Dog saved at Willow Springs sparks push for CPR classes

What began as a routine afternoon at a local dog park quickly turned into a life-or-death emergency, and now those involved say the experience is highlighting a gap in pet safety knowledge across the community. Remi, a 3-year-old rescue dog, is recovering after choking on a ball at Willow Springs Dog Park Thursday morning, an incident that led to an urgent rescue effort and renewed calls for pet CPR training. Her owner, Heather Bennett, said the situation escalated within moments. "I just remember being completely terrified that I was not going to be able to save her," she said. "A while back, I randomly came across a video of someone showing how to push a ball out of a dog's throat, but Remi was closing her mouth and I couldn't get it out. If Jackie hadn't shown up and climbed the fence, I don't know…" Jackie Ledesma, dog trainer at Canine Connections intervened during the emergency, scaling a six foot fence to reach Bennett and Remi. She said her training guided her actions in those critical moments. "I asked as I was running towards the owner, 'Is the dog breathing?" she said "I just remember in pet CPR we go over this specific thing, and I've been pet CPR certified for the last 7 to 8 years." Ledesma said the ball was lodged too deep to see. "You couldn't even see the ball, but it was in there," she said. " I could feel it in her throat. I grabbed her throat, and I asked the owner to hold her mouth open. I pulled her tongue to the side to get it out of the way. Somehow, someway we popped it out." When Remi still wasn't breathing, Ledesma immediately began CPR. "The dog wasn't breathing, so I started doing compressions," she said. "We weren't getting anything, so I asked the owner to blow into her mouth. I didn't see her chest rise, so I said 'blow again, but cover her mouth and her nose.'" After several attempts, there was a response. "When she blew the second time, I saw her eyes dilate," Ledesma said. "We got a reaction — I saw her chest start to rise, and she took a breath." Bennett said she felt a wave of relief as Remi began to breathe normally. "The moment when Remi started breathing again was — I don't know that I've ever felt such a flood of emotions in my life," Bennett said. "I actually felt her take a breath as I was blowing into her nose. I can't even explain the way I felt. It was the most relief and flood of every emotion at one time that I have ever experienced." Bennett said that since the event, Remi is recovering well. "She's great," she said. "She's been absolutely fine since about probably 10 or 15 minutes after it happened, thank goodness." The minutes leading up to that recovery were chaotic and frightening. Bennett said she tried desperately to remove the ball herself, suffering injuries in the process. "I had several puncture wounds, and I had three to four gashes. Two of them had to have stitches," she said. "I was sticking my fingers in the back of her mouth trying to get the ball, and she was just biting down." Bennett said Remi, a mixed-breed rescue, has always loved playing fetch. "She's just a mix and we rescued her from a shelter," she said. "Ironically, her favorite thing is chasing balls. She loves balls. She's played with them every single day of her life." Now, Bennett said she hopes others will be more prepared than she was. "It's important to me for people to think about getting certified in pet CPR because I had no idea what to do after," she said. As a newly appointed member of the Johnson City Dog Park Board, Bennett said changes are already being discussed. "The toys are provided by the park, and that is something that we are going to discuss at our next meeting," she said. "The entire board has the dog's best interest in mind, and we've already picked up all of those balls. We are going to be voting on how to move forward with that and changing what's offered." After the rescue, Ledesma said the moment still feels surreal. "Yeah, it doesn't feel real," she said. Ledesma, who has trained dogs for eight years and volunteers with the Carter County Animal Shelter, said her experience underscores the importance of preparation. "It's my passion," she said. "This is just kind of something I do in the evenings and on my own time. I also volunteer at Carter County Animal Shelter. I'm very involved with them in building the clinic and helping as many animals there as I can. When dogs get adopted, I help with the training to make the adoption successful." Fred Warren, a board member of the Appalachian Highlands Humane Society who witnessed the incident, said the experience revealed two major concerns. "The dog survived. Two lessons here," Warren said. "One, there's balls in the dog park that people think are safe, but once saliva got on the ball, it just slid down the dog's throat." He said the second lesson was even more striking. "None of us — even me, and I've been on the board of the Humane Society — nobody knows dog CPR except Jackie," Warren said. "She had that training, and she actually saved this dog." Warren said the idea for community CPR training quickly gained support. Lucinda Grandy, president of the Appalachian Highlands Humane Society, said the organization is now exploring ways to provide training opportunities to the community. Officials with the Johnson City Dog Park Board said the balls involved in the incident have since been removed. Board President Don Jackson said the group plans to discuss CPR classes at its May meeting and emphasized that all members are volunteers. Safety rules posted at the park remind visitors to never leave their dog unattended and state that owners and their pets enter and exit the park at their own risk. In a matter of seconds, an ordinary day can turn into an emergency — and knowing what to do can make the difference between life and death.