Bone Warning for all Dogs

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Today started out like any other day. I was in the backyard taking pictures of Doodles. Mine and Elizabeth's (Bailey & Bruin). They have been staying with me for the past week while Elizabeth was out of town. She came to pick them up today and of course there was LOTS of excitement associated with her homecoming! I noticed that Lucy had a bone in her mouth and was carrying it around. That is unusual for her but I gave it no real thought. Sometime after Elizabeth and her babies left, I noticed Lucy still had the bone in her mouth and went to take it from her. Imagine my horror when I saw this:

Because her hair is about the same color as the bone, I really didn't notice it. My guess is that she had been like like that for about three hours before I really paid attention. Lucy is the sweetest most laid back dog and she never  wimpered or let me know in any way that she was in trouble. DH and I tried to get it loose but it was not budging over those teeth. I coated the bone and Lucy's teeth with vaseline and still it did not help. We put her in the car and took her to the vet which is about a 12 mile drive. When we got there, I took her out of the car and then took these pics with my iPhone. We walked about 10 feet toward the door of the vets office when Lucy stopped and appeared to be gagging. I just kept tugging on the leash telling her we were going to get her some help. When I got inside the door and explained to the vet tech why we were there, she said "let me take a look" So I bent down to show her and to my amazement, the bone was gone! I went back outside and it was lying on the ground where she was when she started "gagging". Maybe the vaseline helped her, I don't know but I do know that I never want her or any other dog to go thru that! Please don't give your dogs these kinds of bones! If you do, then you must watch them very closely. I can only assume they would have had to put her to sleep to get it off or somehow cut the bone off of her. Thankfully I will never have to find out! I will never buy these bones again!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

And the poodle just allowed that to happen? I had all sorts of images in my head. DH said he thought he could saw it off and I just had thoughts of him cutting her somehow.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

He did! I remember my brother holding him and I was hiding my face! I think I was about 10 or so. Somehow...someway...my Dad managed NOT to cut him. It did break pretty easy once he started to saw

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Wow, now thats impressive! I'm just not sure I could take it. I would be so worried she would move.

[Gail and Bailey]

OMD...poor Lucy!  Bless her heart!   So glad the bone finally came off and she did not have to have it cut off!  Big hugs all around!!   Thanks so much for the warning!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I don't want to ever go through anything like that again! I was feeling her pain for her.

[Jen, Buddy, & Kevin]

So scary! I'm glad the stuck bone resolved itself and there wasn't a need for surgery! One of our neighbors had a bone get stuck on her dogs jaw in the same way (same size bone too) and the dog needed surgery.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

I'm very happy it didn't come to that!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I am sorry this happened to your sweet Lucy.  I am not a fan of marrow bones and I just cannot bring myself to let the doodles eat them.  Years ago, we had a dog loved marrow bones occasionally for a treat - everyone told me how safe they were.  It was hot out and I gave him a frozen marrow bone for a treat.  Later that evening, he was acting strange & lethargic - we rushed him to the emergency clinic and the xray showed a disc shape piece blocking the opening of the stomach to the intestine.  They were able to scope it out (sure enough it was a piece of the marrow bone), but it was as expensive as if they had to do surgery.  Lesson learn for me.  It is so darn scary.  I am so happy all turned out good for Lucy!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Thanks Linda! There are just so many things to watch out for.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Aw, poor sweet girl, so glad this turned out the way it did. Lori, don't beat yourself up over this, it's a valuable lesson for all of us. I once bought Quincy a cow hoof that someone had recommended. I gave it to him and 2 mins later there was a huge triangle piece broken out of it. It was really sharp and would easily have pierced his bowel if he had swallowed it. I was just lucky to catch him before he did.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I stopped cow hooves for that same reason. In fact, poor doodles, I have stopped many things for one danger or another.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Oh F, I know what you mean. No stuffed toys, no antlers, pretty much no toys of any kind that he can tear up and eat. We are limited to balls and a couple of Nylabones and only then when supervised.