Treadmill run choked goldendoodle, and dog trainer wouldn’t help, Missouri owner says

A goldendoodle puppy named Cash was attending a training session earlier this year when the dog trainer put him on a treadmill, his owner said, according to KMOV.

It was that February run on the treadmill that would eventually lead to the dog’s death, owner Mandy Jackson said, according to KMOV.

“Cash did not like it at all,” Jackson said, according to KSDK. He tried to jump off the treadmill at Alastar K9 Training in St. Charles County, Missouri, the station reported, but he couldn’t.

Trainer Capri Teague had tied Cash’s leash — while attached to his collar — to the front of the treadmill, court documents say, according to KSDK.

Teague, 23, left Cash on the treadmill as he “showed signs of distress” while his owner and her 9-year-old son were watching from the viewing area, authorities said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“... Teague began repeatedly pulling the leash to force Cash back on the treadmill,” St. Charles County Animal Control officer Kyle Shafer wrote in a probable cause statement, according to the Post-Dispatch. “Cash continued to struggle, and Teague continued to pull on the leash, leaving the treadmill running.”

Cash started defecating as the treadmill ran, causing him to collapse, Jackson said, according to KSDK.

“I immediately stood up and I was like Capri he’s pooping on the floor and she said ‘I don’t care’ and yanking him, and at that point she’d already dragged him through his poop,” Jackson said, according to KMOV.

After he fell to the ground, Teague said Cash “looks like a dead cat,” Jackson recalled to KSDK.

“And I just remember looking at him and I knew something was really, really wrong because he was foaming at the mouth and wheezing,” she said, according to the TV station.

Jackson took Cash home, the Post-Dispatch reported, and then she took him to the veterinarian.

“Two days later, she was told Cash would die and she had the dog euthanized,” the newspaper reported. “A Feb. 23 necropsy at a veterinary lab at the University of Missouri-Columbia concluded that Cash suffered swelling in the lungs consistent with choking, court documents say.”

Teague was charged with one count of misdemeanor animal abuse on April 4, the Post-Dispatch reported.

“I hope she can never train again,” Jackson said, according to KMOV. “I trusted her, a lot of people trusted her and she hasn’t shown me any sign of remorse.”

This story was originally published April 7, 2019 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Treadmill run choked goldendoodle, and dog trainer wouldn’t help, Missouri owner says."