Dogs are brilliant animals and are known as a“man’s best friend”. However, they can get themselves into some serious problems that they can’t undo with their own paws. Some of these problems include getting their head stuck in a food bag, a collar getting stuck on a fence, or collars getting stuck together when your dog is playing with another dog. This could injure your pet badly or even kill them. Here’s how this happens, and how we can prevent it.

    First of all, the food bag problem. Dangers for your dogs are all around, but one that’s more common than most people realize is this one. If a dog finds some food that they’re interested in, it’ll make it a goal to retrieve that food. But if the food’s in the bag and the dog decides to try and stick his head in, it could end in a significant disaster similar to Donna Kast’s puppy. Kast has owned multiple dogs in the past, but her new 5-month-old puppy, Cooper, found his way to a potato chip bag. Once he got his head in, every breath he took, sealed the bag a little more. Now stuck and unable to breathe, Cooper suffocated and sadly passed away. 

To make sure that this never happens to your dog, keep food bags up and out of reach of dogs. An even better solution is to cut bags twice when you throw them away, eat snacks out of bowls, and use food containers rather than bags. These are the biggest suffocation hazards to be aware of:

• Snacks (e.g., crackers, popcorn, etc.) or chip bags (69%)
• Cereal bags (6%)
• Pet Food bags (6%)
• Pet Treat bags (5%)

Where are pets finding these?

• In or near the home trash can or recycling (23%)
• Grabbed off a coffee table or side table (22%)
• Grabbed off a counter (15%)
• Outside, in the yard (5%)

    Secondly, if dogs are interested in something over the fence, or are trying to catch a toy near a fence, their collars can get stuck on fence posts easily. Every year, thousands of dogs get into collar accidents and lose their lives. Also, sometimes when dogs wrestle, they go a little far. There have been times when dogs get themselves caught on other dogs’ collars by the mouth, their collar, or even fur. This could hurt your dog and the other dog, even killing them. One woman came home from work to find her labrador retriever’s jaw stuck in her other lab’s collar. The dog who had got her jaw stuck injured herself but survived. The other dog was not so lucky and was found already gone. Most people think that collars are keeping their dogs safe in case they get lost. It holds all their tags and rabies information, but really, can cause your dog great danger. To keep your dog out of danger, get them micro-chipped! This is an easy way to keep all your dog’s information together because it’s a small piece that’s “standard site for microchip placement is in the subcutaneous tissue along the dorsal midline (the spine) between the dog’s shoulder blades.” The average cost to get your dog microchipped is between $50-$80, but if this is too expensive, there’s another option. Get your dog a break-away collar! These will break away if too much pressure is put on the collar.

Our dog’s safety should be a priority. Let’s keep our beloved friends safe from these dangers by using the solutions given!