A Manchester business which regularly welcomes dogs into the office invited a top canine first aid expert to show staff what to do in an emergency.

Well-known doggy brand Yappy.com, which sells a whole range of fun personalised products featuring the customers’ canine friends, invited Rachel Bean RVN to give a demonstration in canine first aid this week.

Being a dog-focused business, all of the staff at Yappy.com love dogs, and out of the 33 employees that work there, 17 like to bring their dogs to work into their South Manchester-based offices on a rolling rota basis.

And while every effort is already made to make the pups welcome and safe at the lush offices, the company recognised that it was vital to know what to do if the worst should happen.

Qualified veterinary nurse Rachel, who showed staff key skills such as life-saving CPR and bandaging, said:

“It was wonderful to go along to meet the yappy.com staff and it was clear how much they all love dogs.

“Bringing your dog to work is a wonderful perk of working for employers like yappy.com, and it’s wonderful to see how responsible they are being, by getting skilled up in canine first aid.

“There are lots of everyday hazards wherever you go, but having these skills gives you the confidence to act fast and save a life should the worst happen.”

Rachel is an ambassador for the RSPCA-backed Safe Pets and People campaign, a national petition and lobbying effort which is led by national qualification provider the iPET Network.

The campaign is calling for mandatory first aid qualifications for all UK pet professionals, who currently do not by law need to know what to do in an emergency.

And Rachel believes that the more people who know canine first aid, the safer the nation’s dogs will be.

Rachel added: “It is essential that the rules change to make sure that pet professionals have these skills, and I don’t think that many people realise that their dog walker, groomer or pet sitter actually might not know what to do.

“And more widely, the more people that know these skills the better, particularly now that many workplaces have become more dog friendly following the pandemic puppy boom and the return to working from the office.”

Alison Parsons, PR Manager at yappy.com added:

“Our team’s dogs are a huge part of the Yappy family and we love having them in the office as much as possible.

“As a pet-centric business, we’re always looking to ensure that it’s as much fun for the dogs too and that their welfare is a priority in our office environment.

“The opportunity to learn Canine First Aid was very much welcomed by our dog crazy team and everyone came away from the session feeling much more confident that they would know how to deal with an emergency situation involving their dog, should they ever get into difficulties either at the office or at home.”

Pet professionals and pet friendly businesses advised to consider a further education course in canine first aid

13th Oct 2021: Rachel, and the iPET Network believe that all businesses who offer dog services, or designate themselves ‘dog friendly’ should have a canine first aider, in the same way that we have a first aider on hand for human injuries. 

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 that 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.

“For pet professionals, or people running venues that they are proud to call ‘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 actual qualification available in canine first aid.

This meant that, while courses could be taken, they were unregulated by Ofqual, and 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.”