You come home anticipating a bunch of hugs and kisses from your dog. What is wrong he did not attack me as I was coming thru the front door? The two of you have been friends for many years. You panic not knowing what has happened. You find him lying next to your bed not breathing. As your mind clears you begin to think how do I do CPR on my dog? This article will simplify canine CPR in an easy to understand and implement form, so that the scenario above will never find you in a panic.

1.) Look, listen and feel your dog. Look to see if he/she is breathing. Listen to his/her chest for a heartbeat (a dog’s heart can be found where his/her left elbow touches his/her chest). Feel for breathing by placing your hand in front of his/her nose. * If your doge does not respond please move to the next step.

2.) Check his/her airway. Open the mouth and pull the tongue forward and out of the mouth (be careful of being bitten and unresponsive dog may instinctively bite). Now, gently bring the head into alignment with the neck to open airway fully. Open the mouth again, pulling out the tongue and look for any foreign objects. If any are found gently sweep them out using the index finger.

3.) Breath into the nose and watch for the chest to expand. Give only enough air for the chest to rise (Large dogs will need a bigger breath than a smaller dog). Continue giving breaths at the rate of one every 3 seconds.

4.) After 3 breaths or if the chest does not rise repeat step 2. If the dog still is not breathing begin Heimlich maneuver. Turn the dog on its back with the back of the dog against your chest. Using both arms give the dog five strong hugs to the abdomen until the object is expelled. After doing this twice check the airway again for a foreign object and proceed to chest compressions if the airway clears.  If the airway does not clear continue Heimlich in rotations with 3 breaths until clear.

5.) To begin chest compressions first, roll your dog on his/her right side. Put the heel of your hand on the chest over where the heart is. You will place your other hand palm down on top of the first hand. Compress the chest about 1 inch (for a medium sized dog, ½ inch for small and less for toy breeds, about 1 ½ to 2 inches for large breeds), 15 times giving about 1 compression every 2 seconds. You must be careful when doing this as a dogs ribs could be broken, so please do not press very hard.  You will need to switch between compressions and breaths, giving 3 breaths for every 15 compressions.

6.) You should continue CPR until your dog has a heart rate and is breathing normally. Take your dog to the Veterinarian as soon as possible. If while giving CPR you believe that it is not helping get your dog to the closest emergency animal hospital immediately.