Dog First Aid Basics: What to Do in an Emergency

Knowing a few first aid basics can be the difference between a calm five minutes and a panic that costs your dog precious time. This isn't about playing vet — it's about steadying the situation and getting proper help fast. Read it now, so you're ready before you ever need it.

First aid is not a substitute for a vet. It's what you do on the way to professional care, not instead of it. For anything serious, phone your vet or an out-of-hours emergency clinic first — they'll tell you what to do and warn them you're coming.

The three rules that matter most

Before any specific emergency, three principles hold every single time.

1. Call your vet first. Even when you know the first aid, ring ahead. The RSPCA's own advice for an accident or illness is simple: stay calm and contact a vet as soon as possible. A phone call means the clinic can prepare, tell you whether to travel, and give you steps tailored to your dog. Save your vet's day number, your out-of-hours number, and the Animal PoisonLine in your phone now — not while you're shaking.

2. Never give human medicines. Paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin are all dangerous, sometimes fatal, to dogs. Ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatories can cause stomach ulcers and kidney failure; paracetamol damages the liver and red blood cells. Never dose your dog with anything from your own bathroom cabinet unless a vet has told you the exact product and amount.

3. Keep yourself safe. A frightened or injured dog — even your own — may bite. Approach slowly, speak softly, and if there's any risk, a soft muzzle or an improvised one (a bandage looped over the nose and tied behind the ears) protects both of you. Never muzzle a dog that's struggling to breathe, vomiting, or has a suspected head injury. And the RSPCA is clear: don't wade into water to rescue a dog or jump between fighting dogs — you'll likely just add a second casualty.

Dr ABC — the quick assessment

Emergency vets and the PDSA use a simple order to size up a collapsed pet: Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, Circulation. Check the area is safe, see if your dog responds to their name or touch, make sure nothing is blocking the airway, watch for the chest rising, and feel for a heartbeat behind the left elbow. It gives you a calm sequence to follow instead of freezing.

Build a dog first aid kit

Half the battle is having the right kit to hand. Keep one at home and a smaller version in the car. A solid kit contains:

• Sterile absorbent dressings and gauze swabs
• A roll of self-adhesive (cohesive) bandage and some open-weave bandage
• Rounded-tip scissors and tweezers
• A tick remover (far safer than fingers or a lit match)
• Non-stick wound pads and surgical tape
• A clean towel and a foil survival blanket
• Saline pods for flushing eyes and wounds
• A digital thermometer (a healthy dog runs about 38.3–39.2°C)
• A spare slip lead and disposable gloves
• Your vet and out-of-hours numbers written on a card

A ready-made pet first aid kit covers most of this — just check it and top up anything you use.

Bleeding and wounds

Heavy bleeding is frightening but usually controllable with pressure. Press a clean cloth, tea towel or gauze pad firmly over the wound and hold it. The RSPCA advises keeping firm pressure on for at least three minutes before you check, then bandaging over the top.

The key mistake to avoid: don't keep lifting the dressing to peek. If blood soaks through, add more layers on top and keep pressing — pulling the pad off disturbs the clot forming underneath. Get to a vet urgently for anything deep, spurting, or that won't stop. Don't use antiseptic creams, tea-tree oil or human wound products — many are toxic if licked and can hide what the vet needs to see. Clean minor grazes with cooled boiled water or saline.

Choking

A choking dog may paw frantically at their mouth, retch, make distressed sounds, or show blue-tinged gums. Open the mouth and look — if you can clearly see the object and grasp it safely, gently remove it. Be careful of fingers; a panicking dog bites by reflex.

If you can't reach it, the RSPCA advises giving firm pressure or a sharp strike to the ribcage with the flat of your hand, three to four times, to force air out and dislodge it. For a small dog you can hold them upside down by the back legs briefly. If it doesn't clear within a moment or two, treat it as a dire emergency and get to the vet immediately — phone them on the way so they're ready.

Heatstroke — cool first, transport second

Heatstroke is one of the fastest killers and one of the most misunderstood. UK research led by the Royal Veterinary College changed the standard advice to "cool first, transport second" — the cooling you do in the first minutes matters more than how quickly you reach the clinic. Worryingly, a 2023 study of UK cases found only around 22% of affected dogs were actively cooled before they arrived at the vet.

Signs include heavy panting, drooling, bright-red gums, wobbliness, vomiting, and eventually collapse. Flat-faced breeds (Bulldogs, Pugs, French Bulldogs), overweight dogs, and older dogs overheat far more easily — and heatstroke happens on walks and in gardens, not just in hot cars.

What to do straight away:

• Move your dog into shade or a cool room immediately.
• Pour cold water over their whole body — cold tap water is fine. Douse them, don't just dab. For a young, otherwise healthy dog, immersing the body (not the head) in cold water is the most effective method.
• Get air moving over the wet coat with a fan, an open window or a breeze — evaporation is what pulls the heat out.
• Offer small amounts of cool water to drink, but never force it.
• Ring your vet and keep cooling on the way, ideally in an air-conditioned car.

What not to do: don't drape a wet towel over them and leave it — PDSA warns a covering towel traps heat and makes things worse. Don't use ice or ice-cold water on an older or unwell dog; it can constrict blood vessels and slow cooling. And don't stop the moment they look a bit better — internal damage can be delayed, so a vet check is essential even after a good recovery. Prevention matters just as much: never leave a dog in a car, and think twice before walks in the heat. If you're wondering whether coats and weather affect your dog year-round, our note on whether dogs need coats in winter covers the other end of the scale.

Seizures and fits

Watching your dog have a seizure is distressing, but there's very little you should physically do — and a couple of things you must not.

