It’s a great story….

[Debbie Parkhurst, 45] said she was home alone with the dogs Friday afternoon when she decided to snack on an apple. Suddenly, she said, a chunk of the fruit became wedged in her windpipe. "It was lodged pretty tight because I couldn’t breathe," she said. "I tried to do the thing where you lean over a chair and give yourself the Heimlich, but it didn’t work."

Parkhurst said she then began beating her chest, an action that might have attracted [2-year-old golden retriever] Toby’s attention. "The next thing I know, Toby’s up on his hind feet and he’s got his front paws on my shoulders," she recalled. "He pushed me to the ground, and once I was on my back, he began jumping up and down on my chest."

Toby’s jumping apparently managed to dislodge the apple from Parkhurst’s windpipe.

…"I, literally, have pawprint-shaped bruises on my chest," Parkhurst said. "I’m still a little hoarse, but otherwise, I’m OK. … I know it sounds a little weird, but I think he had a sense of what was happening. Of all the dogs in the world, I never would have expected this goofy one here to know the Heimlich."

…but I don’t buy it.

Does anyone really believe that a dog would "jump up and down" on its owner with such force that it could dislodge an apple?

Now I am fortunate to be daddy to two rather smart dogs.  But if I collapsed to the ground with an apple stuck in my throat, Bo (the big one) would lick my face, and Arrow (the little one) would fall to the ground beside me, belly-up, in a respectful homage to his (gasping, choking, soon-to-be-ex) owner.

There’s something about this story which just doesn’t ring true.  And of course, all we have is the woman’s word that this happened (Toby, her dog, is not corroborating the story). 

I suspect that what happened was — she was asked by friends, husband, kids or co-workers how she got paw prints on her neck.  Rather than give the real answer, which is far more embarrassing, she concocted a story about her dog performing the Heimlich.

And now she’s stuck with it.