Choking in Dogs: Look First, Then Act

The instinct is to reach into the mouth. Do that blind and you will push the object deeper and very likely lose a finger.

A choking dog is one of the most frightening things an owner can witness, and the reflex it produces, plunging a hand into the mouth, is both understandable and the wrong first move.

There is an order to this, and the first step is not to reach in. It is to look.

First, is it actually choking?

This matters more than anything else on this page, because the treatments are different and one of them will hurt a dog that does not need it.

A coughing dog is moving air. It can breathe in. It may sound dreadful, hacking and retching, but air is going in and out.

A choking dog is not moving air. It is silent, or making strangled noises, pawing frantically at its face, eyes wide, usually after a ball, a bone or a chew.

If your dog is coughing and clearly breathing, do not start any removal manoeuvre. Ring the vet.

The sign that means now, with no further deliberation, is blue lips, gums or tongue. That is oxygen running out.

What to do

1. Open the mouth and look. If you can see the object, you can try to get it. If you cannot see it, keep your fingers out.
2. If you can see it, use tools. Pliers or tweezers, never bare fingers on a conscious dog. If fabric, string or a hairnet is wrapped round the tongue and visible, it can be cut.
3. If you cannot see it, lay the dog on its side. Put both hands on the side of the rib cage and give firm, quick pressure, or strike the rib cage sharply with the flat of your hand three or four times. Repeat.
4. For a bigger dog that is standing, you can try a modified Heimlich: stand behind it, arms around the belly, make a fist and place it in the soft hollow just below the rib cage, then push up and forward.
5. For a small dog, you can pick it up by the thighs and swing it gently from side to side first.
6. **If it stops breathing, move to CPR.** The problem has changed and so has the treatment.
7. Go to the vet even if the object comes out.

Why the vet visit is not optional afterwards

This is the step owners skip, understandably, because the crisis is over and the dog seems fine.

But an object that has been wedged in a throat can leave a cut or a tear, the larynx can swell in the hours afterwards and narrow the airway again, and material that went briefly into the lungs can cause pneumonia that shows up quietly the next day. A dog that choked and recovered still needs looking at.

The mistakes that make it worse

Do not sweep blindly with bare fingers. You cannot remove what you cannot see, blind sweeping pushes objects deeper into the larynx where nobody can reach them, and a panicking dog bites hard enough to take a finger off. Look first. Tools, not fingers.

Do not keep grabbing at an object you cannot grip. Switch to chest pressure or palm strikes rather than mashing at it.

Do not perform back blows with the head held up. The dog needs to be on its side, otherwise you are driving the object further down.

Do not treat a coughing dog as a choking one.

What causes it, and how to avoid most of it

The usual culprits are predictable: balls small enough to lodge in the throat, cooked bones that splinter, rawhide chews swallowed in one piece when they get slippery, and sticks.

Choose ball sizes that cannot pass the back of the throat, supervise chews rather than leaving a dog alone with one, avoid cooked bones entirely, and think twice about throwing sticks, which cause a range of injuries beyond choking.

It is far easier to prevent a choke than to clear one, and most of the prevention is just buying the right size of toy.

Sources

This article was written using guidance from PDSA, the UK's largest veterinary charity, whose Pet Health Hub is written by its own vets and nurses; RSPCA, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the UK's oldest animal welfare charity; and AVMA, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the professional body representing US veterinarians. This guidance is for general information and does not replace a consultation with your own veterinarian. In an emergency, always contact a vet. Read [how we write our health guidance](https://rochsociety.com/how-we-write-our-health-guidance/). Last reviewed July 2026.