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Why You Should Take a Pet First Aid Course

Unlike humans, dogs don’t possess the skills to communicate with us when they’re hurt or unwell. The majority of the time it’s a guessing game, assisted by a lot of Googling right?

Being trained in first aid can help you to fully understand and support your pooch in those sticky situations. Simply knowing the signs for pain and discomfort could potentially save their life! We took part in a Pets First Aid course and boy did we learn a lot of things.


Furiendly Welcome

The course we went to, took place on a frosty November morning in South Wales. People had travelled from all over to take part in the course, including a couple from Swindon. The frosty morning soon faded to the back of our minds after our trainer, gave us a warm welcome.

To break the ice, we were all asked about our reasons for taking part in the course. It was clear we all had one thing in common and that was our love of our animals. We all had an instant connection and started sharing animal stories about our tail-wagging besties, little bunnies, and feline friends.

Fur-st things first

We started the course by learning the true meaning of pet first aid. Pet first aid should be used to stop the pain, or save an animal’s life until you can see the vet. It’s not a replacement for immediate vet care, but a skill to assist and help pets in need.

Pet Saftey

Throughout the morning we discussed all the basics, including pet safety tips, respiration, and temperature rates, signals a dog shows when it’s hurt or in pain and the location of our pets heart-rate.

All of the students were all encouraged to share stories and personal experiences with pet mishaps. It soon became clear that there’s a lot of things we tend to forget when it comes to our pets, and pet owners need more awareness of pet safety.

Car accidents are probably the last thing I thought of when it comes to pet first aid, yet it can result in a multitude of injuries for both you and your pooch. We were also trained us with various techniques to keep your pet safe in this scenario until you can get to the vets. From now, we’ll always make sure our parcel shelf is in the car, in case we need to a makeshift stretcher.

Practical Skills

The CPR “live-action” scenario gave us the chance to approach a “dummy” dog with a possible life-threatening injury. We practiced proper protocols and life-saving first aid techniques. No one got it perfect their first try, we even managed to pop the dog’s lungs by giving it too much breath – but this added to the learning experience.

We heard some emotional stories from one of the students who had put CPR into real-life practice. It put it all into perspective and opened up a discussion of how best to handle the situation. The course then ended with training in choking and how to bandage your pooch up should they be wounded.

Confident Dog Parents

Our instructor was excellent. Not only is she a patient and articulate instructor but she has a wealth of hands-on experience, and she is passionate about sharing her knowledge with the class. We left the Pet First Aid Course a more confident dog parent than when we walked in.

We now have the skills to give our dog, or even your dog life-saving CPR and first aid and that’s an excellent feeling.

Our Top Reasons Why

So, why should you do the course? Here are our top reasons why:

Confidence. Knowledge is power. Once you have been properly trained to handle dog emergencies, you’ll be more likely to feel you can handle anything that might come up.

Because your pets deserve the best. You want your pets to have the best care and that starts at home. Knowing how to assess and address an injury or illness between when it happens and when you can get them to a vet can save your pet’s life.

You’ll learn to recognise symptoms before something goes wrong. Being educated about symptoms of shock, hypothermia, dehydration, etc. can help you catch the condition in the early stages before the situation reaches emergency levels.

Best Investment you can make for your pet. Pet first aid classes are one of the least expensive investments you can make in your pet’s health.

Have You Taken a Pet First Aid Course?

Have you taken a pet first aid course? Share some of the invaluable tips you learned in the comments below.

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  1. This is a very interesting course if you are an animal lover as it could save an animal or even your pet.the instructor goes through everything with u slowly and listens if u have any questions or advice.highly recommended

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