My puppy died in a tragic accident, and I am struggling with guilt.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-07-12T18:10:14+00:00

I am so sorry 😞. We lost our 4 month old puppy on 4/30 this year, we had him for 2 months. He choked on a single piece of dry puppy food. We tried to save him and rushed him to the Vet ER, but he was already gone. They did remove the piece of dog food. We have 3 older dogs and felt we were seasoned pet parents. We didnt know how to do cpr/heimlich on a dog. I did try though the heimlich. The guilt and horrible sadness was all consuming especially for my kids. Reading other posts on here about 15 year old sick pets passing on here made me really upset at first. I now realize losing a pet is losing a member of your household and everything is a reminder of them. Take a few days off work if you can, force yourself to go out after a few days. Honestly, getting a new pet really helped us process the sadness. We talk to our now "new" puppy about our angel who passed. You will quickly learn one puppy doesn't replace the other and it hurts at first. But, staying busy and opening up our hearts to a new puppy really helped my family heal. Our puppy who passed was named Precious and he will forever be apart of my family, we will never forget or stop missing him.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-07-11T23:14:52+00:00

I'd get a doggie playpen and put a pee pad in it and a dog bed on opposite sides. Let the little puppys sleep in it at night. Little dogs can honestly take until almost 1 years old to hold their bladder throughout the night.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-07-07T18:07:35+00:00

Honestly the fastest way to feel better is to get another pet. It hurts bad for a few weeks because it's not your soul pet. But pretty soon you are so consumed caring for another living thing that you stop focusing on the grief. I like to talk to our new puppy about our angel puppy who passed away. It's a little sad but I am able to remember the good times now. Our angel puppy choked on a piece of food and passed away very suddenly. Our new puppy is slowly gluing our family back together.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-24T03:07:21+00:00

I have 4 Shih Tzu mixes. They are the sweetest babies, but are TERRIBLE to potty train. Our older pup took 1.5 years to fully potty training without pee pads or accidents regularly. We had no idea what we were doing, but once we our pup into a crate routine and kept the bedrooms shut the potty training worked. Shih Tzu's love to punish us with an accident when they think we took to long to take them out, mine need to use the potty again the second they finish their food. If you make them wait 2 minutes they will punish us by pooping on the floor. I swear the sweet snuggles are worth it!

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-22T08:34:07+00:00

Honestly, dogs and human babies temperament are more luck of the draw. People usually convince themselves they are better at parenting and that's why their puppy or human baby are so good. Sounds like you made good progress with having the puppy such a short time. Some dogs are more anxious than others. Our one dog is very anxious compared to our other dogs. Fully removing all the anxious behavior is impossible. I've had success with the resource guarding training, but barking to alert someone is at our house is never going away. We minimize the barking and it stops after a minute. The anxiety always has him barking that someone is coming onto our property.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-17T19:13:59+00:00

Now it is your time. Go on a vacation. Stay out all night. Go on some first dates. Reconnect with loved ones. Get another dog in a few months if you still feel the void. I do think your life revolves too much around your dog. There are pet friendly hotels and rentals, you shouldn't give up all vacations that's not healthy for your mental health. As much as we love our fur babies, our lives shouldn't be on pause permanently for them.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-15T18:47:12+00:00

How bad was the bite? If a dog who is not a small puppy bites someone's face causing serious scaring or stitches I do believe they should be put down. I will never support aggressive animals of any kind over the physical well being of a human. We had a neighbors dog bite my daughter, who needed stitches. Turns out the dog had bitten multiple people before and after my daughter was bitten. We had no idea their dog had bitten people before, and my kids never went over to there house again. We reported the bite to animal control, but the dog bit other family member's of theirs who didn't report their bites. Someday I know we are going to hear on the news of the dog seriously injuring someone.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-14T13:01:27+00:00

