# Advice for vet visits?



## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

I've got a male AB, who is aloof with strangers and very much dislikes anyone he is unfamiliar with to stare at him or attempt to pet him, let alone try to handle/examine him. Our regular vet clinic was bought out and employed with new employees, most of which where scared to death of my very social female AB. So there is no chance i'd ever take my Male AB there as I fear that it'll be a bad situation just waiting to happen.

Ive found a new vet who is comfortable dealing with all breeds of dogs, and I do plan on ordering a muzzle before his next Rabbies shot is due. Suggestions for the best types of muzzles to use are appreciated.

Ive also read that some vets will prescrive sedatives to be given 1hr prior to the vet visit?

I guess i'm just wondering how some of you handle vet visits to make things less stressful for everyone, especially for those who own anti social dogs.

Thanks!


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

The vet will have muzzles.

I have given my one scared dog a Valium an hour in advance (after discussing with vet), only because she had to do stuff to his injured eye, and fooling with his face is his most scary thing.

I probably wouldn't consider sedatives just for a vax.

Between now and the next vet visit, I would do a lot of counterconditioning and desensitizing, and I'd ask about waiting in the car until the dog's turn and then taking him in through a side door rather than through a waiting room full of other animals.

If the dog is foody, I'd have a supply of fabulous (but tiny) treats with me, both during practice runs and the real visit.

I'd remember that my own demeanor is crucial, and I'd ask the vet to make sure that frightened staff were not allowed in the room with my dog.


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## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

Connie Sutherland said:


> The vet will have muzzles.
> 
> I have given my one scared dog a Valium an hour in advance (after discussing with vet), only because she had to do stuff to his injured eye, and fooling with his face is his most scary thing.
> 
> ...


 
Thanks...

Our last visit, the vet assitant tried to have me put on some chincy looking thing of a muzzle on him, but it wasn't big enough. I think I might have to special order one for my boy since all of the ones ive tried on locally don't quite fit him good enough.


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

My vet doesn't like to 'drug' dogs for visits. She feels that it makes the dogs react in un-natural ways that can cause a greater risk of someone getting hurt. Their reaction time is changed & often the dog's 'triggers' become blured when drugged. She spent time working at the vet's in NY that treated the NYC k9s & has experience with sharp, not particulaly social dogs. She is very calm, low key, patient & makes no eye contact or assumes any challenging postures with the dogs. She also respects that my dogs never leave my side even for a second (even for x-rays I go in & act as the 2nd vet tech)& that I do all the handleing of my dogs for treatment not the vet-techs, although one is sometimes in the room with us. I also leave my dogs in the truck until the room if free for our visits. I refuse to sit in the waiting room with people that have no control of their dogs. There have been too many 'close calls' with 'fluffy' in the past. This works for me. If needed I would use a muzzle before I would ever drug my dogs for a vet visit. JMO 

I will also say that I make many visits (at least monthly if not more) with my pups from the beginning so that they become desentisized to the rooms, noise, smells, vet techs in the room, etc. It pays off as time well-spent for the future. On these visits I take the dog into the exam room, with a vet tech & lots of good treats & have the tech offer treats & just hang out with the pup for a few minutes. Fortunately, my vet is VERY on board with this, which works out for both of us on future visits. I just call the office & tell them what I want to do & ask when a tech might be free for a couple of minutes & then go. If no one has any free time, I just call another day & try. I realize that I have had the opportunity to 'shape' pups. 

If I were to aquire an adult dog with issues, I would still preferr a muzzle to drugs if at all possible. I would want the safest way to administer treatment to the dog with the least amout of trauma & to insure it's safety as well as the vet & their staff.


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## Tina Rempel (Feb 13, 2008)

Finding the right vet is the key. When I got Abe and took him for his first check up and microchip, the vet tech freaked out and the vet rolled him to show dominance. This was a 12-week old puppy that was behaving wonderfully..... I was told I HAD to get a choke chain on him and get control. Needless to say I was not happy and I found a different vet that was comfortable with working line GSDs. 

I do have one I give ace to before she goes to the vet for most anything. For whatever reason none of us can figure out she gets way way nervous at the vets. For all of them most of the time I wait until the exam room is ready the take them directly through the waiting room into the exam room. Muzzles when needed depending on the procedure.


