Could a brief choker pull cause a dog's sudden death hours later?

I appreciate your concern and thoughtfulness regarding pulling on the leash, but this would have contributed to the seizures. Head trauma could, however damage to the spine would not. Since he is a "puller," it is wise to switch to a harness to protect his neck/spine/trachea moving forward, however its not going to affect his seizures. If he had symptoms related to spinal cord damage, I'd expect him to show pain, ataxia (walking drunk), or occasionally lifting up one front leg. If he shows any of those symptoms please have him evaluated. As for the seizures, follow your vet's instructions regarding any medications. thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello. I am so sorry about Storm's passing. Blood clots can take hours to days to form. When a clot breaks off, it is called an embolis & it can travel in a blood vessel until it lodges somewhere. If the clot shuts off blood flow to a vital area, the area will die possibly resulting in the death of the patient. Death can be fast, or protracted, depending on how long the tissues take to die & how widespread the damage is. Clots can form anywhere & for various reasons & depending on where that is, can result is an embolism in the lungs, heart or brain. It is hard to say if this is painful, but in people, blood clots in the heart ( heart attacks ) are very painful. Clots in the brain are not. It might take special techniques & staining to identify this damage in a body. Unless this was a massive clot, it is possible this would not be seen in a basic postmortem. I am sorry for your loss. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is rare that this can actually affect her longterm. This is just typical behavior for a dog that is wanting to pull on the leash. I would encourage you to try to avoid this behavior as much as possible. You can try to use a dog trainer who can help you with this. Best of luck!

Please don’t feel guilty. Choking is a possibility but usually you see gagging and retching and the struggle and fight to catch air. If he was breathing for that king I doubt it was choke. I would be suspicious of the force of vomiting leading to a clot from the trauma as the cause of death which is not preventable

Hello, and thanks for using Pet Coach. Stress alone in an otherwise healthy dog is unlikely to cause death, but if a dog were to have underlying respiratory or cardiovascular compromise, stress could definitely put it over the edge with the increased heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen demands. This could happen much faster than several hours depending on the degree of underlying disease. Hope this helps.

Usually, when a large doge grabs a small dog by the neck, he will shake the dog. This could damage the spinal cord, tear tissue and break blood vessels underneath the skin which will cause swelling and even bleeding to death without showing blood on the outside.. This could indeed be lethal. I am so sorry you lost your best friend.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am so sorry about Chandelle! There are many possible causes as she was a senior dog. Heart failure, a seizure that caused aspiration or non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, choking, a severe allergic reaction, twisted stomach or an internal bleed. With out an autopsy we will never know. Again I am so very sorry for your loss!