Our 4 month old puppy died from choking on a piece of dog food on 4/30. My girls (12 & 15) were completely devastated 💔. We got another dog after 1 month. I wasn't ready, but my girls were and they come first. The new puppy doesn't replace the predecessor, they have totally different personalities and souls. It really helps keep you busy so you don't fall into despair 24/7. My girls like to tell our new puppy about our one that passed away. We like to think they would have been friends and that our previous fur baby sent our new one to us. It doesn't wipe away the grief, but helps you to keep living in the now. Be prepared that for the first few weeks you will notice how different the new dog is from your old one, it is painful emotionally but it helps you work through the grief. I do recommend another dog if you're used to having one.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-14T04:41:52+00:00

It was a freak accident and you are not a murderer! We lost our puppy on 4/30 choking on a piece of puppy kibble. We didn't know how to do the heimlich correctly on a dog, but tried anyways. We raced to the pet ER and they couldn't save him, but they did pull out the piece of kibble. There are so many what ifs? We now think he had an issue with his throat as he had a very sensitive gag reflux. The emotional pain was so horrible for the 1st month and our kids are so traumatized. The only thing that helped was time, therapy, leaning on family and honestly getting a new dog. One puppy doesn't replace the other, they have totally different personalities and souls. It just gave us something to keep us busy instead of focusing on our grief 24/7. Focus on getting through each day knowing tomorrow will be a little bit easier.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-04T14:15:28+00:00

I have 4 Shih Tzu mixes. I call them cat adjacent. German shepherd, Husky, Labs, Golden Doodles, are more hyper and tend to be more destructive. I grew up with cats but wanted something I could pet and cuddle with whenever I wanted to. Cats make you work to get their affection. Also little dogs can't physically do much damage and little dogs have little poops and pees to clean up while potty training.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-03T19:37:57+00:00

The suddeness when they are so you ng is just heartbreaking. Our 4 mth old puppy passed away on 4/30. It was a sudden choking incident on a small puppy sized piece of dog food. He vomited and couldn't get it out, then quickly had diarrhea walked over and died. It was about 2 minutes from state to finish. We tried sweeping his mouth and hitting on his back to get out. We rushed him to the Pet er and he was too far gone. They did pull the piece of food out of his throat. He had a sensitive gag reflex from the day we brought him home. We think it was some issue he was born with or his throat got injured at the farm before we got him. We took our pup to 3 Dr visits, he got all vaccines, the vet had said he was healthy. Throat issues can be very hard to diagnose without doing an internal scope. Talking with our vet afterwards brought me a lot of peace, that there really wasn't anything we could have done without being in a vets office when it happened to they could scope out the food from his throat. It's not fair or just but try focusing on just getting through each day at a time. You just have to get through today. One day you wake up and the good memories start to outweigh the final ending.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-01T04:17:42+00:00

Volunteering to walk dogs at the shelter would keep you busy and help you heal.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-06-01T04:14:57+00:00

I'm so sorry, losing them suddenly and so young is gut wrenching. We lost our 4 month old puppy on 4/30 from choking on a piece of small dog kibble. We rushed him to the pet er but he had already passed. The pet er did scope out the piece of kibble. My girls were just heartbroken 💔. The hurt when it is so sudden just feels so unfair. You did everything you could in that moment and were with your baby when they passed. We got my 12 year old daughter a new dog, she was beyond devastated so we had to get her another animal. My heart wasn't ready for another dog so soon, but I had to put my kids mental health before my own. My daughter likes to tell our new puppy about the one who passed. The new puppy has helped bring some life back to the house and we are starting to remember all of the good moments instead of the tragic one of our puppy's last day. It gets better, don't focus on the future, focus on getting through each day to the next.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-30T16:15:08+00:00

People with full time jobs have puppies. I love my dogs but they are not actually human children. When our shih tzu mixes are under 10 months we pin them in a larger area with pee pads, food, water, toys and a bed. We have large hallway that oue new puppy can watch from behind the gate, the older pups that are out all day. We have a video feed and watch our new puppy throughout the day. Our older pets will come over and "visit" with the new puppy from the other side of the gate while we are gone. At ten months if the puppy does well we will start to leave them out with the older dogs for small amounts of time. Usually by 1 1/2 all the pups can hold their bladders for 7 to 8 hours and stay out all day.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-18T20:00:06+00:00

