Dog Choking: Signs and First Aid, Step by Step

A dog who is choking has trouble breathing, paws at the mouth, makes choking sounds and may have blue-tinged lips or tongue. If your dog can still breathe, keep them calm and get to a vet right away. If they can’t, open the mouth and remove anything you can see without pushing it deeper, then use the AVMA’s techniques: a gentle side-to-side swing and belly press for small dogs, a Heimlich-style thrust for larger dogs. Go to a vet afterward even if it works.

Everything below comes from the AVMA’s pet first-aid brochure (2025 edition), which the AVMA publishes for owners. Read it now, while nothing is wrong. In a real emergency, call your vet or the nearest emergency clinic as soon as there are two of you, or on the way.

The signs of choking

The AVMA lists them: choking pets “have difficulty breathing, paw a lot at their mouths, make choking sounds when breathing or coughing, and may have blue-tinged lips and/or tongue.”

The deciding question is whether air is moving. If your pet can still breathe, the AVMA’s advice is to “try to keep them calm and immediately seek veterinary care.” A dog who is coughing hard is still breathing, and reaching into that mouth can push an object deeper or get you bitten. The hands-on steps below are for a dog who can’t breathe.

Protect yourself first

The AVMA warns that pain, fear and confusion “can make even the gentlest of pets unpredictable or even dangerous.” Keep your face away from your dog’s mouth, and get someone to help if you can. The AVMA’s first-aid kit list says never to muzzle a pet who is vomiting, and you need the mouth open to clear the airway, so a muzzle doesn’t belong in this emergency.

Step 1: look in the mouth

“If possible without risking injury, open your pet’s mouth and look inside for foreign objects,” the AVMA says. If you see something:

• Open the mouth with two hands, then use your fingers to grasp and remove the object.
• If you can’t reach it, the AVMA suggests using the flat side of a spoon to pull it closer.
• “Be careful not to push the object further down the throat.”

Step 2 for small dogs: swing, then press

“For cats and small dogs, if the object can’t be removed with fingers, gently pick up your pet by their thighs and swing the animal in the air from side to side.” If that doesn’t dislodge it, the AVMA’s next step is to “apply forward pressure to the pet’s abdomen just behind the ribcage.”

Step 2 for larger dogs: the Heimlich maneuver

For larger dogs, the AVMA describes a Heimlich maneuver:

• Standing dog: put your arms around their belly, “just like you would a person,” make a fist, place it on the soft spot under the ribcage, then push up and forward.
• Dog lying down: put one hand on their back and use the other hand to squeeze the abdomen upward.

The AVMA’s next steps are to check for and remove any object that has come loose, and to take your dog straight to the closest veterinary hospital.

If your dog stops breathing

If your dog is unconscious and not breathing, the AVMA’s steps are to open the mouth, gently pull the tongue forward so the tip is outside the mouth, and quickly check the mouth and throat for anything blocking the airway. Then give rescue breaths: hold the mouth closed with your hand and breathe into the nose until the chest expands, then continue at 10 breaths per minute until your dog breathes on their own or you reach the clinic.

If there is also no heartbeat, the AVMA describes CPR. In brief: lay most dogs on their side (barrel-chested breeds such as English Bulldogs on their back), compress the chest 100 to 120 times a minute, by about one-third to one-half of the chest’s width on the side or about one-quarter on the back, and if you’re alone, give 2 rescue breaths after every 30 compressions. Hand position depends on the dog’s size and chest shape, which the brochure describes for small, barrel-chested, keel-chested and other dogs. A hands-on pet first-aid class is the best way to learn it before you need it.

After it’s out: go to the vet

Even if the object comes out and your dog seems fine, have them checked. In the AVMA’s words, “First aid care is not a substitute for veterinary care, but it may save your pet’s life.” Call ahead so the clinic can be ready, as the AVMA recommends, and bring the object if you have it.

The holiday choking hazards

• Bones. The AVMA warns that bones can cause choking or an intestinal blockage, and the FDA says turkey carcasses and steak bones from the trash can get stuck in a dog’s esophagus, stomach or trachea. See can dogs eat cooked bones?
• Treats swallowed whole. The FDA warns that a dog who gobbles a stocking full of treats can get unchewed pieces stuck in the windpipe or the digestive tract, and names drooling, choking and vomiting as signs to call your vet.
• Decorations. The AVMA says tinsel, ribbons and wreaths can cause choking or a blockage if swallowed whole or in part. My guide to dog-proofing the Christmas tree covers the setup.
• Candy and wrappers. Halloween adds wrappers, lollipop sticks and small toys to the floor; my Halloween safety guide covers the night.

Two cues help a lot: “leave it” for things on the floor and “drop it” for things already in the mouth. The AKC points out that even non-toxic items can be a choking hazard or cause a blockage, and that chasing a dog makes swallowing more likely. My guide to cues to teach before the holidays walks through both, and the free dog first-aid checklist helps you stock a kit before you need it. If what your dog swallowed was food or medicine rather than an object, see what to do if your dog ate something toxic.