How do I know if my dog has eaten a foreign body?
Most pets that have ingested a foreign body will exhibit some of these clinical signs:
After obtaining a thorough medical history, your veterinarian will perform a careful physical examination. If a foreign body is suspected, abdominal radiographs (X-rays) will be performed. Several views or a series of specialized X-rays using contrast material (barium or other radiographic dye) will often be necessary. In addition, your veterinarian may recommend blood and urine tests to assess whether the patients health has been compromised by the obstruction, or to rule-out other causes of vomiting such as pancreatitis, gastroenteritis, infections, or hormonal diseases such as Addisons disease.
First Aid for Swallowed Objects
If the item was swallowed within one to two hours, it’s probably still in the stomach. Call your vet immediately to see if they advise inducing vomiting at the veterinary clinic. They may advise coming in right away to have vomiting induced or a call to an animal poison hotline (like the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Hotline) if there is a concern for toxicity. In some situations, they may advise inducing vomiting at home (however it is not recommended without the guidance of a veterinarian due to some safety concerns with at-home methods).
After two hours, the object will have passed into the intestines and vomiting won’t help. You will still want to call your vet for advice. Many objects small enough to pass through the digestive system may be eliminated with the feces and cause no problems (however do not risk this with coins or batteries). Feed a bulky meal of dry food to cushion stones or other heavy objects, and help them move on out. Food also turns on the digestive juices, which can help soften wads of rawhide treats, so they pass more readily.
In most cases as long as it is small enough, objects pass harmlessly through the body and end up on the lawn. Monitor your puppy’s productivity. Use a disposable popsicle stick or plastic knife to chop up and search through the puppy droppings for the object.
If your dog swallows the below objects, take extra caution:
If you’ve seen the pet swallow something they shouldn’t and they become lethargic, have decreased appetite, vomiting, retching, diarrhea, repeatedly cough, or look distressed, seek help immediately. Any object, even tiny ones, potentially may lodge in and block the intestinal tract.
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Ever place a piece of food down only to turn around and find it missing? You wonder if you’ve lost your mind, but then you see your dog eying you guiltily. Oh, dogs. Anything that tastes remotely good can be at risk for disappearing down their gullet.
Sometimes, non-food items are at risk of disappearing. Toys, socks, trash — basically anything lying around your house can be a possible snack in your dog’s eyes. Rescue dogs that were starving at some point in their life can also develop ‘the gobbles’, where they will overeat if given the opportunity and swallow things they shouldn’t. Let’s take a look at what to do when your dog swallows a foreign object.
Finding out exactly what foreign object your dog ate is imperative in deciding whether you need to seek veterinarian help or not. For toxic substances, like antifreeze, large amounts of chocolate for your dog’s size, or foods containing xylitol, you should get professional help as soon as possible. For more advice on what to do when poisons have been ingested, call the ASPCA poison control at 888-426-4435 for guidance.
So, your dog ate a large foreign object, like a sock or a stuffed animal. Larger objects can get stuck anywhere in the digestive system from the esophagus to the intestines, to the stomach. Large objects will likely need veterinary assistance, and possibly surgery, to be removed. They may induce vomiting to expel the foreign object your dog ate.
What can I feed my dog to help pass a foreign object?
Dogs are curious by nature. They love to investigate new sights, smells, and tastes. Unfortunately, this curiosity can lead them into 
However, one of the more common and potentially life-threatening conditions seen in veterinary practice is foreign body obstruction. Although some foreign bodies do pass uneventfully through the intestinal tract, if an obstruction occurs for some reason, surgical removal of the blocked object is the only treatment.