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At least once a year there is probably a blood drive at your place of work. Often times many of you sign up, willing and ready to help someone in need of blood. But what if another member of your family could also do the same for their fellow species… that’s right, your dog and even cat can donate blood to help other dogs and cats in need.

Dr. Jason Landwerland said that dogs donating blood is similar to people.

“Blood donors are similar to people in that there are universal donors and universal receivers,” Landwerland said. “To put it in people terms, we are looking for the O negative dog.”

But just like people, not just any dog makes a good donor.

 “We kick out 8 to 10 for every one donor dog,” Landwerland said. “Greyhounds are kind of your universal donor just because of there high percentage of red blood cell count. But to be a good donor dog ,they need to pass all three sets of qualifications of blood draws.”

Other factors that may not make dog a good donor would be age. Landwerland looks for good healthy dogs that are under the age of seven.

“When you deal with a dog that is older, you start worrying about cancer,” Landwerland said. “Plus, it puts stress on the dog. So you want a young healthy dog.  They need to be healthy and in great shape that is why we do twice a year examinations.”

Once your dog becomes a donor dog, not only is it helping other dogs but there are other perks to the program. According to Landwerland, the benefits include things like free physical exams and heartworm prevention.

Regardless of the type and size of your dog, Landwerland is always in need of donor dogs. So, the next time your dog needs its annual check up you may want to ask your Vet if your dogs could participate in the donor program.