Owner saves puppy's life using dog-CPR
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A pet owner bought her beloved puppy back from the dead after a near-fatal bee sting – by performing dog CPR.
Lola the seven-month-old boxer was playing in the garden when the insect flew into her mouth and stung her.
Owner Emma Harris, 20, watched in horror as the dog suffered an instant allergic reaction – vomiting and trembling before suddenly keeling over.
Miss Harris, a nursery assistant, checked Lola's pulse then began pounding her chest using first aid skills she learned at work.
After a few minutes the dog eventually came round choking for breath to the delight of Miss Harris and her parents Tammy and Ian.
"She seemed fine at first and then five minutes later she was sick," Miss Harris said.
"After she collapsed and we couldn't feel a pulse, my Dad was shouting 'She's gone, she's gone!'.
"My mum was a mess and my dad didn't know what to do. I don't know what came over me but I jumped on top of her and started to pump her heart with my fists to give her CPR.
"I was pumping for a good couple of minutes. My dad said she opened her eyes and started breathing again.
"My mum was on the phone to the vet and he said to get her to them as soon as we could."
Neighbour Jim Ness, a retired nurse, leapt over the fence to help Emma perform the life-saving procedure in Plymouth, Devon on Sunday afternoon.
She added: "Jim helped me to keep calm and held Lola's head for me while I pressed on her chest.
"When she started to breath again he told me to take a rest. I had just given 60 compressions in a row and he said I might have to give her more."
Lola was taken to a vet and given steroids to counteract the bee sting and was back to her usual self within days.
Miss Harris said she knew what to do because she took a CPR training course with colleagues from the Curious Kittens Nursery in Devonport, Devon.
She said: "If I hadn't taken part in that First Aid course for work I wouldn't have known what to do.
"I am quite proud of myself for it. She's my pet and she's only young.
"We lost a dog last June – another Boxer called Stella – so it would have been horrible to lose Lola so quickly."
Miss Harris's grandmother Shirley Ball, 66, said: "Her mother told me how Emma just told them to go away and let her get on with it.
"The circumstances could have been very different if she hadn't acted. I'm just so proud of her right now."
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