On a beautifully sunny day in March we were delighted to welcome over 30 dedicated dog owners who were eager to further their knowledge of doggy first aid by attending the first course to be offered to Pet Carers Worcester clients.

It was after Chris and Michelle had completed their Animal Aiders First Aid for Dogs training course in 2010 that we had the idea to run a ‘small’ course for our Pet Carers clients. Chris and Michelle were so inspired by what they had learnt, they felt it would provide a really useful service to any dog owner as many people feel they know little if anything about what they would do if a crisis occurred either in the home or out walking. Suddenly, lots of questions arise when you start to ask yourself… “What would you do if….”

We wanted to make the course as fun, interesting and full of information as we could. A key feature in a first aid course is to learn to bandage a dog’s paw. Most courses use a stuffed toy to demonstrate this. However, we felt we could go one better!! So we decided to hire a hall that would allow us to bring along live ‘patients’ to give our clients an idea of what it’s really like to try to bandage a moving target! We have some wonderful dogs in our petcarers family that we knew would be placid enough and enjoy the attention… and we were absolutely right! They were true stars!!

As it was the first course we have offered to clients, we were really hoping to get 10 people to come along and we would be more than happy. We were overwhelmed with the interest, and were delighted that over 30 clients came along, with more clients who couldn’t make it asking if we would run it on another day.

When they arrived, all the attendees were put into six groups. We started with an icebreaker quiz – with a distinct doggy theme – which everyone seemed to enjoy. With the support of Robin Walker MRCVS, who has supported the Pet Carers Worcester team from it’s launch, Sandra began her presentation, which included a demonstration of how to make an emergency muzzle. After an hour we broke for tea and the many cakes that were prepared by the Grace Church, and everyone agreed were fabulous and couldn’t have just one!!

The audience then watched Robin demonstrate bandaging a paw on his own dog, Admiral, a four year old black Labrador, and then it was our turn.  In our groups, we were ‘supplied’ a dog and then the fun began! Our groups soon saw that trying to bandage a paw that’s moving around was no mean feat!!

Within ten minutes all the groups had succeeded, though with varying results. They all walked the dogs around to check they were comfortable and Robin judged the best ‘paw’!

Sandra then completed the presentation and the audience was invited to feedback their comments on the day, some of which we have included below. We were so pleased with the feedback we received that we are currently compiling a list of future courses and dates which we will let you know about shortly.

Thanks to all the dogs (and their owners) who contributed to the course, the Grace Church for the loan of the equipment and the cakes(!), Robin Walker for his kind support, Chris and Michelle for their help on the day, and everyone who came along and made it an occasion for us to remember!

Some of the comments we received:

“Very informative and good fun, better than expected and I will stock up on medical supplies.” 

“Brilliant!” 

“Very much enjoyed it. Good level of information, well presented and useful ‘interactive’ sessions, and enjoyed the quiz! Generous prizes, tea and cakes. Mr Walker was excellent too! Thank you!” 

“Professionaly done.” 

“Thoroughly enjoyed it. Well thought out and organised with very useful information. Great interaction with dogs and people.”

“Good practical demonstrations.” 

“Good balance of listening and fun participation.”

“Very comprehensive and learned a lot.”

“Very informative, yet interesting and entertaining too.”