A warning about Kong toy

[yodel4me]

I often give my dogs a Kong to keep them occupied when I leave the house. The local animal shelter says that they no longer give any dogs a Kong unless someone is with the dog to supervise. They had a Golden Retriever that somehow got his tongue stuck. They believe that suction was created as the dog stuck his tongue into the Kong and then the dogs tongue swelled. The only way they were able to remove the Kong was by cutting the Kong with a razor.
Have any of you heard of anything like this happening before or was this a once in a lifetime event?
I won't be leaving my dogs unsupervised with a Kong again.

[DebraDownSouth]

Owning highly obsessive chewers like Rotties and I don't have a single dog friend who doesn't have a kong or two or 6, I have never heard a problem before ever. I'd say once in a life time.

Sort of like a friend's dog that tried to swallow a wrought iron (spelling?) chair lattice and choked to death, attached to chair. Bizarre things can happen but you can't remove every possible risk.

[sinbaje]

Your animal shelter would be giving out false information. The classic Kong toy has not had any issues re: getting the toy stuck on a dogs tongue for the very reason it has holes on both sides of the toy to keep negative suction from occuring.

There is a pimple ball toy that has issues - read here:

http://tailsmagazines.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/dog-gets-tongue-stuck-in-toy-must-be-amputated/
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VERMONT MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY (http://vermont.dispensaries.org/)

[Kipawa]

What a horribly sad story. I suppose it is best when buying a toy to ponder it for a bit and think of what shape it may become once chewed on a bit. So sorry this dog had problems with his toy.

[saba]

Just want to add my 2 cents worth here...

Im on an Australian dog forum, and just in the last 6-12 months there has been 3 maybe 4 cases of dogs tongues/jaws getting stuck in the hole, then causing a suction. One dog lost his tongue, one dog died, the owner found him/her dead when they got home from work, and I think 1 or 2 ended up with lower jaws also stuck in the big end of the Kong, one with a very badly broken jaw, caused by him/her trying to get it off, while the owners again, were at work...

Its impossible to protect your dog from EVERY possible 'accident/incident', just be cautious with Kongs...

[sinbaje]

Saba - Do you have any citations of the injuries due to the Kong toy which I can review? I can not find any online which is surprising considering the Kong is probably the most rec'd toy, nor have I heard of any injuries related to the kong toy when the appropriate size is used (certainly a too large toy can cause problems with a too small dog but that is human error, not toy error); certainly never heard of death in relations to Kongs - espcially since Kongs have two holes which keeps a vacuum from occurring such as what happens with the pimple ball.

If there really are issues with the Kong toys then I would like to know so I can stop reccomending them but I would like to review actual citations discussing the issues.

Thanks.
________
Roy haynes (designer) (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Roy_Haynes_(designer))

[saba]

Sorry sinbaje, I havent been on the Forum for a while, so i have just seen this...

I will try to see if I can find the threads that are related to this, over this weekend, or early next week, sorry I cant get to it any earlier :)

[Whoalookitsme]

If the kong toys are that dangerous then why do they have filling for them to encourage licking into the holes?

[gbroxon]

Since people are filling kongs with all sorts of stuff to distract and entertain their dogs, I can imagine that the small hole at the narrow end could be blocked (by peanut butter, for instance...especially if it's frozen) which could cause a vacuum. My boy loves his kongy treats, so I'll be sure to continue not putting anything sticky at the bottom that might block that pressure release. The kong folks might even have a warning about it...I'll have to check it out.

[Mochi]

I see that the word kong is thrown around as a term for a hard rubber toy with a hole for treats. Maybe it was some generic off brand toy with one hole. I do not think that kongs can create a suction, unless that treat spray solidified onto the small hole and got stuck. I'm not even sure that's possible. I have a couple of kongs, and have never had an issue.

[saba]

I see that the word kong is thrown around as a term for a hard rubber toy with a hole for treats. Maybe it was some generic off brand toy with one hole. I do not think that kongs can create a suction, unless that treat spray solidified onto the small hole and got stuck. I'm not even sure that's possible. I have a couple of kongs, and have never had an issue.


Im sorry Mochi that you find what I have written as a lie :mad:... I can assure you that I dont just make these stories up, to sensationalise me or my posts... Perhaps you need to Google Kongs, (the brand of toy found all over the world), and research them yourself :mad:... They have 2 holes NOT 1...

[DebraDownSouth]

Neither Mochi nor Saba said anything was a lie... simply suggested that "kong" is used generically and perhaps a cheaper version. Like Saba, I would love to see ANY documentation as companies as big as Kong would indeed hit the news and there would be veterinary documentation about safety. I also find nothing but the word kong in the search engine, but the actual WARNINGS about the pimpled one hole. I went to the kong website.. nothing.

I was not happy to find this on toxic chemicals:
http://www.nypost.com/p/lifestyle/pets/item_i8kRTY9vMVpb4zdJhF7MSI

I am not saying anyone is LYING, simply that stories get passed around, changed, and before I stop using kongs, I'd like some proof.

[bewler]

Debra - you are, as always, a font of information. Thanks for passing along this link.

[Kipawa]

Debra - you are, as always, a font of information. Thanks for passing along this link.

Agree. That link has some awfully scary information in it.
:(

[DebraDownSouth]

You are welcome.

[Steadam2011]

puppy daycare, kong toys, leaving.have been warned that if we get.have also read about people using



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