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## Tilly Smith (May 6, 2009)

Our previous rottie hated strangers making eye contact or touching him. I always took him to the vet during "quiet" times. We used to take him to one vet where the female vet was repeatedly asked not to try to touch the dog without letting me know first but after she was knocked into a wall about 3 times - we looked for another vet. 

That is when we found our current vet - he is used to dealing with RAAF and police dogs. Our vet understood him well and was always firm and confident with him but not overly familiar - which made things a little easier.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

This shit is too easy. Put a choke on the dog, run the leash through some chain link, cinch up and have the vet stick him. Over and done with. If he acts the fool, wack him in his little chickenshit head. Dogs need to do what they are told. Don't worry about the chainlink thing, it works real well. About the worst that will happen is he will blow his anal glands in fear.


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## Julie Blanding (Mar 12, 2008)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> This shit is too easy. Put a choke on the dog, run the leash through some chain link, cinch up and have the vet stick him. Over and done with. If he acts the fool, wack him in his little chickenshit head. Dogs need to do what they are told. Don't worry about the chainlink thing, it works real well. About the worst that will happen is he will blow his anal glands in fear.


hahah. I love this Jeff. It's a bonus too, if the dog blows his anal glands, then the vet won't have to clear them out.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I like a muzzle that is actually made for working if I have to muzzle a dog at the vets. IMO those are the ones that protect the most, and are also the least likely to come off. They also usually put the people around the dog more at ease, since it removes the chances of them getting bit. 

But I also think Jeff has a point. I don't care how anti-social a dog is, it should be under the control of the owner. Heck, the more anti-social it is, the more control the owner should have. And if you tell the dog to stand and behave, and hold it's head, the vet should be able to give it a shot or do a quick exam. If they can't, you need to work on your obedience.

If the dog is misbehaving because it's totally freaked out, you still need to work on the dog trusting you and obeying you, but that is a different situation then a dog who is just being an ass.

For the short term, I have found that having the dog in the exam room, but sticking his rear out into the hallway makes it much easier for the vet to stick him before he can even react.


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## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> This shit is too easy. Put a choke on the dog, run the leash through some chain link, cinch up and have the vet stick him. Over and done with. If he acts the fool, wack him in his little chickenshit head. Dogs need to do what they are told. Don't worry about the chainlink thing, it works real well. About the worst that will happen is he will blow his anal glands in fear.


Hahhh... Thats a great idea:!:


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Kadi Thingvall said:


> ... If the dog is misbehaving because it's totally freaked out, you still need to work on the dog trusting you and obeying you, but that is a different situation then a dog who is just being an ass. ....


Yes. Two-pronged. Counterconditioning/desensitizing and basic obedience.

Although with mine who freaked out when his eyes were messed with, I chose not to fight that battle. How often am I going to have to deal with vet-working-on-injured-eye? I would hope never again.

P.S. I love that butt-sticking-out-the-door protocol. :lol: The mystery tech glides down the hallway, sticks this disembodied dog butt, and glides away again.


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## Dan Long (Jan 10, 2008)

The right vet is important, as are the other comments everyone has made. 

Case in point. Our former (former because of this incident) vet insisted on having their techs handle your dog for YOUR safety. They had signs all over the place to pound this home. 

Gunnar was in for his 6 month rabies shot. He was already pretty well trained in basic OB stuff. I'd had him in a down the entire time we were in the waiting room, and in a sit when we got into the exam room. The vet wanted him up on the stainless steel table, why, I don't know. Just bend over and stick him with the needle. So I put him up on the table. The first thing the tech does is put him in a headlock! She's at his side left arm around his neck, her face right next to his. Of course he tries to back out of it. I say, hey, why don't you let me hold him, and they point to the sign. So they wrestle with him and finally get him his shot. I'm in disbelief. It was good that he's a pretty even keeled dog- he could have taken a chunk out of the tech's face. I could have put him in a down, they could have walked over and stuck him. 

The clincher was when the vet came back in, and said "you need to take this dog to obedience training". Why, because he wouldn't let a stranger put hm in a headlock? We never went back.


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

Dan, I feel for you. Why does the dog have to be on the table to get a rabies shot? OK, Some dogs are easier to handle when they're on the table. 

