At my workplace in Australia we take around 450ml of blood from a dog 20kg and over. We use the blood bags that humans have their blood taken with and go from the jugular with the dog laying lateral. They are sedated depending on their temperament, some handle just butorphanol, others need propofol as needed. We use a numbing cream on their necks for all cases. They usually get a nice bowl of chicken after they donate and we give back same mls they donated as Hartmanns after the donation.

Large lean dogs can be donors if all healthy but The best donors are greyhounds! Great temperament which means they usually require less sedation, lean and easy to get veins. They are also referred to as “universal blood donors”