Owner brings 'dead' puppy back to life after it stopped breathing and went stiff in shocking video
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: Reddit/watcher2390
***WARNING: distressing content***
A video shows a dog owner delicately performing CPR on a tiny puppy which had stopped breathing.
It's a horrible scenario to imagine, but this owner's patience and quick thinking was able to save the life of the puppy.
They carry out CPR, rubbing and pressing on the pup's chest, as well as periodically breathing into its mouth.
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The puppy is absolutely tiny. Its eyes aren't yet open, it doesn't look to be more than a few weeks old.
At the beginning of the video, the tiny body is being cradled in the owner's hand. It's so small he can hold it in one hand easily.
The body is motionless, and looks stiff and immobile. The puppy's limbs are frozen and its eyes are shut.
Starting gently, the owner starts to massage the puppy's chest. He uses his thumbs to perform chest compressions and get the puppy's little heart beating again.
After an agonising half a minute or so, which feels more like an hour, the puppy seems to pop back into life. It starts to wriggle and squirm in the hand, stretch out its paws and lets out a whimper as everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
A separate video then shows the same dog a little while later, luckily having made a full recovery, showing the puppy grown and frolicking in the grass - generally enjoying life.
There are particular ways to carry out CPR on a dog if they require that attention.
The directions include, for this particular scenario when there is no pulse, placing your thumbs and forefingers on the puppy's chest and carrying out compressions there.
The directions say to carry out about one compression per second. You should then administer some breaths every six seconds.
For newborn or very young puppies, you shouldn't give them an entire breath. They only have very tiny lungs, and pushing that much air into their lungs could damage them, so you only have to breathe in very little.
If you are able to revive the puppy, you should rub them with a towel afterwards. You should continue to keep a close eye on the puppy for around 20 minutes after reviving them to make sure they're okay.
It seems that the puppy in this video was extremely lucky. Only around one in ten attempts to revive puppies using CPR is successful, however administering puppy CPR does improve a dog's chances of surviving if their heart stops.