Another Scare - don't worry, happy ending

[Jennifer Tramell]

I'm trying to figure out how my first dog lived for 15 1/2 years without traumas, health scares, injuries, etc?  Basically Cody went through life happy and healthy and gave us no reason to worry about anything.  My second dog was much the same until she came down with cancer 6 months before she died.  Even there, she lived 9 healthy, happy years and her last 6 months were also happy.  Now I have goldendoodles and it seems like I go from one worry to the next - ugh!  (To clarify, other than Charlotte's very manageable auto-immune issue, they are physically healthy.)

 

Latest scare, several years ago I read on DK about buying beef marrow bones and giving them as a safe chew for dogs.  There was discussion about boiling them to remove excess whatever (sorry, sometimes I have a broad picture and not detail memory) but the consensus was that they are a safe, inexpensive and tasty chew.  Since then, I occasionally buy the bones and give them to my dogs.  I have big dogs so I pick out the biggest bones as I am concerned about my dog attempting to swallow the bones. 

 

To make a long story short, my 10 month old goldendoodle girl Tessa got the marrow bone stuck around her lower jaw.  She got it over her canines and when she bit down on the bone, it started to cut into her lip and gum.  First yelp and I went to see what was happening and then wrapped her in my arms so my husband could determine the situation.  The bone was a little loose so it wasn't hurting her unless she closed her mouth but when she would, she would yelp, bleed, and thrash around.  From my position, all I saw was a lot of blood in her mouth - I was scared but determined to not let her injure herself further - and I have the scratches and bruises to prove it ;-).   She would relax, DH would gently maneuver the bone and Tessa would, of course, bite down on the bone causing it to hurt her more, bleed more, and panic more.  It seemed like forever but it was really less than 10 minutes until my husband took a "C" clamp (looks like a 4 inch metal C with a rod you turn to squeeze whatever you are trying to hold)  and started putting pressure on the bone.  He was being squeezing the bone in the direction which didn't bite into Tessa, but Tessa still didn't really like the process.  After a couple false starts (he was being slow and careful and patient with Tessa), he found a good angle and tightened the clamp until we heard the bone crack.  DH says that as soon as the bone cracked, Tessa's eyes got big and she looked at him like "YOU GOT IT!!!".  I felt her immediately relax.  The bone fell into my DH's hands in 3 pieces.

 

Seconds after the bone fell off, Tessa changed from relief to shame.  She had pooped and peed during her panic and she thought she was in trouble.  I was just so grateful that I wanted to hold her and make sure she was recovered, but DH told me to take her out on the porch (we were just inside the door to the porch).  I took her outside while DH cleaned up the mess, then brought her inside and assured her that she wasn't in trouble.  DH gave her a couple marshmallows and she realized that no one was mad at her. 

 

The only damage was a small cut to her lip, but that is completely healed.  Hopefully this won't happen to anyone else, but keep in mind that marrow bones need to be too big to swallow and either too big or too small to get stuck over the jaw.

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Awww poor Tessa! How scary! I'm glad you and your husband were able to get it off safely!