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Episode #101 Pet First Aid with Bridget Simms · The Puppy Training Podcast

• 0:00
  Amy: This is the puppy training podcast episode 101 pet first aid. This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning as you train your own dog from home, and I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the puppy training podcast. And I'm your host, Amy Jensen. How you guys welcome to the puppy training Podcast. I'm excited today to talk about pet first aid with Bridget Simms. She is an expert in pet first aid. And when I had some clients reach out to me and say, Hey, what do you know on pet first aid? I just immediately thought of Bridgette, and we've had her on the show before and I thought we'd reach back out and see if she could join me again. So welcome. Thank you for joining us today.
• 0:49
  Bridget Simms: Thank you very much for inviting me. I'm really excited to be back
• 0:53
  Amy: How are you doing first of all, how are Alfie and Mabel?
• 0:56
  Bridget Simms: Thats good. Alfie is curled up on the sofa behind me. So I'm hoping nobody knocks on the door. He's gonna stop barking so I apologize in advance if he does. But yes, they're very well, thank you.
• 1:06
  Bridget Simms: They're good.
• 1:08
  Amy: And you've been okay. Over there in the UK?
• 1:11
  Unknown: Yes, yes. think things are going well over here. Life is getting back to some kind of normality now after the last couple of strange years that we've had. So yeah, all good.
• 1:24
  Unknown: And we're hopefully gonna have some decent weather. So we've got some public holidays coming up in May. So fingers crossed, we might get some nice weather for them, which would be good.
• 1:35
  Amy: Sounds good. Sounds good.
• 1:35
  Amy: Well, if you'll explain for us, how did you I'm just curious, how did you first get started in pet first aid?
• 1:43
  Unknown: Well, I've, I've had dogs, as you know, when we spoke before, I've had dogs most of my life. And I'm a dog trainer as well, I don't do a lot of dog training, I have to admit, I kind of studied dog training because I wanted to be able to communicate better with my own dogs. But a friend of mine saw a dog first aid course advertised.
• 2:06
  Unknown: And she said, Oh, you can't see coming along to this. And I thought, Well, why not? I'm sure I'll learn something, you know, I'm a pretty good dog, mom, but I'm sure I'll learn something.
• 2:16
  Unknown: And I went along to this course.
• 2:21
  Unknown: And I came out thinking, Oh, how am I dog still alive. I didn't know all this stuff, you know.
• 2:25
  Unknown: And I felt like this really dreadful dog mother. Just there was so much I hadn't even considered. And then the opportunity came to actually train and learn the dog first aid to be able to train it myself. And I just jumped at the chance. So that was about three and a half years ago now. And I absolutely love it. I I truly believe in what we're trying to train people with. And I love to see that the excitement, I think and the confidence on people's faces as they kind of do the course and realize that they're actually now much better equipped to deal with an emergency than they would have been before. So yeah, I really, really enjoy it.
• 3:13
  Amy: Well, that is awesome. As we dive into this, can you explain maybe some of the things that caught your attention in that course that you went to and, you know, explain to us what you would put in a pet first aid kit and just tell us a little bit more in detail about it and how it just improves our relationships with our pets.
• 3:31
  Unknown: Yeah, I mean, I think some of the kind of the highlights for me when I did the course where you don't really think about the fact that there are no paramedics coming for your dog, if they get injured, you know, you can't just bring an ambulance. And also, you don't really think about the things that could happen when you're out on a walk and what you would do or what you should carry with you. And it's usually after people have had an incident. And they've panicked because they didn't know what to do that they suddenly start looking into it. But I think you know, some of the kinds of the eye openers for me were seizures, for example, if dogs have seizures, your your natural instinct is to want to comfort the dog, talk to the dog stroke the dog, tell the dog everything's gonna be okay. But actually, that's completely the wrong thing to do. And it's, it's things like that where you think, oh, gosh, if hadn't done this course, I would have done that completely wrong. So you're thinking about being prepared and proactively managing an incident as opposed to going into that panic reactive mode and feeling confident that you could, making sure you've got the right stuff with you. And I think you know, just learning about all All the different things that you could end up having to deal with and how to deal with them correctly. And it just, it just made me feel like I was much more in control of any situation that we that I might get involved in. So, yeah, it really opened my eyes to all the things that could potentially go wrong. And not just outside of the home things that can go, you know, that can happen inside the home as well.
