So why is first aid knowledge so important?
Yes on us humans if we cut our finger we can put a plaster on it, but when it comes to dogs it's not that simple.
We risk infections, further damage, loss of circulation should we bandage it wrong. There can be so many complications due to simple lack of knowledge.
Now as a dog owner I have faced so many issues with my dog Woody, countless trips to the vets. At 1 and 1/2 Woody lost his tail due to complications after splitting it. A normal day, he was given a bath and he hit his tail on the door frame. This led to a small split in the very tip of his tail. He now has a tail which is the size of an iPhone. Unfortunately due to the nature of the accident he had constant infections, and bandages wouldn't stay on, he was able to get to it even with a cone on. He had to have two amputations before his tail started to heal. It was a very traumatic period of time for something as simple as a cut.
For me, I'm a horsey girl so I have a basic knowledge of first aid and bandaging. I was able to keep his tail clean, and appropriately bandage it up but this wasn't enough. However, if I had not known that simple first aid the situation could've been worse! We forget that their tail is part of their spine, had the infection gone any further then maybe I could've lost Woody altogether.
It's important that we learn what could be a simple first aid job, or just how to apply first aid until we can quickly get our pets to a vet after an accident.
Countless times Woody has sliced his paw, he has even come in from the garden with a hole in his side. Completely unexplainable even to this day.
But even with knowing how to apply those types of first aid, I ask you - do you know how to stop a dog choking? How to apply CPR to a dog? This should be something everyone knows how to do.
On Sunday 26th May, I am running a canine first aid course to teach you all how to carry out basic first aid. Live saving skills for your pets.
Anyone who has experience an accident with their pets can only tell you how stressful it is in those situations, without experiencing them ourselves you can never understand. But by having the basic knowledge of canine first aid we can try and combat those situations and make them slightly less stressful.
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