In memory of a loving friend.  This is NO JOKE.  We almost lost our first dog this way.  It is a common FATAL accident.  Cut bottoms off food bags and keep all of them out-of-reach of even a determined unsupervised dog. 

NOTE:  "On the counter" is not "out of reach", especially if you have a cat to knock things down.

See comment below 12/14/11  re. corgi fatality from chip bag left on a tabletop.

I'd thoughtlessly kept this dog food bag without cutting off the bottom, thinking it might be useful:

"Like, he really owes me for this..."

Sorry if this is kind of shocking.  It's meant to be, so we'll remember.

Learn to look at a plastic bag and see a loaded gun.  We almost lost our first corgi this way -- there was a hole in the bag, just big enough.

Watch your children and guests -- they don't know!

FYI, if you're handy, it's not too hard to cut those swinging panels in the cabinet doors.  They're attached with strong spring-loaded hinges.  The cabinet doors are held by only a magnet, so I added turnbuttons (top photo) to keep out even a determined dog.

Babyproof your home.  Many things kill both children and pets (Venetian blind cords come to mind).  Beware of choking hazards, like bones, too (we DID lose our dog that way).

Let's keep this discussion concise.  I may edit to keep it quickly readable.  Practical safety suggestions are welcome.

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thank you Doug :')

we have never had our hearts broken like this and wouldnt know what to do if this happened to another dog as this is just a horrible way to go.

you are right, if this saves other dogs life then it will make happy.

Thank you for this post! 

Your model must really love and trust you, lol!

I walked thru and thought I had everything under control. Then I found I had forgotten the bathroom trashcan!!

Thank you for the reminders!

John i didnt really understand the magnitude of your posting this complete with illustrations , other than the facts : its so you, your right and your dog was so cooperative..so i got a chuckle out of it ..BUT

 now i know after learning about Teddy yesterday! I wanted to say thanks to you for taking the time to post this and giving us a visual, my gosh its so real to me now and so dangerous..

 With all your silliness (which i love), you really are a thoughtful man..

thank you John for posting this as it NEEDS to be seen by others. after what happened to teddy i warn every person with a dog that i see. u just never know what could happen :'(  but if this saves a life then that does make me happy as no dog should ever die like how teddy did. i just cant even imagine what he was thinking....

SAVE YOUR DOGS LIFE AND CUT EVERY SINGLE BACK U THROW OUT!

again thank u John for pics, hopefully this helps others realize the dangers of everyday trash.

Thanks for the reminder post!

My granddaughter had cheese on a toothpick and Murray grabbed it and gulped it down.  Called the vet and he said if it got to his stomach OK his digestive acid would probably do it in.  I had to give him a spoonful of petroleum jelly every day for a week.  Only way he would eat it was with a swirl of peanut butter in it,  A similar thing happened with our first Corgi, but it was cheese on a treble hook that a friend of my son's carelessly left on a dock.  That, of course, required surgery.  Glass doors and low windows are normally required, by code,  to be made of safety glass..really old ones would not be. 

Thanks for posting this, John, and thanks to your dog for agreeing to model for us.  I admit, at first I was really confused.  The tone seemed serious, but your dog is terribly cute peeking out of the bottom of the bag, so, since I didn't know about Teddy yet, I almost thought it was a joke.  After all, what corgi wouldn't bury his or her face in a bag of potato chips.  Then I kept reading the responses and realized I had missed something huge.   After reading Rebecca's tribute to her beautiful Teddy, and wiping the tears away, we went and hid away all the grocery bags we keep around as garbage can and Litter Robot liners.  We obviously can't cut holes in them and still have them work, but we found space in a cabinet for them where the boys can't get to them.  Luckily, for all they are little hooligans, they don't try to get in the garbage, but I tell you I will now think twice about all the things in the house that are potentials for disaster.

Tragic but excellent points to make. Ditto for zip lock bags.

Another word of warning, not about choking from bags, but choking at the groomers. We lost our adored Corgi, Emily, to a groomer who left her alone in a bath to answer the phone. When the groomer returned from her phone call, Emily was dead; strangled. Fortunately, Dylan, her litter mate, also left alone, was ok. We just assumed that a highly recommended local groomer would bathe our dogs as we do, one-on-one & never left alone. Awful lesson.

We learned, after our loss of Emily, that friends' pets also died at a groomers, when left alone in a crate with a blow dryer that overheated. Better safe!

Be sure that you ask your groomer if they ever leave the dog alone. Then check that your pet is given a harness and not a choke collar in the bath.

Wendy and Jack,  Thanks for sharing your incredibly tragic story. Lots of people take their dogs to a groomer and don't realize how important it is to check things out extensively. I know I never would have thought about either of these terrible deaths with out hearing about them.

Bev, It was a tragic, awful experience for us, but I share it with the hope that it may save another pet from Emily's fate.

What a tragic experience for everyone.  So sorry you (and the groomer) had to go through that!

We try our best; sometimes it's not good enough.  at the end of the day, we pick ourselves up and go on.

At least, when I screw-up at work, nobody dies.

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