Respiratory arrest means that your dog is not breathing. Cardiac arrest means that you cannot feel your dog’s heart beating. Both situations are emergencies requiring immediate action. Artificial respiration can help restore your dog’s ability to breathe. Cardiac resuscitation can help restore your dog’s heartbeat.

• Look in your dog’s mouth to see if anything is blocking his airway. Remove any objects you see with your fingers, if possible, or by using the Heimlich Maneuver. Be very careful to ensure that you do not accidentally further trap any object you might find in your dog’s airway.
• Lay your dog on his side, and tilt his head and neck back to straighten his airway passage.
• With one hand, hold your dog’s mouth shut. It is very important that you ensure that no air will get into his mouth.
• Place your mouth over your dog’s nose. Make sure that you are creating a tight seal.
• Blow into your dog’s nose with your mouth for 1 to 1.5 seconds. Look to see if his chest expands.
• If your dog’s chest expands, remove your hand from his mouth so he can exhale. If your dog’s chest does not expand, that means he is still not breathing. In this case, continue to blow into his nose every three seconds until he begins breathing or you reach your vet.

• Place your dog on his right side.
• Give your dog two artificial respiration breaths as described above.
• Place the base of your palm on his ribcage right behind his elbow. Put your other hand on top of your first hand.
• In one fluid motion, press down on your dog’s ribcage. Press down firmly, but be careful not to fracture your dog’s ribs. The compression should last less than 1 second.
• Alternate between giving your dog two breaths via artificial respiration and then five chest compressions. Ideally, you want to be able to deliver 15 to 20 artificial breaths and 100 chest compressions per minute. Continue doing this until your dog gets medical attention.