Protecting your pet: CPR classes and more

The instructor held up the head of a stuffed animal -- showing how to pull the tongue out first to extend the passageway -- and pretended to clamp her mouth down on the snout to make a tight seal.

"Two full breaths, check for the rise and fall of the chest," says Robyn Elman, a certified pet first aid teacher, during a recent class offered at Just Dogs! Gourmet in East Northport. Beyond basic pet cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Elman's classes cover tactics for responding to choking, poisoning, bleeding and shock, which are among the most common forms of pet injuries that lead to death.

Among the students watching intently were veterinarian technicians and dog groomers, but also those outside the industry who just want to know how to save their own pet's life if something should go wrong.

"We think he swallowed a pine-cone," she says. "I feel very guilty. I thought that maybe, in the back of my head, that if I had known it . . . I could have at least tried it."

Doreen Murphy, a retired teacher from Commack who now runs a dog-grooming business, had a close call just a week earlier when her Pomeranian began choking. While her pooch was OK, the experience showed her why it's important to be prepared -- not just for her own pets, but for those she grooms. "It's terrible to not know what to do," says Murphy.

Each of the class participants had their own stuffed dog to work with, much like a human dummy is used in regular CPR and first aid classes. Students learned how to bandage a bleeding wound, muzzle an animal with a long strap and give chest compressions the correct way, among other lifesaving techniques.

Carol Donohue-Bernstein, an East Northport resident who owns a dog- training company, appreciated having a model dog on which to practice techniques. While she was schooled in pet CPR during her training, she says, "It is a completely different experience working on the stuffed dog. It really helps. . . . It's very hands-on."