Canine first aid training: useful for the holidays!
Ticks, mosquitoes, heat stroke, salt, pad problem, jellyfish sting (a shout out to Musher!)… When you leave en holidays with your dog, you are no longer at home. You change your environment and you are never safe from a little trick. do you know how to rescue your dog if something happens to him? Do you know the first aid gestures that save?
I interviewed Cécile who followed a canine first aid training with @secourismecaninfelinequin. She tells us about her experience during this training day.
A day of canine first aid training
Don't wait to get one accident with your dog to ask you what are the right gestures to have. For Cécile, a paramedic who knows first aid gestures well on humans, knowing these gestures for her dog was obvious! Fiji (his 3rd Labrador!) is part of his family and they always go on vacation together “so you have to be ready for all eventualities, it's a matter of common sense”
The training day lasts 7 hours for a cost of 90 euros, it is a training open to all from 10 years old.
Several themes are on the program during a canine first aid training: anatomy, vital constants, transport of an injured animal, obstruction of the airways, haemorrhage, wounds, burns, drowning, eye accidents, malaise, evisceration, heatstroke , envenomations, intoxications, torsion of the stomach… A very complete program!
La first aid training also shows you how to make a cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a dog, or cardiac massage to put it simply): it can be very practical in the event of an accident with your dog.
In short, during this training, you alternate between theory and practice on dog models to learn lifesaving gestures. The course does not take place with your animal for convenience and safety reasons.
After this day Cécile left with a training certificate.
“I think, but be careful, this is my own, that everyone should know canine first aid procedures. I never needed this knowledge but at least I know I will be ready when needed”
This training will allow you to have the right reflexes and the right gestures if you are in a emergency situation with your dog but it can in no way substitute the knowledge of a veterinarian. These are the first things to do before going to your veterinarian urgently. To be sure that there will be no sequelae go to consult and above all have a good insurance for your dog because the bill at the veterinarian can be salty and spoil the end of your vacation...
dog health insurance
Musher is a big foodie. When we're on vacation or out and about, I always watch what she's doing. She never strays from us and never tries to run away.. but she eats anything.
I'll tell you an anecdote: this summer, we're going to the beach. I install my towel, I change and lose sight of Musher for a few minutes… She took the opportunity to bite into a jellyfish washed up on the edge of the shore. What panic! I packed everything up and rushed off to the vet.
Visits to the veterinarian are often expensive but we can limit the impact on our budget by taking out a pet insurance that reimburses veterinary costs. Depending on his insurance company and the formula chosen, all or part of the your pet's health expenses can be covered. The WILMO dog-cat health insurance range of the Wilhelm firm, for example, offers simple, transparent insurance formulas with no deductible to avoid complicating life with reimbursements. This type ofinsurance covers medical veterinary expenses (consultation, medications, etc.) and surgical, in the event of hospitalization for example. Have you thought about checking with your insurer? If you still don't have one and you're a little lost, know that there are sites to help you choose your insurance!
If you are familiar with lifesaving gestures and you have a good insurance for your dog, all you need is the first aid kit to be perfectly equipped in the event of a problem.
At the end of his canine first aid training, the training organization offered Cécile a complete dog first aid kit. She did not leave with it because she is already equipped! Do you know what to put in the first aid kit for your pet? I present the contents of mine below.
dog first aid kit
It is not enough to be a first aider to help your dog. You also need to have the right equipment with you when you go for a walk or vacation with his dog. I therefore strongly advise you to have a first aid kit always ready and complete at hand!
I use a first aid kit which contains:
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a compress
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band with integrated compress
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bandaging tape
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sticking plaster
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two disinfectant wipes
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a dosing pipette to rinse the wound, hydrate your dog or give him his medication
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tweezers
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a pair of sterile gloves to put on before handling your dog
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a tic tire
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a flea comb
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a muzzle cord: to muzzle the dog and avoid defensive bites if your care hurts him
Do not overlook a few emergency tools that may seem futile to you… The tweezers really saved my day once! Musher got stung by wasps during a walk, luckily I had tweezers to remove the stingers...
This kit is well equipped but I find that it lacks some very useful things… I started from this base and I completed it. To find out what I added: discover or rediscover the article I wrote some time ago in the Mag' "What should your dog's first aid kit contain?".