Q & A Day No. 3! August 27, 2021

Hello again. It’s been yet another week. So here’s a helpful post. Well, I hope it’s a helpful post.

If your dog or a friend’s dog passes out and isn’t breathing, that doesn’t mean they’re dead and gone. Like most mammals, this just means it’s time for CPR. And yes, there are classes that you can take for this (https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr/performing-cpr). But unlike humans, there are several things you’ll need to do before giving the pup CPR. First, make sure that they haven’t just gone and found their nap spot or decided to eat some unidentifiable thingy that is now blocking their airway (which would need the Heimlich Maneuver or a simple removal). Next, call an emergency vet or have a slightly calmer friend call for help. Now that you’ve established the dog is in fact in need of CPR you’ll need to establish what size dog this is. Little dogs like chihuahuas and min-pins will need the “grab a taco” hold under the armpits. Medium-sized dogs like standard poodles, labs, and kelpies (like my girl) will need the “self-support” hold directly over the heart. And big dogs like Great Danes or Bernese Mountain Dog will need the same hold over the highest point of their chest. Now we’re ready to start and can use what I like to call the “Bee Gees be with me” method. With a 30/2 method (that’s compressions to breaths), we sing “Stayin’ Alive” while we dog CPR and wait for help to get there.

This is actually a very similar method to how I learned to do CPR with people. But please remember that I am not a veterinarian. And if you do want to truly learn this here are a couple of links that may help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaBNhX7dj_w and https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/cpr/performing-cpr/pet-cpr. Thanks for reading!