The 2-year-old golden retriever Toby helped save Debbie Parkhurst from choking on a piece of fruit. When a piece of apple blocked her throat, Ms. Parkhurst tried to dislodge it by beating on her chest. Her dog seemed to pick up the idea and pushed her onto the ground, and then proceeded to jump on her chest, a makeshift Heimlich Maneuver. The apple piece came loose and to keep Parkhurst from going unconscious, Toby kept licking her face. Ms. Parkhurst commented, “The doctor said I probably wouldn’t be here without Toby. I keep looking at him and saying ‘You’re amazing.’” Dogs are such loving and compassionate beings and with such high intelligence.

* Heimlich maneuver was developed by Dr. Heimlich in 1974. The principle is to push the air in the lung upward to expel the foreign-body obstruction by quickly compressing the diaphragm.