#NotAllHeroesAreHuman

At Pet Health Academy, our goal is to teach humans how to be a pet's hero by teaching the skills and knowledge needed to save their lives. However, sometimes we need to step back and recognize the pets that are humans' heroes. 

Without many of our canine counterparts in the line of duty, we would be less effective at search and rescue, a thousands times less effective given a dog's nose alone. These animals deserve to be recognized and celebrated. In fact we recently just celebrated the 16th birthday of a 9/11 Golden Search and Rescue Dog named Bretagne, who traveled all the way from Texas to help search for the thousands of people buried in the rubble.

The most recent events in Paris are what sparked me to take a step back and change the focus from human's as heroes to pets as heroes. Following the tragic attacks in Paris on Friday November 13th, the French were performing a raid on a suspects' home that following Wednesday. While they were able to capture 7 suspects, one took the life of a canine police officer, a 7 year old Malinois named Diesel. Before the human police went into the raid in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, Diesel had been sent into the apartment building before the humans to assess the situation. Several sources state that Diesel was killed when a woman detonated a suicide belt that killed both the terrorist and Diesel. People took to the internet posting pictures of their pets with the hashtags, #NotAllHeroesAreHuman and #JeSuisChien (“I am dog”) to honor Diesel's life. Without his devotion and skilled training, the French authorities would have lost more lives and would not have been able to apprehend the 7 suspects. 

There was a wonderful gesture that came from Russia regarding Diesel's heart-wrenching passing. The Russian Interior Ministry announced on social media that Russia will give the French government a puppy, “This dog will be handed to France in a testament of solidarity with the French people,” the tweet said. 

But there are thousands of pet heroes we should celebrate. Going back to WWII, in my Boxer club we recently just celebrated on Veteran's Day, Vittles who was the only dog to log more than 130 missions from Erding, Germany, to Berlin and back. He even had his own parachute, on orders from Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay. Vittles brought comfort to his owner Lt. Clarence “Russ” Steber, a former Air Force pilot, who had acquired him in Germany. He realized he had nowhere to leave him during his missions so he started taking him on the planes with him. He boosted morale so much that Gen. Curtis LeMay made certain a parachute was made specifically for him so he could always be with the troops. 

So while it is crucial for us to know how to perform pet CPR & 1st aid to save our trained couch potatoes, let's never forget those pet heroes that save us. From search and rescue dogs to therapy cats, these animals have a greater purpose in life which includes saving ours.   

Take a Pet CPR Course Online or In Person

Most cats cannot attend classrooms, due to the stress it puts on them.  A video demonstration is necessary to teach this method.  Here, Gerard Armour demonstrates a technique to safely restrain a cat.

Whether you are interested in taking a Pet CPR and First Aid Course because you're concerned about the health and safety of your pet, OR because you are earning a credential for your business, you'll have several choices in providers.  One of the key decisions you'll need to make before purchasing your education is whether to attend a class in person or to learn online.  There are important factors to consider listed in this blog, by Pet Health Academy.

As the world moves online, industries are following at a rapid pace.  Sometimes the technology gets ahead of itself and there is a disconnect between the technology and the user.  What this means is that either the technology isn't ready (which can lead to errors and bugs), or the user interface is too complicated, requiring high technical competency to use the product/service.  These factors can potentially cause the companies interested in using the technology to recoil and go back to the "tried and true" methods of the past.  Those companies will suffer as their customers will continue to demand better service, products, and access to them.  For example, forward-thinking companies like amazon.com have revolutionized the shipping industry by implementing high-level inventory management and order fulfillment software, thereby taking over a large percentage of retail sales.  Not only did they take market share from other online retailers, but also big box retailers who use conventional retail sales methods.  Amazon.com's customers can simply search for the products they desire, pay for them, and track the shipments.  The customers don't need to be tech savvy to gain access to the products they desire. Web browsers, search engines, and other software has become user-friendly and amazon.com has capitalized on that, making its products available to the masses.

Here is a thumbnail from a video of a Husky seizing.  This dramatic moment was captured on video in order to share it, helping other animal lovers to recognize seizures.

As is often the case, companies that offer more traditional services and products, with less access to capital, (like local small business) are behind the trend.  The pet care education industry, until recently, had been clinging to "the old way."  In order for pet care professionals to get access to high quality Pet CPR and First Aid Courses in the past, instructors would have to rent out rooms in local businesses, organize class schedules with individual students, as well as set up and break down equipment (like tables, chairs, projection screens, etc.).

Now that e-learning has been made popular, accessible, and credible, Pet CPR and First Aid Certification is available in its best form, online.  Instead of simply reading a document, watching a youtube video, and then taking a test, educators such as Pet Health Academy can create an engaging and interactive e-learning platform.  The earning management software they use is reliable, flexible, and highly customized. Instead of considering the limitations of e-learning, people are now touting the advantages of learning online.

See the video below which demonstrates how high-quality video content can provide a user experience unavailable in a traditional classroom setting.  This close-up gives a view unavailable when in a room full of students, not to mention the ability to pause, rewind, and watch the video repeatedly, until the student has mastered the skill and learned the material.

For those students who are uncertain about whether a high-quality, thorough education is attainable in an online format, need only search for online college degree programs.  Thanks to the innovation of software developers and universities throughout the world, education is accessible to a larger percentage of the population.  Pet CPR and First Aid Certification is just one example, but it is a clear example as it demonstrates the overall trend in the e-learning community.