By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.-Achilles is one very lucky dog.

When the 100-pound German Shepherd arrived at the Ortonville Animal Hospital the day after Thanksgiving, he had a ball lodged in his throat, and yet, unlike most dogs Dr. Nancy Flanagin has seen in the same predicament in her veterinary career, Achilles was still breathing.

“Most of the dogs that I’ve ever worked on that had something lodged in their windpipe or trachea die— either on the way to the hospital or in my arms, because they can’t breathe,” said Flanagin.

She was in fact, at first skeptical that a ball stuck in his throat was even the issue, as Achilles walked into the clinic under his own power. The dog was brought to the clinic by a frantic Justin Aldred, who was dogsitting for Gary and Vickie Aldred, Groveland Township residents who had gone to Missouri for the holiday.

Justin was playing fetch in the yard with Achilles with a rubber ball, when the dog didn’t return to him. Justin found the 6-year-old Achilles choking and called Gary, his brother, who was in Terre Haute, Ind., on his way back to Michigan.

“He was panicking,” recalls Gary. “He likes the dog, too.”

Gary instructed Justin to take Achilles to Ortonville Animal Hospital and they called the vet to advise of the situation as they were on the way in. Flanagin recalls that when Achilles arrived, he was breathing very harshly. She could feel something in his throat and took an x-ray, which revealed the ball was a little larger than the size of a tennis ball. She was puzzled to how he was getting air. In the past with dogs that had obstructions, she had been able to turn them upside down and perform a Heimlich Maneuver, holding them back against her body and pushing into the diaphragm to use a combination of gravity and pressure to free the obstructing object. But with a 100-pound dog, that wasn’t an option.

She had to anesthesize him intravenously to knock him out and then reached into his mouth to try and dislodge the ball in his throat, failing on her first attempt.

“It was wedged in right at the base of the tongue, and it was slippery,” she said. “I tried forceps and couldn’t get it. I reached in again and was able to rotate it and get a finger in a hole in the ball and jerked it out.”

The hole in the ball, which had a matching one on the other side, not only enabled her to remove the toy, but was also what saved Achilles’ life, as he was able to get air through the perfectly aligned holes.

Once the ball was out, the dog’s breathing normalized. Flanagin kept Achilles on oxygen and he woke up about a half hour later, with a little blood in his throat from pawing at himself and his lungs having taken a beating, she said, but otherwise fine after his ordeal. Justin, on the other hand, was a little worse for wear.

“The poor guy taking care of him was stressed out,” recalls Flanagin. “I believe he said that he was never watching this dog again.”

Gary is just grateful to have his dog back.

“He went to the vet and she saved him, because that ball could have turned at any time and blocked off his air completely,” said Gary. “He’s doing great now. We love you Dr. Flanagin, you saved his life.”

Flanagin was glad this tale had a happy ending as she has seen dogs choke on items including rawhide and ping pong balls with sad outcomes.

“You want to play with your dog of course,” she said. “If you have a dog that loves to play fetch, get a ball that is large enough where they can’t possibly swallow it. With a 100-pound dog, maybe a football or a Frisbee.”

With the holiday season here and many furry friends receiving gifts and treats, she also advises owners to choose dental bones over rawhides and to avoid giving your dog bones from the food you consume, including pork, beef, and poultry.

If you give your animal a stuffed toy and they are on a mission to get out the squeaker, make sure you confiscate the squeaker once they have achieved their goal.

“People have to realize their dog’s joy in life is killing that squeaker,” said Flanagin. “You want them to have fun and be a dog and be happy and let them play, but when they get the squeaker out, take it away and give the toy back. You have to protect them against their instincts and themselves. It’s just like with kids— you want them to play, but you have to watch them and make sure they are safe.”

Vickie knows what Santa is bringing Achilles and it’s not a ball, tennis-sized or otherwise.

“All he thinks about is playing fetch,” she said. “But he’s not getting a ball for Christmas. I think it should just be Frisbees.”