• 5:25
  Unknown: So things like for example, if you've got hard flooring at home, so wooden flooring, or tiled flooring, and you use quite a strong disinfectant, to clean those floors, you need to make sure that those floors are completely dry before your dog walks on them. Because that can actually be enough to burn their feet. I know it's things like that, you probably just wouldn't think up. So you know that.
• 5:55
  Unknown: That's why I'm so passionate about it, because I think there are the obvious things. And then there's the things that aren't quite so obvious. And those are the things that are going to catch you out really. And in terms of a first aid kit, I guess what should you carry, you need to have at least one pressure bandage or conforming bandages, as we call them. In the UK. They're much more stretchy than human first aid bandage. But you need to have at least one in case you have to deal with a wound. But ideally, you want to have to because as you will know if dogs are in a lot of pain, they suffer from fight or flight. So you could have a very, very placid dog.
• 6:41
  Unknown: But if they're in a lot of pain, they may bite especially when you're trying to you know to find out what injuries they've got. So if you've got two bandages with you, you can actually use one of those bandages to create an emergency muzzle to keep yourself safe. So you obviously want one to dress any wound and one to create an emergency muzzle I would say always have some say line with you, you know a small sideline pod or something so that you can flush an injury if you need to, or flush an eye. If something goes you know if they get something stuck in their eye, you can flush an eye with some say line. Obviously, some sort of sterile swabs as well. And potentially some disposable gloves because obviously, if you are going to be dressing an open wound, you want to make sure you know you haven't got any way of cleaning your hands, you want to make sure you didn't get any dirt in there. So put some disposable gloves on. And I would say a foil blanket.
• 7:40
  Unknown: They're hugely underestimated in terms of how you can use a foil blanket. They're great if a dog's going into shock, because you can use it to keep the dog warm. But they're also very, very strong. So you can you can fold them out lengthways and then if you've got a dog that's perhaps injured a leg and can't put their foot to the floor, you can pop it under their tummy, and use it as like a sling. So you can help a dog to walk with a foil blanket. So yeah, I would say a couple of bandages, some say line, some disposable gloves, sterile swabs. And a foil blanket should be the minimum that you should carry with you really.
• 8:20
  Amy: Yeah, I've been out hiking a lot with my dogs. And I had this thought what would I do if my dog injured their leg and we're out here on a hike. But that blanket is a great idea.
• 8:30
  Unknown: If you've got quite a large dog, you can, you can actually lay them out on the floor, get the dog onto the pool blanket. And you can you can use it as like a bit of a sledge, so you can pull it. Or if you've got somebody with you, you can actually use it as a stretcher, they're strong enough that if somebody picked up either end, you could carry a dog on it, or like I say you can you can fold it and use it as a sling. So they're so versatile. And they're tiny. I mean, I know your, your listeners won't be able to see but you know that that's They're tiny. So really easy to just stick in a pocket.
• 9:06
  Unknown: I mean, I keep my first aid, stuff that I carry with me in a little pouch, just so that it's all together. But you don't have to do that as long as you you know, you can stick them in, if you've got a dog walking cope or dog walking bag, just pop them in there as long as it's together and you haven't got to spend ages rummaging around for it. Then, you know, it doesn't have to be in a specific, specific pouch.
• 9:30
  Amy: Yeah, thank you. That's all very helpful information. And I agree with your concept of if you're prepared, you're not as worried, right? You just feel a little more confident when you're out and about with your pet that you have these resources. And you pointed out some really good things about things that we're not thinking about, you know, and bring to your attention. Oh, what would I do in that scenario? So thanks for those tips.
• 9:51
  Unknown: That's fine.
• 9:53
  Amy: So do you have any stories I'm curious of when you needed to use your first date skills.
