Do NOT leave your dog with a leash on balcony

[Dax]

This is a happy ending but the lesson is clear.

Good Samaritan gives dog 'kiss of life'
Sep. 5, 2006. 04:01 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A good Samaritan saved a French mastiff that had nearly strangled by giving it "the kiss of life," Dutch police said Tuesday.
According to an official police report, the 18-month-old dog fell from a balcony in the Dutch town of Zevenaar on Monday night but remained dangling from his leash and collar until neighbours and several bystanders noticed and cut the animal loose later the same evening.

It was unconscious and had stopped breathing, police spokesman Paul Koetsier said.

"First they tried heart massage, but that didn't work," he said. "I wasn't there but as I understand it, they then closed its mouth and breathed through its nose."
The dog began to show signs of life, and a passing ambulance stopped and gave the animal further assistance.

It was later taken to a veterinarian in the town, 60 kilometres east of Amsterdam, and has now fully recovered, the police report said.
Koetsier said the owner, who wasn't home at the time, would not face any kind of punishment. The name of the animal, its owner and saviour were not released.

French mastiffs, also known as dogues de Bordeaux or Bordeaux bulldogs, are fighting dogs with big heads that can weigh more than 50 kilograms. One famously starred with Tom Hanks in the cop and canine movie "Turner & Hooch."

Asked whether he would have tried to give artificial breathing to a dog under similar circumstances, Koetsier hesitated. "It's a difficult question," he said. "I would definitely think twice."

[AussiesCollies]

I'm so glad the poor dog was saved! My goodness....

[bernicesmama]

my grandma's dog hung himself like that, only he didn't have a hero come along to save him. that's why i am so against tying dogs up while unattended, anything can happen.

[mara]

My Uncle's Rabbit died that way. It was very upsetting....

[lovemelovemedog]

Poor dog but a very lucky dog at that. Im glad that someone stopped and saved him.

[EmmaGirl]

The dog had a guardian angel looking after him! I would NEVER tie my dogs in that manner.

It reminds of the post that was on here where a dog fell off a balcony and landed on some poor guy. LOL I'll never forget that one.

[Ken Nielsen]

A friend I met in the park's Springer Spaniel died like that. Tied up on a balcony unsupervised and silly jumpy thing fell off and hanged itself. You can tie up your dog and be fairly safe, but be real and check the surrounding circumstances before you relax your supervision. Check everything within the length of the leash. As a hard and fast rule to do not tie up your dog on a balcony, I'll also add: do not tie up your dog to a car bumper. If you could see what happened to a little dog that got dragged for almost a mile, and died several days later, you'd know why.

Warn other people about these things, we on the dog forums know a little better than most I would hope, but many other owners do not think of the dangers when they tie a dog up somewhere.

[NicoleLJ]

Originally Posted by Ken Nielsen

I'll also add: do not tie up your dog to a car bumper. If you could see what happened to a little dog that got dragged for almost a mile, and died several days later, you'd know why.

I remember about 10 years ago reading in the paper about a guy that got in a lot of trouble for dragging a foal. I read it was a yearling. Suposedly he had tied the foal up for some reason and then went in to his house for a while. He had had a couple of drinks while in there and when he came out he had forgot he tied the foal to teh bumper. Dragged the foal about 2 miles before he realized what he had done. Of course the poor thing was dead. I can't remember what happened to him. I just remember the story. It was so sad. I could never imagine forgetting an animal like that. So remember it doesn't just happen to dogs.
Nicole & Sheena PSD OFA FD FDX

[SalemWitchChild]

Actually I had a German Shepherd do this. We had a porch that was elevated. However we put wood up around the porch so he couldn't go through. The vet said to keep him off the ground because he had a wound in his side that needed healing and it would get infected if he laid on the ground. But we couldn't bring him inside because he'd try to eat my cat.

So that was the next best thing. (Crate wasn't in my vocabulary at the time).

Anyway, Ace was playing with his food bowl (as usual. He was a big goofball). And his bowl went towards the boards. Well he plowed right through the boards when he went after his food bowl and hung himself. We think it was instant. Poor boy. I had just checked on him not 2 minutes before that.

That's another dog I knew was going to die and I couldn't save him.. I always know these things in my gut but can never do anything about it.

[Dobified]

People do not think.

My friends Brother; a long time ago, tied his dog in the back of his truck and drove out to the cottage ( about a 2 hours drive ). When they arrived they found the dog had jumped out the back, strangled itself and was dragged for who knows how long. It was dead.