Dog CPR: How To Do It, and When Not To

CPR can bring a dog back. Done on a dog whose heart is still beating, it can kill one. Knowing when not to start is as important as knowing how.

Most articles about dog CPR go straight to the compressions. This one starts somewhere else, because the most dangerous mistake with CPR is not doing it badly. It is doing it at all on a dog that does not need it.

Compressing a beating heart can cause serious injury or kill a dog outright. So before anything else, you check.

The three gates

Start CPR only if all three are true:

1. Unresponsive. No reaction to its name, to touch, or to a firm rub along the side.
2. Not breathing. No chest rise, no breath at the nostrils. Occasional gasping or sighing without proper chest movement, which is called agonal breathing, counts as not breathing.
3. No heartbeat. Nothing felt with a hand or ear on the left side of the chest, just behind the front elbow. Double-check with a pulse on the inside of the upper thigh.

Give this no more than ten to fifteen seconds. If the dog is breathing, or the heart is beating, it does not need CPR. It needs a vet, urgently, but not this.

How to do it

1. Confirm unconsciousness safely. Talk as you approach and rub the side, ready to move back. A frightened or injured dog will bite.
2. Open the airway. Pull the tongue forward and look for anything blocking the throat. If something is stuck, deal with that first.
3. Check breathing, then the heartbeat, as above. If there is none, start, and get someone to ring the nearest vet to say you are coming.
4. Position the dog on its right side on a firm, flat surface. The exception is very flat, barrel-chested breeds such as British and French Bulldogs, which go on their backs. Narrow, deep-chested dogs like Greyhounds, Whippets and Dobermans stay on their side.
5. Place your hands for the size of dog. Under 5kg: wrap one hand round the chest, thumb on top, fingers underneath. Medium to large: both hands interlocked over the widest part of the chest. Deep-chested: both hands interlocked directly over the heart. Flat-chested breeds on their back: both hands on the midpoint of the chest.
6. Give 30 compressions at 100 to 120 a minute, which is the rhythm of "Stayin' Alive". Push down by a third to a half of the width of the chest and let it come all the way back up between each one. For dogs over 5kg keep your arms straight and driven from your shoulders, not your elbows.
7. Give 2 rescue breaths. Straighten the neck so the nose lines up with the spine, hold the mouth closed, seal your lips around the nostrils and breathe until you see the chest rise. Muzzle the dog first if there is any chance it is conscious.
8. Repeat, 30 and 2, for two minutes, then re-check for a heartbeat. Carry on if there is still none. If someone is with you, swap over every two minutes, because tiredness ruins compression quality long before you feel tired.
9. Keep going in the car. One person drives, the other continues. Do not stop CPR to load the dog.

The details people get wrong

Do not lean on the chest between compressions. Letting the chest recoil fully is what draws blood back into the heart, and resting your weight on it between pushes quietly halves the value of everything you are doing.

Do not spend time on repeated pulse checks once you have started. The assessment happens once, in fifteen seconds.

Do not put your face near the muzzle of a dog that might be semi-conscious without muzzling it first. Injured dogs bite, including gentle ones, including yours.

Do not assume collapse means CPR. A collapsed dog that is breathing needs a vet, not compressions. Check first.

Practise before you need it

CPR is a physical skill and it is much harder to improvise than to recall. Ask your vet or a pet first aid course to show you the hand positions on your own dog while it is healthy, relaxed and standing there being fed treats.

Five minutes of that now is worth more than any article at the moment it matters, because what you need on the night is not information. It is muscle memory and a rhythm you already know.

Sources

This article was written using guidance from PDSA, the UK's largest veterinary charity, whose Pet Health Hub is written by its own vets and nurses; RECOVER Initiative, the body that sets the international, evidence-based guidelines for pet CPR; AVMA, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the professional body representing US veterinarians; and RSPCA, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the UK's oldest animal welfare charity. This guidance is for general information and does not replace a consultation with your own veterinarian. In an emergency, always contact a vet. Read [how we write our health guidance](https://rochsociety.com/how-we-write-our-health-guidance/). Last reviewed July 2026.