Would you know what to do if your dog collapsed while you were out on a hike? What about if they injured a paw or broke a leg? Would you know what to do if their heart stopped or they stopped breathing? While we hope we will never have to find out what our reaction would be, it is always best to be prepared for the worst. Knowing Pet First Aid/CPR could save your pet’s life.

Even reading the above sentences can bring tears to your eyes, because you don’t want to imagine parting ways with your furry companion. This is why you need to learn pet first aid and CPR, so that you can provide possible life-saving care to your pet.

Let’s look at how knowledge in these areas can help you in an emergency:

Pet First Aid

Pet first aid is the initial care given to suddenly ill and injured animals. To administer care in such situations, you need to get trained with simple, life-saving tips that will help stabilize your dog’s injury with minimal equipment until a vet takes over.

One of the biggest benefits of pet first aid is that it could reduce your dog’s recovery time and ensure your pet won’t have a long-term disability, simply because you acted in time.

A pet first aid course teaches you basic emergency care, which covers how to prepare for environmental exposures, common illnesses, and using the right technique to lower pain and discomfort levels.

For example, if the pressure had been applied on the dog’s paw and raised above the heart, the bleeding would have stopped temporarily, giving the owner more time to reach the vet.

Pet CPR

Pet CPR stands for “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.” It’s a procedure that allows you to push oxygen and blood out of the heart and into the brain, as well as other vital organs. On animals, CPR helps keep the vital organs and brain alive until a vet arrives.

Performing CPR on a dog differs from breed to breed.

• Small cats and dogs, your hand’s heel should be positioned directly over the heart.
• Deep-chested dogs, your hand’s heel should be positioned over the chest’s widest part
• B06arrel-chested dogs, turn him on his back and position your hand’s heel on the sternum’s widest part

Learning pet CPR will teach you the proper positioning of your hands for all-sized dogs and cats.

A pet CPR course teaches you how to check for obstruction in your dog’s mouth and how to perform “Rescue Breathing.” The latter technique involves exhaling into your dog through the nose to see if his chest rises or not.

Dances with Dogs offers in-person and online pet first aid/CPR courses. Learning the techniques mentioned above can mean the difference between life and death for your dog.

For dog training or pet first aid/CPR classes in Miami, visit the website Dances with Dogs. They offer online dog training for puppies, as well as adult and older dogs. To know more about their services or to schedule an appointment, call on 786-299-1552.