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Wonder dog is all goldenWoman claims pet pooch gave her the Heimlich
The Cecil Whig ^ | 3/28/07 | By Scott Goss

Posted on 03/28/2007 8:46:44 AM PDT by girlangler

A Calvert woman claims her 2-year-old golden retriever saved her life Friday by giving her the canine version of the Heimlich maneuver.

“The doctor said I probably wouldn’t be here without Toby,” said Debbie Parkhurst, 45, a jewelry artist who lives near Rising Sun High School with her husband, Kevin, and their two dogs. “I keep looking at him and saying ‘You’re amazing.’”

Parkhurst said she was home alone with the dogs Friday afternoon when she decided to snack on an apple.

Suddenly, she said, a chunk of the fruit became wedged in her windpipe.

“It was lodged pretty tight because I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “I tried to do the thing where you lean over a chair and give yourself the Heimlich, but it didn’t work.”

Parkhurst said she then began beating her chest, an action that might have attracted Toby’s attention.

“The next think I know, Toby’s up on his hind feet and he’s got his front paws on my shoulders,” she recalled. “He pushed me to the ground, and once I was on my back, he began jumping up and down on my chest.”

Toby’s jumping apparently managed to dislodge the apple from Parkhurst’s windpipe.

“As soon as I started breathing, he stopped and began licking my face, as if to keep me from passing out,” she said.

A friend soon arrived and, after witnessing the canine rescue, drove Parkhurst to the doctor’s office.

“I, literally, have pawprint-shaped bruises on my chest,” Parkhurst said. “I’m still a little hoarse, but otherwise, I’m OK.”

At first, Parkhurst thought Toby was simply trying to play.

Now she believes the golden retriever that she and her husband rescued from a Dumpster knew exactly what he was doing.

“I know it sounds a little weird, but I think he had a sense of what was happening,” Parkhurst said Monday. “Of all the dogs in the world, I never would have expected this goofy one here to know the Heimlich.”

As strange as Parkhurst’s story might sound, Toby’s actions actually followed the emergency measures recommended for choking victims by the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross.

Both agencies recommend first aid responders use a series of five back blows followed by a series of five abdominal thrusts, otherwise known as the “five and five.”

“I have no idea where he learned it from,” Parkhurst said. “But can tell you that I’m going to peel and mash my apples from now on.”


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: doggie; lifesaving; stray

1 posted on 03/28/2007 8:46:45 AM PDT by girlangler
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To: girlangler
“As soon as I started breathing, he stopped and began licking my face, as if to keep me from passing out,” she said.

I suspect the dog started doing this to get back in her good graces after jumping up and down on her chest shouting 'free at last, free at last' when she was choking.
2 posted on 03/28/2007 9:02:53 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: girlangler

More like the dog seized the chance to hump her arm while she was down.


3 posted on 03/28/2007 9:02:56 AM PDT by conserv8ive1
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To: girlangler

Well, at least it wasn't the hind lick.


4 posted on 03/28/2007 9:03:40 AM PDT by dragonblustar
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To: girlangler

"All's Well that Ends Well"

--William Shakespeare


5 posted on 03/28/2007 9:04:36 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: dragonblustar
Well, at least it wasn't the hind lick.

is the hind lick bad?
6 posted on 03/28/2007 9:06:04 AM PDT by dubie
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To: conserv8ive1

"More like the dog seized the chance to hump her arm while she was down."

I was kinda thinking that too. But who knows.
I think dogs are pretty keen on sensing moods of people and might have seen her distress too, and was trying to get her back up again.

Pretty amazing either way!


7 posted on 03/28/2007 9:06:29 AM PDT by Names Ash Housewares
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To: girlangler
My dog performs surgery all the time, but still squats on the carpet. Go figure.
8 posted on 03/28/2007 9:07:56 AM PDT by Millee (Tagline free since 10/20/06)
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To: girlangler

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=heimlich


9 posted on 03/28/2007 9:08:36 AM PDT by Borges
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To: dragonblustar; Diana in Wisconsin; proud_yank; george76; kanawa; Calpernia; SJackson; billhilly

LOL.


10 posted on 03/28/2007 9:09:03 AM PDT by girlangler (Fish Fear Me)
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To: Borges

Uh Oh, didn't realize this had been posted several times.

My apologies.


11 posted on 03/28/2007 9:22:29 AM PDT by girlangler (Fish Fear Me)
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To: girlangler

My pet hampster gave my dog CPR once. But the dog sued and took his cage because he is DNR.


12 posted on 03/28/2007 9:23:19 AM PDT by HOTTIEBOY (The more people I meet, the more I like my dog.)
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To: girlangler
“He pushed me to the ground, and once I was on my back, he began jumping up and down on my chest.”

Uh-huh.

And my neighbor has a cat that hunts squirrels & gophers with a .22 rifle.

I even have a photo to prove it.


13 posted on 03/28/2007 9:24:20 AM PDT by holymoly (With an anti-gun Congress, we must have a pro-gun President. www.gohunter08.com)
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To: girlangler

Looks like those doggie community ed classes paid off!


14 posted on 03/28/2007 9:26:29 AM PDT by KingRonnie9
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To: girlangler

Not going to touch this one.


15 posted on 03/28/2007 5:22:14 PM PDT by billhilly
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