Why not shoot the dog the injection when the handler is holding the dog on the floor, in control???

My Briard jumped on to the table before the vet knew what we were there for. OK.

One of our GSDs had to be controlled by us (not on the table). OK

I've had my experience with vets and at large, they have no knowledge of the dog apart from it's physical / inner ailments.


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## Angie Stark (Jul 10, 2009)

I hope this isn't seen as hi-jacking the thread, if so, I apologize....that said my dog has just recently begun to be a handful at the vet's office. He's had the same vet since he was 6 weeks old and is in there regularly. Granted, not as much now because when he was small he had puppy upkeep, puppy socialization class (at the vet office), ear crop, cherry eye, neuter,etc and now he only goes once a year unless something happens.

In Feb he had been throwing up and diarhea for the second day so took him in. They gave him a shot for vomiting and he acted like they were killing him. I just figured he was having a bad day, he felt bad, they hit a bad spot, something like that. We went home, he was fine, end of that.

He will be 2 this coming August. I took him in for his shots and such last March and all was fine for the exam. Tail wagging, jumps up on the table on his own, all good until they picked up a paw to draw blood to test for heartworm. He freaked out. Thrashed around like a wild maniac, snapping, even snapped at me when I tried to grab his collar. They ended up giving me a muzzle to put on him and then they came and got him and took him in the back and apparently held him down and took his blood and gave him his shots. I could hear from screaming like he was being killed. The vet came back with a crazy look on his face and told me all that noise was just him getting his shots. He said usually they can hold their head close and they settle but he just got worse and that I had better do something with him because he's too big and can hurt someone....which I completely agree about but WTH? He had never acted like that.

Shortly afterwards, I took him to the groomer (like I have every 10-15 days since he was a wee puppy). When we got there, he was shaking and tried to leave with me and then when they tried to pick up his paw to trim his nails he began snapping at them.

I took him to a girl that deals with a lot of aggressive dogs and she has been helping me by doing exercises to build his trust in me and for him to be more worried about me than what's going on around him. She's going to go to the vet with me on a dry run here pretty soon and see how he is.

It was a real surprise to me that he could change so suddenly. I'm still not sure what to make of it.


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## Courtney Guthrie (Oct 30, 2007)

I personally will not use a vet that won't let me restrain my dog. I also won't let them take him in the back for routine procedures such as shots and drawing blood. Judge jumps on the table for exams and then I give him the stand command. They examine him and that's that. For shots, I put him in a sit and they poke him. BUT I've given most of his shots to him since he was a puppy so I've never had a problem. 

Angie- Did they hurt him when they grabbed his paw or was he throwing a temper tantrum? Personally was my dog to act like this, he'd get a couple corrections and then the tech would go about their business. Start messing with his feet at home on your own as well. That should help.


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## Angie Stark (Jul 10, 2009)

He has always had his nails trimmed regularly. I have no idea what his problem is. I did correct him, he had on a prong collar and then I reached for him and he snapped a me. Hopefully whatever this foot deal he had those two times is at least getting better. He is fine with me picking up his feet and doing his nails, always has been. I guess we'll see when we take him in there again.


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

Inka, my neurotic dog, has a history of aggression at the vet. She started out a happy puppy and progressively got worse untill at 2 years of age the owners and their vets/techs couldn't muzzle or handle her AT ALL, even with heavy sedation. She'd scream, pee and poop, bite everything within reach. I think seation just made things worse by putting her in a helpless position, just as terrified but unable to do anything about it, out of control and uncoordinated like a drunk. And she learned to fight through it. I think if the dog learns to expect a fight, and fighting makes the bad stuff go away, it is only going to get worse the next time around.

OB training, desensitizing, etc, only goes so far. She's way better, but sometimes still acts like she's about to get killed with a simple procedure. It's all in her head... A really heavy correction works to snap her out of it, for a bit, if I time it just right. Otherwise a really sturdy muzzle and a "just do it" matter of fact attitude, and get it done fast. I do her nails at home, muzzle her and tie her up short by the chokechain so she can't reach my hands - and if she flips out I simply hold her paw and wait untill she's done, then cut the nails and tell her she's a good girl. Every time she is a little better...


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