Pet professionals and pet-friendly venues are being encouraged to have a staff member who is qualified with the canine first aid further education course.
Veterinary nurse Rachel Bean, who wrote the iPET Network’s level three qualification in Canine First Aid, says businesses should think seriously about pet safety, and the ramifications that not doing the training could have for clients and staff.
She said: “Have you ever thought about what you would do if your dog or a client’s dog had an accident in your care?
“As a qualified veterinary nurse myself and working in practice for over 25 years, I have seen many accidents where the dog would have benefited from some initial first aid steps to increase the chance of surviving an incident.
ESSENTIAL
“For pet professionals or people running venues that they are proud to be called ‘dog friendly’, canine first aid training really should be an essential part of starting up.”
Four years ago, Rachel worked with Sarah Mackay and Fern Gresty of iPET Network, after long being frustrated that there was no qualification available in canine first aid.
This meant that, while courses could be taken, they were unregulated by Ofqual, and she believed facts and techniques were often out of date.
Sharing tips about finding an ideal canine first aid course, Rachel, who has run canine first aid courses all over the country for 15 years, added: “Choose a course that uses real dogs for the practical bandaging, as this gives you experience of a dog moving.
During this course you should be learning the anatomical points on the dog to aid successful bandaging, and get to experience what a real dog’s pulse feels like.
“Also try and choose a course that has small group numbers as this means that you get as much interaction and learning time as possible.”
