you will never forget your dear Grace the same way I will never for get my dear Sammy. Lisa
Clare on September 22nd, 2007 9:37 pm

Hi Lisa, I'm sorry to hear about Sam. When my first dog died it was nearly 2 years before I could mention her name without my eyes misting over - they really do touch our lives.