• 9:59
  Unknown: Such words So, I've been very, very lucky with my dogs in that I haven't had to use it. But I do have a couple of case studies I can tell you about where people have had to use the first aid after they've been on a cause. So we had a lady who is a dog walker, and she was out with her own dog.
• 10:24
  Unknown: And about three months after coming on the course, she was out with her own dog. And he got caught up in some broken glass that he that she didn't know was that was there. And he had broken glass still stuck in the wounds. So she actually managed to stay calm, she remembered what to do, she remembered not to remove the glass. Because obviously, if there is a foreign object in a wound, you don't want to pull it out, because it could actually be sealing an artery. And if you pull it out, the dog's going to bleed more.
• 10:56
  Unknown: So she remembered how to bandage around the object to hold it all in place. Now he lost about 28% of his blood, it was a very serious incident. Now, that's normally enough to be fatal for a dog that amount of blood loss.
• 11:13
  Unknown: But when she got to the vet, the vet told her that because she had done exactly the right thing, when it happened, she'd actually saved his life, which is absolutely amazing. And then we had another lady who had a litter of pug puppies. And the mum rolled on one of the puppies and its heart stopped. But she remembered how to do CPR on a puppy. And she managed to get his heart going again. And he was okay. So, you know, I mean, both of those are quite, you know, serious incidents, but dogs that potentially wouldn't have survived if those people hadn't done a dog first aid course. So
• 11:54
  Amy: that's incredible. Yeah, incredible stories. And, um, as a parent, you know, it's very important as I had kids, that I learned how to do some, you know, basic first aid on my children, and I agree with our dogs living with us and being part of our homes and families that it's important to know how to do it and help them in that scenario. So
• 12:13
  Unknown: I think a lot of people, you know, that I've spoken to before, when they kind of say, oh, you know, what do you do? And I say, oh, teach dog first aid, and they're like, really, but a lot of people kind of think, Oh, well, I'll just take them to the vet, which, ultimately, absolutely, you would do. And we always say that dog first aid is not a substitute for veterinary care, you know, you've got to take your dog to the vet. But depending on the seriousness of the incident, your dog might not survive to get to the vet, if you do nothing. You know, if your dog starts choking at home, for example, you know, you haven't got time to pop them in the car, drive them to the vet, wait for the vet to see them, your dog's gonna stop breathing, you need to know what to do. You know, so I think a lot of people just don't think of that aspect.
• 12:56
  Unknown: They just think, Oh, well, I'll just take them to the vet. But you might have to do something in order that they're still alive when they get to the vet.
• 13:02
  Unknown: I know
• 13:05
  Amy: that You've piqued a lot of interest now and my clients. So where can we learn more.
• 13:10
  Unknown: And well, I'm more than happy for you to share my contact details. If you want to, I do deliver a dog first aid course online using zoom. So if anybody would be interested in doing a course via zoom, obviously, I'm aware there is a time difference here. But I'd be more than happy to set up course at a time that would work for your clock. You know, and if there's, there's enough people interested, I can do a bespoke course for you and your clients if, if that's what you'd like to do, but it's four hours, you get a certificate afterwards to say that you've completed it. And lots more information afterwards as well. So yeah, it's pretty packed full of information. So if anybody I mean, perhaps, if anybody would be interested in doing a course maybe to contact you in the first place, and and maybe we can put a course on together.
• 14:01
  Amy: That would be amazing.
• 14:01
  Amy: Yeah, I'll see what interests we have. And I'll get a group together, and then we'll contact you. And we'll set a time and date to do that. I think that would be really, really great for our clients. So thank you so much for joining me today.
• 14:12
  Unknown: I problem. I've really enjoyed it. Thank you very much.
• 14:15
  Amy: Thank you for the information. Well, you guys, you heard that if you want to get on board with a pet first aid course let's get together and do it. So send me an email to info at Baxter & bella.com, but pet first aid in the subject line, and I will contact Bridget at some time in the future and we'll get a course put together.
• 14:33
  Amy: So thank you again, Bridget for being here. We really really appreciate your expertise.
• 14:38
  Unknown: Thank you.
• 14:42
  Amy: If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other Puppy Training question, visit my site Baxter & bella.com to contact me