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My cross Terrier is terrified when I take him to the vet, he sometimes gets aggressive and to be very honest I am also very frightened. My vet cannot even stroke him. I pray for my dogs health so that we do not have to go to the vet.
Answer: I am so sorry that your vet allowed this situation to develop. Most vets recognize a nervous dog and a number of them are now giving treats so that the dog associates that this is the place for goodies.
On the other hand lets take a look at this from the dogs point of view! The car, "The only time I go in the car is to the vets for an injection and rough handling " wow, bad behavior in the car. Mum now gets annoyed" Be Quite" "Shut Up" and so on, so the behavior patterns starts way before the vets clinic.
At the clinic, you are anxious, and so is your dog, and maybe so are the other dogs, so here are some guidelines that should assist you.
Every day you should brush your dog, and if possible on a table or stool. Touch his ears and have a look inside talking to him all the time. Touch the side of his mouth and rub his gums gently, he will love that. Pick up his paws and have a look at his nails, and of course touch his tail and make a good game of it but be firm.
Your pet will now be used to you handling him, and that is most important. Next time you take him in the car, do not go to the vet, go to the park, or to a friend. Should you go to a friend, show your friend how you can touch his ears, mouth, paws and tail, that's good practice, and maybe let your friend touch his mouth, paws and generally pretend to be the vet.
After a while this will all be a good bit of fun to both you and the dog. We now move to the next step which is to take your dog to the vet for a social visit out of surgery hours, to be petted by the staff and given some of his favorite treats. Over a period of a few weeks he will just love to go and be handled.
Although house visits are very popular, I think this might be more of a problem to overcome, since you are now bringing the vet onto the dogs territory. One final piece of advice, when visiting a dog which is not under complete control, it might be an idea to leave the dog outside in the car and report in to the receptionist. When it is your turn the receptionist will come out and inform you. This way you can walk straight into the surgery, maybe avoiding that little bunny rabbit or pussycat.
by David the Dogman
David Klein FDTCB. F.inst D. Canine Behaviourist
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Copyright © 1997 by David Klein. Do you have any problems with your pet? Then why not send your problem to DAVID THE DOGMAN. David is a Canine Behaviourist who works and lives in Marbella, Spain. Tel/Fax (00345) 2883388. His web site is located at: http://www.k9netuk.com/dogman/. David has his own radio and TV shows, and writes for many newspapers and magazines. David has been working with dogs for many years and started his career in Israel, working on the Border Police. He has been involved in all forms of training, including air sea rescue, air scent work, and has trained dogs for finding drugs. David has devoted the past 10 years to studying behaviour and the very passive approach. He does not use choke chains, check chains, or any form of aggression.
David The Dogman is available for private consultations in your home, for further details telephone; Tel; (95) 2883388
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Friday, 29 August 2008