• Don't try to hold, cuddle or restrain them, and never put your hands near the mouth — they can bite hard without meaning to and won't swallow their tongue.
• Do clear the area of anything they could bang into, move them away from stairs, and dim the lights and lower the noise.
• Do time it. Note when the seizure starts and stops, and film it if you safely can — that footage genuinely helps your vet.

Most seizures pass within a couple of minutes. Afterwards, dogs are often disorientated — keep them calm and quiet. Ring your vet for any first-ever seizure. Treat it as an emergency and phone straight away if a seizure lasts more than five minutes, if they come one after another without full recovery in between, or if it follows a knock to the head or a suspected poisoning.

Poisoning

Dogs eat things they shouldn't — chocolate, grapes and raisins, xylitol (a sweetener in sugar-free gum and some peanut butters), slug pellets, antifreeze, rat poison, and many houseplants and human medicines. If you think your dog has swallowed something toxic, act fast but don't panic.

Do not try to make your dog sick. Salt water and hydrogen peroxide are old advice that can cause serious harm — salt can trigger dangerous sodium levels, and hydrogen peroxide can burn the stomach. Inducing vomiting is a job for a vet using the right medication, and for some poisons (anything caustic, or petroleum products) vomiting makes the damage worse.

Instead:

• Take the packet, plant or a photo of it with you — knowing exactly what and roughly how much is enormously helpful.
• Phone your vet, or ring the Animal PoisonLine on 01202 509000. It's the UK's only 24-hour poison advice line for pet owners, staffed by specialists (calls are charged per case). PDSA notes that three in four owners who call are able to stay at home, avoiding an unnecessary and stressful trip.
• Follow their instructions exactly. Some exposures — collapse, breathing trouble, seizures, adder bites, blue-green algae, or lilies in cats — mean going straight to the vet.

Good pet insurance takes some of the financial sting out of emergency treatment; it's worth understanding what pet insurance covers before you're in the middle of a crisis.

Road accidents, shock and moving an injured dog

After a collision a dog may be in shock — pale gums, fast shallow breathing, cold paws, weakness. Keep them warm with a coat or blanket, minimise movement, and keep noise and fuss low.

Move an injured dog as little as possible. If you must, the RSPCA suggests gently sliding them onto a flat rigid surface — a board, a sturdy blanket used as a stretcher — rather than picking them up in a way that could worsen a spinal or internal injury. Muzzle first if there's any bite risk (but not if breathing is affected). Support the whole body, keep them level, and get to the vet. Internal injuries aren't always visible, so any dog hit by a vehicle needs checking even if they seem fine.

Burns

For a heat or chemical burn, flush the area with plenty of cool running water for several minutes. For chemicals, take care not to spread it towards the eyes or wash it onto healthy skin, and wear gloves. Don't apply creams, butter or ointments, and don't burst any blisters. Cover loosely with a clean, non-fluffy cloth and get to the vet.

CPR — the basics, and its limits

CPR on a dog is a last resort when there's no breathing and no heartbeat, and it's genuinely hard to do well without training. In brief: lay the dog on their right side, place your hands over the widest part of the chest (or directly over the heart behind the left elbow for a narrow-chested dog), and give firm compressions about a third of the chest depth, roughly 100–120 a minute, with two rescue breaths (mouth to nose, muzzle held closed) after every 30. Get someone to drive to the vet while you continue. The single best preparation is a hands-on pet first aid course — several UK charities and trainers run them, and practising on a model beats reading about it.

When is it a true emergency? — quick reference

| Sign | What to do | |---|---| | Difficulty breathing / blue or grey gums | Emergency — vet now, phone ahead | | Heavy bleeding that won't stop | Firm pressure, vet now | | Suspected heatstroke (heavy panting, collapse) | Cool first with cold water, then vet | | Seizure over 5 minutes, or repeated seizures | Emergency — vet now | | Known or suspected poisoning | Animal PoisonLine / vet before acting | | Hit by a car, fall from height | Vet check even if they seem fine | | Bloated, hard tummy + retching without producing | Emergency — possible bloat, vet now | | Straining to urinate and unable to go (esp. male) | Emergency — vet now | | Pale gums, weak, cold (shock) | Keep warm, minimise movement, vet now | | Collapse or unconsciousness | Dr ABC, vet now |

If you're ever unsure whether something counts as an emergency, phone your vet and ask. That's exactly what the out-of-hours line is for, and no good clinic will mind.

Common first aid mistakes

• Giving human painkillers. The most common and most dangerous mistake. Never.
• Making a poisoned dog sick. Salt and hydrogen peroxide do real harm — ring for advice first.
• Leaving a wet towel on an overheating dog. It traps the heat. Cold water plus airflow instead.
• Rushing to the vet before cooling a heatstroke dog. Cool first, transport second.
• Removing the dressing to "check" bleeding. Add layers, keep pressing.
• Not having any numbers ready. Programme your vet, out-of-hours clinic and Animal PoisonLine in now.

First aid buys time and calms a crisis — but the vet is always the next step. Keep a kit, know your numbers, and stay calm. If you'd like to prepare for the harder conversations too, our piece on the rainbow bridge is there when you need it.

Sources

• RSPCA – First aid for your dog
• PDSA – First aid for pets
• PDSA – First aid for heatstroke
• PDSA – Animal PoisonLine
• Animal PoisonLine (Veterinary Poisons Information Service)
• Vets Now – First aid for heatstroke in pets
• Hall EJ et al. (2023) – Cooling Methods Used to Manage Heat-Related Illness in Dogs in the UK, Veterinary Sciences