Higher Certificate in Canine First Aid
This veterinary approved and externally accredited online course is written and designed by a qualified registered veterinary nurse and clinical animal behaviourist. It has been designed for pet professionals, fulfilling Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements. However, it is suitable for pet owners too.
Written with the benefit of practical veterinary experience and informed by current veterinary best practice standards.
Learning outcomes:
- Gain the skills to identify and effectively respond to various first aid scenarios that may arise.
- Acquire the knowledge necessary to conduct a safe assessment of the dog's condition.
- Learn the proper techniques for administering basic first aid treatments and providing immediate care while awaiting veterinary assistance.
- Explore fundamental principles of first aid, emphasising safe handling practices and updated CPR protocols, along with additional essential skills.
This course includes:
- 8 modules
- Bitesize lessons
- Access on all devices
- Lifetime access
- Video demonstrations
- Downloads
- No assessments, just quizzes
- Certificate of completion
- CPD transcript
- Tutorial & technical support
- Unique 'Accredited First Aider’ graphic
- First aid quick reference e-book
Who this course is for:
- Dog owners
- Dog walkers
- Dog groomers
- Dog carers / sitters
- Dog trainers
- Dog kennels / hotels
- Animal behaviourists
- Pet professionals
Before you enrol:
There are no specific requirements for this course. This certificate course has been designed to help the student develop new skills and enhance their knowledge. You can enrol on this courses without any animal related qualifications, although a reasonable standard of literacy is required.
This course includes videos with English subtitles. We design our courses to work with the way you learn — not against it. Whether you are neurodivergent, have a sensory or physical difference, or simply prefer flexible ways to study, the features below are here to support you.
- Reading Ruler: Highlights one line at a time to help maintain focus. Toggle it on/off from the toolbar at the top of each lesson.
- Table of Contents: Longer topics display a Contents button in the toolbar for quick navigation between sections.
- Dark Mode: Reduces eye strain in low-light environments. Toggle it from the sidebar panel (top-right icons).
- Reading Time: Each topic shows an estimated reading time in the toolbar so you can plan your study sessions.
- Auto-Generated Subtitles: Available on all of our videos (approximately 95% accurate). Enable them using the CC button in the video player.
- Video Transcripts: Text versions of video content with timestamps, allowing you to follow along or revisit specific sections.
- Adjustable Playback: Video quality adjusts automatically based on your connection. Use the gear icon for manual control, or adjust playback speed to suit your pace.
- Feature Boxes: Key information is presented in visually distinct boxes, helping break down content and improve focus for neurodivergent learners or those with reading difficulties.
- Colour Contrast: Our course materials use high-contrast colour schemes to aid readability, particularly for learners with colour blindness or visual impairments.
- Downloadable Resources: Slides and supporting materials accompany webinars, enabling you to take notes and refer back at your own pace.
The course recognises that the veterinary surgeons act 1966 restricts the diagnosis and treatment of an animal by another person other than a qualified and registered veterinary surgeon. However any lay person can carry out first aid in an emergency situation.
This course is NOT designed to replace veterinary treatment and attention. For all first aid cases, a veterinary surgeon should be contacted as soon as possible.
About the instructor:
Course curriculum:
-
Intro to First Aid & Patient Assessment
- Introduction from Caroline
- The basic principles of first aid
- What to include in a first aid kit Updated
- Hand hygiene, safe handling and restraining techniques
- Assessing and examining the patient and measuring the vital signs
- Mucous Membranes and Capillary Refill Time
- Suggested Tasks
- Multiple Choice Questions Quiz
-
General First Aid Situations
- Haemorrhage and Locating the pressure points
- Dealing with clinical shock
- General Wounds
- Poisoning
- Bites and Stings
- Suggested Tasks
- Multiple Choice Questions Quiz
-
CPR, Neurological & Recognition of Pain
- Cardio-Pulmonary Arrest (CPA) and Performing Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Dealing with fits
- Recognising pain and its effect on the patient
- Suggested Tasks
- Multiple Choice Questions Quiz
-
More General First Aid Situations
- Burns and Scalds
- Hyperthermia
- Hypothermia
- Ticks - recognition and safe removal
- Suggested Tasks
- Multiple Choice Questions Quiz
-
General Intestinal Conditions, Electrocution & Drowning
- Gastric dilation-volvulus (GDV)
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea & Dehydration
- Electric Shocks & Electrical Burns
- Drowning / Near Drowning
- Suggested Tasks
- Multiple Choice Questions Quiz
Student reviews:
- Students feel significantly more confident recognising emergencies and knowing what steps to take with their own dogs.
- Reviewers praise the engaging mix of videos, diagrams, and bite-sized modules that suit their busy lifestyles and learning styles.
- Students value having lifetime access to refresh their knowledge and return to specific sections whenever they need reassurance.
- Learners appreciate the practical, real-world relevance—many use skills for dog-walking, grooming, and boarding businesses.
Based on 136 published student reviews across all star ratings for this course.
Great course with packed content
Really enjoyed refreshing my knowledge
Incredibly worthwhile course
What a fantastic course! I have thoroughly enjoyed the course from start to finish and found the content really engaging and interesting. Whilst I am not a vet, I felt completing the course was a must as a dog owner and I would strongly recommend any dog owners out there to complete the course as it can obviously help in an emergency but also to the day to day care and activity with your dog. My line of work is PE Teaching and from an education point of view, it is broken down into chunks of learning, with reading, key information, pictures, diagrams and videos support different types of learning. It is certainly accessible in terms of time and pace, given that it allows you to leave whenever your concentration has gone and access it at another time. There are many opportunities for further learning and development too. In society, I think there’s a lot of focus (and rightly so) on human first aid but there needs to be more for dog and animal first aid. So, don’t hesitate and build your skills and knowledge in order to be able to best support your dog and other dogs.
Clear, informative and up to date
What an absolute pleasure I have had taking this course! The design of the course is clear, well written and super easy to navigate. The content keeps you interested and wanting to learn more. Extremely user friendly too!
Very good course
I enjoyed the mixture of videos, quizes & learning. I believe this will help me with my business as a dog groomer
Very informative and straight to the point
This course was really easy to navigate. I definitely already feel more confident in my abilities to carry out canine first aid if need be.
Really informative and useful course
I really enjoyed this course, it covers all the necessary areas of canine first aid, it was really interesting and has now made me more confident with using first aid when needed with my own dogs at home and within my own dog grooming business.
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