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rockhillmanor's avatar
rockhillmanor
Explorer II
Nov 08, 2015

Mini blind cords can cause death to dogs also.

Well, I wanted to wait until I knew my ole senior dog was going to pull thru from his last attempt of suicide before posting this warning to you all.

I was taking dogs in and out. The old guy was in the house. He jumps on back of couch to look outside the window to make sure I am bringing in the dogs properly each time I go in and out.

Was bringing 2nd dog in and here he is 'hanging' 'upside down' with the mini blind stings caught between his toes.:E AND starting to do the gator death roll wrapping it even tighter around his leg.

He was within minutes of ripping that leg clean out of it's socket if not tear it off completely.

Went to help him and of course even though he was upside down, he had enough energy out of fear to try and take my face off which then the dog in my arms decided to jump in and join in the fight. :R

I had no alternative but to leave him, run to put other dog up and grab scissors to cut the cord.

He is 16 years old and has 2 seriously deteriorating disks one in his neck and one in his lower spine that we have been managing quite well up until this little episode. It was touch and go for the past 2 weeks but his is starting to rebounding and prognosis is looking good.

Soooo, watch the mini blind cords when you pull the blind up and the entire length of the cord is down and hanging freely by the window. I know have a clip and clip the cord way up top of the open mini blind to keep it out of harms way whether the blinds are up or down now.

Guess those Mini blind cord warnings are not only for children's safety.:(

9 Replies

  • rockhillmanor's avatar
    rockhillmanor
    Explorer II
    Nov 09, 2015
    CA POPPY wrote:
    Rock, I feel your pain. min pins have a lot of kitten/teen-age cat in them, don't they? There is that incredible prey drive plus the ability to jump to darned near anywhere they want to be. The fact that it was your old guy is proof they don't really outgrow it.


    By god you have that right! Certainly was not what I expected of any dog getting old and being 16! :S

    Just gave him a Previcox pill to ease the inflammation/pain which sadly for ME, gives him superman powers.....I will be in for a real long long night of him jumping all over the place, launching himself off the couch forgetting to use the steps up to the couch I put there for his tired little body, crashing into the floor and then running up and down the hallway to torment the cat.

    Versus my Senior Great Danes that at 8 years old all they did was sprawl out on the couch all day and if you asked them to move so you can sit there? They'd look at you as if to say "I am old and tired", go find another place to sit! Yup life was simpler with the big guys. But then again they all left way too soon.
  • CA_POPPY's avatar
    CA_POPPY
    Explorer
    Nov 09, 2015
    Rock, I feel your pain. min pins have a lot of kitten/teen-age cat in them, don't they? There is that incredible prey drive plus the ability to jump to darned near anywhere they want to be. The fact that it was your old guy is proof they don't really outgrow it.
  • Deb_and_Ed_M's avatar
    Deb_and_Ed_M
    Explorer II
    Nov 09, 2015
    If I raise the blinds, I take the now-long strands and loop them back through the side of the closed blinds, basically shortening them by 2/3.
  • tbred's avatar
    tbred
    Explorer II
    Nov 09, 2015
    Add Christmas tree lights to the list. Our kitten decided to climb the Christmas tree and got so tangled in the lights that we had to cut the wires to untangle her.
  • rockhillmanor's avatar
    rockhillmanor
    Explorer II
    Nov 09, 2015
    Crowe It's not just mini blinds, it's BIG blinds, too.

    When our first dog was a puppy, we used to lock him in the kitchen behind a gate. For a while he never made any attempts to escape (or he was foiled). We had a very small ranch, with a huge picture window in the front of the house, and equally as large a set of blinds. Couch was in front of the window.

    Came home from work, Jasper had escaped, hopped up on the back of the couch and somehow managed to get the

    draw cord completely wrapped around his belly.

    He had a few rope burns but fortunately decide to just wait it out. I found him on top of the back of the couch patiently waiting for someone to free him. Needless to say we moved the couch and found a better way to secure him.


    Wow. Thank God he just sat there. He is one lucky dog.

    Interestingly, as I was installing the blinds I was thinking how far we had come with safety. Due to the fact that there are 2 'separate' cords on blinds now with big plastic pulls for added safety so the two cords can not wrap around each other easily. Unlike not to long ago where there was one 'continuous' cord which was more dangerous.

    It was the plastic pulls at the end that prevented the 2 strings from releasing from between his toes.

    I still feel real bad I didn't think of this danger before he got hung up in it. But I think that goes toward my still 'ongoing' learning curve of now owning small dogs vs the Great Danes.
  • blackeyed1's avatar
    blackeyed1
    Explorer
    Nov 09, 2015
    We've had our 2 shih tzu's tangled briefly in our bay window blinds. I tied the blind cords high up to prevent it from happening again.
  • dspencer's avatar
    dspencer
    Explorer
    Nov 09, 2015
    I would have never imagined that could happen. Thank you for the headsup-warning.
  • Crowe's avatar
    Crowe
    Explorer
    Nov 08, 2015
    It's not just mini blinds, it's BIG blinds, too. When our first dog was a puppy, we used to lock him in the kitchen behind a gate. For a while he never made any attempts to escape (or he was foiled). We had a very small ranch, with a huge picture window in the front of the house, and equally as large a set of blinds. Couch was in front of the window. Came home from work, Jasper had escaped, hopped up on the back of the couch and somehow managed to get the draw cord completely wrapped around his belly. He had a few rope burns but fortunately decide to just wait it out. I found him on top of the back of the couch patiently waiting for someone to free him. Needless to say we moved the couch and found a better way to secure him.

    This can also happen to human babies as well.
  • CA_POPPY's avatar
    CA_POPPY
    Explorer
    Nov 08, 2015
    Yikes! Who would ever anticipate that little escapade? Thanks for the warning, hopefully it might save somebody's pooch. I hope he didn't aggravate his back and neck anymore than they were.

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