'We got to be prepared': Canine CPR training course held in Martensville

PAWS republic in Martensville held a CPR Canine training course for people looking to be certified to assist their dogs in a time of need.

“Our dogs are our families. We need to be able to save them the same that we would save our child or husband if something happened,” said the owner of Southern Alberta K9 First Aid Lisa Krieger.

Southern Alberta K9 First Aid teaches people basic care and nutrition, how to perform CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as well as how to treat broken bones and bleeding.

“They will know how to wrap a cast, signs to look for bloat,” Krieger said. “Basically spot any emergency that they need to help save their dogs' life.”

Cliff Erhardt is the part-owner of Crazy Tails Canine Services. He says veterinarian services have been stretched, “to the limits," which is why he feels a need to learn these skills.

“It’s kind of important to learn these skills because it almost makes you the pets’ ambulance service to get to the vet,” he said.

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Kristine O’Brien owns Paws Republic and wanted to give their staff and members of the community the chance to learn some vital dog training.

“We have a couple facilities where we do boarding, training, daycare and we wanted to make sure everyone knows what to do in an emergency,” she said.

“The pet population is just growing exponentially all the time. We want our dogs to be a part of everything we do, so we got to be prepared.”

Southern Alberta K9 First Aid travels all over the country to offer the course.