Emergency Resuscitation and CPR

If your dog isn’t breathing or if his heart has stopped, as could happen in the case of a heart attack, electrocution, drowning, or other accident or injury, you may have to perform emergency resuscitation and/or CPR on your dog.  A dog that isn’t breathing has no time to travel to a vet, although you can practice these steps while en route when someone else is able to drive you and your dog.

The first step is to determine your dog’s condition.

1.  Is your dog breathing? 

• If his chest is rising and falling, and/or if you can feel breath on your cheek, check his pulse. 
• If he is not breathing, pull out his tongue and check to see if anything is obstructing the airway. 
• If an object obstructs the airway, see if you can hook it out with your finger. 
• If you can’t, perform the [Heimlich maneuver] on your dog. 
• If you don’t see airway obstruction, check for a pulse.

2.  Does your dog have a pulse? 

• Feel for the large femoral artery on your dog’s mid thigh. 
• If he has a pulse but isn’t breathing, begin mouth-to-nose resuscitation.

Emergency Breathing

Many emergency conditions can cause your dog to stop breathing, such as choking, electrocution, heart attack, a seizure, poisoning, or shock resulting from a trauma.  If your dog isn’t breathing, you don’t have time to get to the vet without doing something.

Here’s what to do:

1. Check to see if your dog has a heartbeat.  If not, begin CPR.
2. Pull your dog’s tongue forward with your fingers, up to the level of the canine teeth.
3. For a small dog, place your mouth over your dog’s nose, forming a seal around your dog’s nostrils, and blow gently.  For a large dog, also seal the dog’s lips by placing your hand around the muzzle to prevent the escape of air.
4. Look for chest expansion. If the dog’s chest doesn’t expand, blow a little harder, until you see chest expansion.
5. Release your mouth after each breath, which will result in a natural exhalation and avoid over-inflation of your dog’s lungs.
6. Continue, administering approximately one breath every two to three seconds (three seconds for larger dogs).
7. Continue until your dog begins to breathe on his own, or until the heartbeat stops.
8. If heartbeat stops, begin CPR.

CPR

If your dog has no heartbeat, you must begin CPR immediately.  With a larger dog, CPR is easier with two people, but you can do it alone if necessary.  Here’s what to do:

1. Put the dog on a flat surface on her right side.  Place yourself behind the dog’s back.
2. Cup your hands around a small dog’s ribcage just behind the elbows.  For a puppy, use the fingertips of one hand and the thumb of the other hand.  For large dogs, place the heel of your hand over the widest area of the rib cage, then place your other hand on top.
3. Compress your dog’s chest to about 1/4 of the chest width by pushing your hands or fingertips together in the case of a small dog, or by pressing down with the heel of your hands on the ribcage of a larger dog.  Compress or squeeze for one count, then release for one count, at about 100 compressions per minute for a small dog, about 80 compressions per minute for a large dog.
4. If someone is helping you, administer a breath as described above in the section on Emergency Breathing for every two to three compressions.  If alone, administer a breath after every five compressions.
5. Continue until your dog is breathing and has a steady pulse.  If your dog doesn’t respond after 10 minutes, chances are slim that he will recover.

Never practice CPR or emergency breathing on a dog that doesn’t need it.
Excerpted from The Simple Guide to a Healthy Dog by Eve Adamson, published by TFH Publications, used with permission.