Pink Cherub Moon: Do You Know How To Save Your Dog's Life?

This is a question I hope you never have to learn the answer to. It's a question I never thought we'd need to deal with. Unfortunately, last Thursday night, we did.

As previously posted, Jim and I adopted two Boston Terrier puppies back in May - a boy we named Fenway and a girl we call Chloe. They are our dearly loved "fur babies", are almost 7 months old now and are best friends with each other. They enjoy playing and romping around, but can get a little rough at times. One thing we have attempted to discourage is Fenway grabbing Chloe's collar while they wrestle. She generally can hold her own but it is too rough for my taste and I'd rather error on the side of caution than have somebody get hurt.

Fenway left, Chloe right

Thursday night, Jim and I were watching television in our room, the little ones were asleep and my daughter was with the pups in the family room on the main level. I began to hear a very high-pitched noise and thought it was our resident fox at first. It got louder and I heard my daughter yelling Chloe's name, which made me believe that she was playing with the dogs. Then the tone became more clear - it was one of panic and terror. Jim and I jumped up and ran downstairs just as an extremely concerned Fenway was dashing up. As I got to the family room, my daughter was hysterical, yelling at me what had happened and that she thought Chloe was dead and to do something, to please not let her die. I then saw Chloe lying lifeless on the floor. As she had a faint heartbeat, I knew not to apply chest compressions, but it appeared her breathing had stopped. My daughter had blown into her mouth a few times, which bought us some precious time. I picked Chloe up, cupped my mouth around her nose and began rescue breathing as I carried her to the car for a trip to the emergency vet. Thank God, after four breaths, she gave her patented little snort and slowly began breathing on her own, each breath a little stronger than the one before. She became more responsive to my voice, perked her ears up and surveyed her surroundings.

Cute collars - danger in disguise

A thorough examination showed Chloe's vitals were normal and stabilized and she was kept overnight for observation. Everybody was thrilled to have her back home the next morning, including Fenway! I honestly feel he felt badly, even though what had happened was an accident. Here's the details: they were playing and he grabbed her collar. She flipped over and when she did, her collar twisted and got caught on his lower teeth, tightening it around her neck. Neither dog could break lose and my daughter was unable to pull it off of Fenway. She finally was able to get the latch to release from Chloe's collar, at which point she collapsed on the floor. The collar had strangled her that quickly!

I'm sharing this because I know how much we all love our pets. They give us such joy and complete our families. I encourage you to watch the linked instructional video by Pets America on how to administer CPR/Rescue Breathing to a dog and learn all you can about the process for your particular breed of pet. Know where your emergency vet is located and what their hours are. Supervise your pets while at play. I pray you never need this information but felt it was important to pass on. Oh! And collars? They are no longer used in our home. Chloe is sporting a brand new harness which she thinks is quite stylish! Fenway has a harness now too! They're a little bulkier than I prefer, but I'll take safety over fashion any day!