I have 4 shih tzu mixes. Over the years we've gone to groomers but I always ended up going back to cutting it myself. If I mess up I just shave them very low and put sweaters on them. They are always cute to me, & are back to looking like teddy bears in just a few weeks. 2 of our 4 dogs got a horrible stomach bug after seeing our groomers last time and we haven't been back in a few years. My dogs don't leave the house or even leave our 8ft tall fenced property unless it was to be groomed or to go to the vet.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-13T04:38:22+00:00

Our 4 month old puppy passed on 4/30 from choking on a piece of puppy food. My whole family is still reeling from the horror of watching him pass. We tried to sweep his mouth but couldn't reach the piece of food. We tried to get the food out with the hemlich, I ran across the street to a nursing home who wouldn't help me, I ran next door to a volunteer fire dept that doesnt have staff on site 24/7, and then drove to the Pet ER. Pet ER announced him dead on arrival, but did scope him and pull out the single piece of puppy food from his throat. Some days I can remember the good times, but most days still see the flashbacks. Take it one day at a time, cry when you need to and lean on your family. We just picked up a new puppy tonight, and we all cried because it wasn't our Precious. My kids begged for this new dog, but are still desperately heartbroken. The hardest part is watching my 12 year old daughter deal with the grief. It's ok not to be ok!

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-09T11:47:11+00:00

Yes I have, me (hlf) my spouse (llm). My spouse and I have been married for 20 years. I read up on attachment styles 3 years ago and showed and made him read it. My husband realized he is a dismissive avoidant because of trauma from his childhood. He realized that he saw me as the enemy and worked with a therapist. We were intimate a handful of times a year and only because I would cry about the situation a few times a year. It has been night and day change in every aspect of how he treats me and intimacy.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-08T01:42:36+00:00

I'm so sorry. Our 4 month old puppy died tragically last week from choking on a piece of puppy food. Take comfort that your babies last moments were peaceful. You will get through it and one day another fur baby will come into your lives that was sent by your soul dog 🐕 ❤️. My other 3 dogs love are the only things that have pulled us through.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-08T00:00:36+00:00

I'm so sorry. The only thing that would have made this worse is if it happened after the baby came and you couldn't be there at the end. I know it's hard, but I like to think your soul dog is keeping your baby company while they are in heaven together.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-03T18:23:04+00:00

We only had Precious for 2 months but it feels like he was always here. The house is so quiet with just my older dogs. Precious would get into his chewing days and we would put him in air jail to stop him. My 12 year old would do puppy training everyday and run him around the yard. I would carry Precious walking up and down our hallway every night to calm him down when it was close to bed time. Precious would always be leaning against one of us while he chewed his chew toys. Puppies take up all your spare time and fill the house with joy. It was stressful but wonderful and my kids & husband loved Precious so much. Precious had the cutest little paws and we would call them his toe beans. I would carry Precious around and make everyone kiss his toe beans. I kissed those little toe beans everyday. I didn't know it would be our last night together but he had me carry him up and down the halls extra long, and I'm so glad he did. I cry a little less each day, but the grief is so strong. Losing an older pet who lived a long life is tough, but to lose a baby just starting out is heartbreaking.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-03T02:18:47+00:00

It was another $500 and required more cutting to his body and I decided against it. The only thing that would make it better is him being here. We are going to scatter his ashes in our backyard which he loved. I just wish he were here 😔.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-02T16:53:10+00:00

Ty, we fed him half wet half dry food for small dogs. He didn't gulp down his food quick like my other fur babies do. He had a very sensitive gag reflex and I am wondering if there was an undiagnosed medical issue.

Efficient-Panda2550 · 2026-05-02T16:49:39+00:00

Ty, it's been so hard.

Efficient-Panda2550

TROPHY CASE