I Saved My Dog From Choking Today

And Learned a Couple Very Valuable Lessons

I had a kind of crazy experience today and decided to share it because it has a happy ending, I learned some valuable lessons and I’m so mad about the Biden administration’s guidance on school reopening that I need to talk about something else. At least for a minute.

I was rummaging through the fridge early this afternoon and came upon a couple steak tips that had been there long enough that I wasn’t quite sure when I had made them but knew it wasn’t so long ago that they’d qualify as inedible. The perfect treat for my dogs, or so I thought.

(Diclaimer: If you are a “never feed dogs table food” type of a person, I am a lost cause and prefer not to hear your very good argument that I already deeply respect but will never live by.)

I have one large dog, Griffey and a littler one, Gracie. Today is about Griffey (who by the way, was named by my middle son after Ken Griffey Jr.) For starters, I made a huge mistake. I dangled a way-too-big steak tip before him and literally asked him out loud, “who’s the best mommy?” He looked at me with adoring eyes and gobbled it up.

I knew immediately that something was wrong. He did not cough or show any signs of distress. Not a single “choking” noise emanated from him. But I could tell that he was out of sorts, that something wasn’t right. I felt sure he was choking.

I thought for a second of rushing to the vet but that would have taken 10 minutes. Too long. I googled “dog is choking” and found what I was looking for: instructions on how to give the Heimlich Maneuver to a large dog.

I followed the directions, straddling him and wrapping my arms around his belly. After pulling up on his belly twice, I could sense it might be working. By the fifth time, the entire steak tip emerged from his mouth. He had not chewed it even a little bit.

My apologies for sharing this gross (and potentially gag-inducing) photo but it is an important illustration of how totally ill-advised my actions were. And a little post-Heimlich dog slobber never hurt anyone, right?

It will not surprise any of you dog owners to know that he immediately tried to eat that grossness again after it came back up. I knew not to let that happen though I also felt relief that he was back to his old self so quickly.

My instincts kicked in today—I knew something was wrong but also stayed strangely calm. I suspect it would have gone differently if he had been showing signs of panic. Thank God he wasn’t.

My husband and oldest son were upstairs while this all unfolded. The other two boys were at school. When I proudly regaled my husband with the story about how I had “saved Griffey’s life today,” he said, “oh, so you basically almost killed him and then saved his life?” He was mostly kidding but his point is well taken—I should never have given him a piece of steak that big. I will never do that again.

As I type this, Griffey is asleep beside me. So is Gracie. And for this moment, while the world feels like it’s gone crazy, all is well with me and my sweet pups.

I’m grateful for that.