9 week old puppy just died, need a handhold

[WeeBisom]

I feel so desolate. My husband and I got a beautiful pomsky puppy two weeks ago. He was so clever and gorgeous, and starting to get his own personality. I got a call from my distraught husband while I was at the gym: the poor puppy had thrown up a bit of kibble during training, and then he aspirated it. He choked to death in about a minute , while my husband desperately tried to clear his airways.

Im just broken. We lost our last dog very suddenly earlier this year (he was only six and had a seizure). This puppy was supposed to be our new little guy, who would help us get over our last dog’s death. And now he’s just gone. A puppy isn’t supposed to die. It’s incomprehensible.

Im now massively anxious and panicked thinking something is going to happen to our remaining dog, and I just feel that we are somehow cursed.

I know it’s also irrational but I just keep thinking it’s so unfair. We are experienced , good dog owners - so why did this happen?

I know the dog house is a supportive place, so I just wanted to tell you about my little Enki. I can’t even offer words of advice to other owners to prevent this because the vet said it was a freakish accident. He may have had some undiagnosed condition like a hernia that made him prone to aspirate food. Please can someone tell me this will get better? I’ve never experienced mental pain like this.

Oh my God, I am so, so, so sorry.

How awful.

I have a no advice just sympathy.

I am terrified of losing one of my 3 dogs and I've never even had an experience like that. Your poor DH too.

I'm so sorry

So sorry. The death of a pet can be so devastating.

Oh I am so sorry. How horrendous.

I am so so sorry

We lost our little pup at 6 months old around 18 months ago. He had a hernia they think he was born with and it strangled his bowel. We tried everything but the surgery was always going to be 50:50. He survived for a day and a half after it.

As you say it's incomprehensible for a puppy to die. You don't ever think it would happen.

I understand the anxiety - we still haven't been able to get another dog, I'm so scared of it happening again - even though i know it was a freak thing and the odds are it wouldn't happen again.

Sending huge love x

So sorry to hear this, thinking of you and your husband

I can see why you think it’s unfair as it really is

I'm sorry OP. How awful for you both!
Going forward, would a pet first aid course help you both feel a but more confident around your other dog? Not saying that might have saved your puppy- I'm sure your DH did everything he could at the time

So sorry

Thanks everyone. I’m also trying to support my husband , because he had to see our first dog die of a seizure right in front of him and now this. He feels incredibly guilty. He has medical training , but just wasn’t expecting how fast choking can be. He feels he should have done more , which is a terrible feeling to have hanging over you. A pet first aid course sounds like a good idea.

Huge hugs op

Oh your poor husband, it was a freak accident, I doubt anyone could have done anything in that moment.

Be kind to yourselves, and keep reminding him it wasn’t his fault. Sending lots of love

So sorry for your loss op. My ndn's dpuppy suffocated in a big crisp bag. Her poor dd's found her....
They truly are family members and don't be afraid to share your loss with friends op.

Gosh :(

My dog got his head stuck inside a football once. We were at a party and he'd been carrying it round and nobody even noticed he'd pushed his head inside. When we did and we pulled it off he was dripping wet and struggling to breath. Things happen crazy fast.

I'm so sorry, OP how traumatic for him and for you. You did nothing wrong and it isn't fair, it really is one of those freak accidents that you always hope never happens. Choking is like that, random, awful and quick. You poor things, be very very kind to yourselves at the moment.

It’s crazy to me how delicate and fragile puppies are , and how they can just be gone due to random freak things. A crisp bag… you wouldn’t even think it was possible. :(

Very very sorry this has happened for you both

Losing a puppy is the worst.
we had to have ours put to sleep after it turned out she had a degenerative liver condition - she was 16 weeks and we’d had her a month. Waiting outside the vets with her knowing what I had to do was horrendous.
It took over a year before I could contemplate getting another pup. But the time did come round and we have had our new little girl for a year - can’t imagine now having her now.
It took ages though to feel ready to even begin to consider it - give yourself lots of time.

So sorry for your loss 💐

That's awful, heartbreaking - I'm so sorry what an awful shock xx

I'm so very sorry. Big hugs for you both. Poor DH having witnessed both.

As the vet said though, it was a freak accident, your DH being medically trained means he was probably in a better position to do what could be done. Sometimes there's just nothing that can be done.

you're not cursed, give it a bit of time then find a new mate for you all. Would you feel more confident with an older puppy/dog maybe?

big hugs to your dog too - make lots of fuss of him 🫶🏻

I'm so sorry - what a terrible freak accident. Your remaining dog will be fine; the chances of another accident, especially with an adult dog, are minimal.

@WeeBisom for the future, kibble needs to be soaked in milk before feeding to puppies. if given to the puppy as a biscuit, it actually swells up to more than double the size in the intestines or the back of the throat where it seems to have lodge, thus choking the puppy. have a try just soaking one piece and see what size it swells to. better to keep tiny bits of dog biscuit for the puppies, not kibble , as treats for behaviour. incidentally, it looks like you got your puppy at 7 weeks old. i have never known a breeder hand their puppies over at less than 8 weeks old.

💕💕💕 sending you so much love and a virtual hug. We had a dog PTS January 23, almost 18. We were devastated. My sarf London hubby was in bits. I then panicked because our other dog is 8 has lots of lumps that are going to be investigated,am frightened of loosing her. First dog we had together,took her for a walk, she collapsed, suddenly,had a splenic tumour, which had ruptured,was dead in an hour.

I'm so sorry this has happened. It is scary how quick things like this can happen.

@allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld, thanks for your advice, in future we will use special training treats for training and not the kibble. We had read somewhere that using the dog food for training is good to keep the calories down, but it apparently has this risk. Also, it was my mistake, he had turned 10 weeks, we got him when he was 8 weeks old.

@WeeBisom that was a very measured and respectful answer, because it's hard to hear if this, if that, once it's all happened. I never cut up grapes for my children, didn't even know you should, and one of mine was a choker. She did choke, quite badly, many years later on a piece of bread and I had to do medical intervention on her. Hindsight is a great thing, and I hope that this is a learning curve for lots of people, as using their usual food seems sensible, I didn't know.