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Evaluate your dog’s condition
Finding your dog unresponsive or in a life-threatening situation can be a really stressful and scary experience. Knowing what to do in that situation can help keep you calm and greatly increase your dog’s chance for survival. Everyone who owns a dog should know how to do artificial respiration and CPR on their dogs in case they need it. It’s very important to know whether your dog needs artificial respiration or CPR or both and how to perform these procedures.
First of all, when finding your dog unresponsive or in a life-threatening situation, you need to evaluate their condition.
Is your dog breathing?
How do you check that?? Hold the back of your hand or your cheek up to your dog’s nose and feel for air. Also, watch for the rise and fall of their chest.
If your dog is NOT breathing, check their airway for any kind of blockage
(could be paper, food, a bone, etc…). Pull your dog’s tongue forward as far as possible and remove any objects or liquids that are in the throat or mouth.
Next, Does your dog have a pulse??
Check this by feeling the femoral artery. It is located on the inner thigh, along the inside of the hind leg- Run your hand along the inside of the hind leg until you are almost to the point the leg joins with the body. You should feel a slight dip where the femoral artery is closest to the skin. Use your fingers (not your thumb) to press down gently and feel for a pulse. If you don’t feel a pulse in the femoral artery, try getting a pulse from just above the metacarpal pad (the large, center pad) of your dog’s front paw, or directly on top of your dog’s heart.
Your dog’s heart is located on the left side of their chest
To find where the heart is located, lay your dog on their right side and bend the front left leg so the elbow touches their chest. The point on the chest where the elbow touches is where your dog’s heart is located.
If your dog DOES have a pulse, but is not breathing, then you want to perform artificial respiration. (Go to step 4). If your dog DOES NOT have a pulse, you need to perform CPR, which is both artificial respiration and chest compressions.
How to Perform CPR on a Dog:
Note: NEVER perform CPR on a healthy dog. CPR CAN cause serious physical harm to a dog if the dog does not need it. If your dog shows any signs of resistance to the CPR, they probably don’t need it!!
Step 1: Lay your dog down on a stable, flat surface with their right side down.
Make sure the dog’s head and neck are as straight as possible to create a passage for them to get air. Pull the tongue forward so that it rests against the back of their teeth and shut their mouth. Get on your knees and position yourself behind your dog’s back.
Step 2: Find your dog’s heart and prep him/her for compressions.
Place both of your palms, one over the other, on top of the widest part of the rib cage, near the heart, but not directly over it. For smaller dogs that weigh less than 30 pounds, cup your hands around the dog’s rib cage, placing your fingers on one side of the chest and your thumb on the other side.
Step 3: Begin compressions.
Keeping both elbows straight, push down on the rib cage in firm, quick compressions. Only compress 1/4 to 1/3 of the chest width. Repeat the compressions at a quick rate of 15 per 10 seconds. For smaller dogs, use your thumb and fingers to squeeze the chest to about 1/4 or 1/3 of its width. Repeat this at a slightly quicker pace than for larger dogs, aiming for 17 compressions in 10 seconds.
Step 4: Start Artificial Respiration!!
If you are performing CPR alone, give your dog artificial respiration after each set of 15 compressions. Begin the process by sealing the dog’s lips. Place one hand over your dog’s muzzle and make sure their mouth is completely closed. Next, put your mouth over the dog’s nose and blow gently, watching for the dog’s chest to lift and expand. If the chest does not rise, blow harder into the dog’s nose and check to make sure their mouth is properly sealed. Remove your mouth from the nose between breaths to allow for air return. Administer one breath for every 15 compressions.
** If there are two people available to help, have one person do the compressions while the other person gives artificial respiration after every 5 compressions.
**If you are ONLY performing artificial respiration, follow the same procedure as above for sealing your dog’s mouth and give one breath every two to three seconds at a steady pace of 20 to 30 breaths per minute.
Step 5: Administer an Abdominal squeeze.
Place your left hand under your dog’s abdomen and your right hand on top. Push down to squeeze the abdomen and assist in the circulation of blood back to the heart. Give one abdominal squeeze after each set of 15 compressions and one breath.
Step 6: Repeat this process!!
Continue giving CPR or artificial respiration until the dog starts to breathe on its own and has regained a steady pulse. If the dog is still not breathing after 20 minutes, it’s time to consider discontinuing treatment as it’s probably not going to do any good to continue.
Precautions:
CPR is an intense procedure that CAN cause injury to your dog. These injuries could consist of: broken ribs, collapsed lungs, and stress to your dog’s body. However, these injuries can be treated by a veterinarian, so it is not necessary to stop CPR for fear of harming your pet. If you think you may have broken a rib or otherwise injured your dog, simply continue with softer compressions.
CPR and Artificial respiration ARE NOT to be practiced on a healthy dog… EVER!! However, you should review and know some of the basics of the procedures so you will know how to perform them if your dog ever needs them. You can find where your dog’s pulse and location of their heart is, but DO NOT perform compressions on them. Also, be sure and have a list of local emergency vet offices accessible to you. Know their locations and which would be the most convenient in case an emergency arises.
There are many ways to learn how to do CPR and Artificial Respiration on your pet. Watch a dog CPR video or take a dog CPR class. Many pet-focused companies offer classes to learn pet first aid like CPR. The Red Cross offers courses, some of which are online. Also, talk to your vet. They can go over where the pulse points are on your dog and discuss emergency practices with you for your particular breed of dog.
** The most important thing is… Be prepared!! Preparation can be the difference between saving your dog’s life and them running out of time because you didn’t know how to save their life.
Hopefully, we won’t ever need to use this knowledge… but just in case, review it, watch the CPR videos and be prepared to help your furry friend if they need it.
(Information came from: canine journal.com)
Until next time,
Love and Pug Kisses,
Candy
