We’re not above giving mouth-to-mouth to your dog

In fact, we’ve been schooled in it. Last month, we enrolled our entire staff into a class put on by the American Red Cross. They taught us dog first aid. The half-day course covered things like treating minor wounds, reading a dog’s pulse, identifying emergency situations and, yes, even administering CPR.

They brought a dog manikin, and our staffers took turns resuscitating the little stand-in.

Obviously, we hope we never have to do that in real life. But as our friends from the Red Cross reminded us, it’s important to always be prepared.

For example, did you know that a puppy’s normal heart rate is 120-160 beats per minute? A dog under thirty pounds is between 100 and 140 while a larger breed is anywhere from 60-100.

It’s good to know these things when checking for any abnormalities in your dog. Speaking of which, the good folks from the American Red Cross also reminded us of the four places to check your dog’s pulse rate (the chest under the leg, below the wrist, the inner thigh and just below the ankle or hock).

It was a great session for all of us. And we recommend owners take a look online or even pick up the book that we purchased as part of the training. We’d be happy to share the information with you the next time you’re in.

Your pooch’s safety is our top priority here at The Watering Bowl. And our doggy daycare is focused on providing a happy, healthy, social environment.

Dogs do so much for us humans that we are lucky to have the opportunity to care for them. More information on dog first aid and disaster planning can be found at redcross.org.

This seems like a good time to thank all of our owners out there for trusting their dogs with us. So, thank you. We’re honored.