Skip to Content

Dog Owner Warns About Rope Toys After Her Golden Retriever Dies

When you own a pet, you can’t help but spoil them from time to time. That’s exactly what Indira Tukler had on her mind.

Like most of us, Tuckler purchased some toys for her pups at a local store. She assumed that since they came from a well-known store they were safe.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t this case. One day one of her little pups managed to tear the toy into several pieces.

When Tuckler saw the pieces, she was quick to dispose of them. But, she had no idea that it was just too late.

Sam, a golden retriever that was just a little over a year old, had already swallowed some of the rope.

This eventually caused damage to Sam’s intestines and ultimately lead to her death.

Tuckler recalled the event and shared her story on a Facebook group called Vizsla Dog Lovers.

This all happened because the rope ball began to unravel as it tried to pass through Sam’s body. As this occurred, it tore many holes inside of her intestines.

A total of 3 foot of rope was removed from her intestines. This also caused for 14 inches of her intestines to be removed due to them becoming perforated.

There wasn’t enough time for another surgery as she became septic and suffered from internal bleeding.

The damage from the rope toy took it’s toll on Sam and she passed away only two days after the event.

Tuckler wanted to share Sam’s story as she wants everyone to know about the dangers of rope toys. She thought they were impossible to tear up but learned otherwise.

Because the rope toys are linear objects, this causes a threat for even a more dangerous situation if they are swallowed.

As these type of objects travel through the intestines, the intestines begin to clinch into a ball.

Veterinarians agree that ropes are one of the most dangerous items a pet can swallow.

The rope toy that Tuckler purchased are known as ‘Real Simple’ rope toys. They are sold at TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Petsmart, Petco, and Homegoods.

If you continue to allow your pet to play with rope toys, please be very aware of symptoms from swallowing the toy.

This includes diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and consuming more water than normal.

Sometimes these symptoms are confused with parasite infestation diagnosis because of the symptom similarities.

Even x-rays aren’t a great way to detect rope ingestion as the rope doesn’t easily show.

Surgery is the only clear way to be certain a rope has been ingested.