Dog fear?

[slleipnir]

Ever since Josie got her anal glands expressed she's HATED going to the vets. She is barks/howls non stop. To ME, it seems that she is just afraid. As soon as she gets her needles she knows she's leaving and will wag her tail and loosen up. She knows she'll get a treat once we leave.

Today I took her, and I brought some treats. She she started to bark, I tried to get her attention on me. Like asking her to sit, lay down, or whatever for a treat. I wasn't sure if that was enforcing the negative behavor though. I only gave it to her if she stopped barking and did as I asked. She DID settle down some till the vet came in. The vet student gave me this DIRTY look cause jo was howling. It was like she was saying how mean josie was. It was annoying cause she is a sweet dog! She was just afraid, I imagen.

Anyway, how can I get her over her fear?

[Shelteez2]

If possible I would take her to vet just for visits.

Walk her in feed her some treats. Walk her out.

Next time walk her in weigh her (if they have a scale out front) give some treats, leave.

Walk in let the receptionist or a vet tech love on her, give her some treats leave.

Hopefully if you can do this it will desensitize her to going there. She will start to look at it as a place to get some extra special treats and love.

Good luck.

[Pit Chick]

That's a great idea Shelteez. I would even have the vet love all over her too. Maybe have him take off the lab coat if he wears one so he appears to the dog like everyone other person there.

[slleipnir]

She is not afraid once she is OUT side the check up room. The vet will give her treats and pat her afterwards and she is fine. It's just once we get in that room she flips out. She is kinda afraid of the people too, so she'll bark at them and they stay away from her thinking she'll bite them. They wouldn't WANT to come over and pat her

I actually started going to a new vet cause the old guy hated Josie. I could tell he was afraid of her. The new vet I see seems to understand and doesn't seem afraid of her. She tries to comfort Jo and all that. (then again, she is muzzled)

[Kevin Farmer]

[Kevin Farmer]

oops! i goofed that last reply....anyway about the vet...it helps to have a great staff...maximus' vet will actually get down on the floor with him just to talk and play...his staff is also easy going...maximus sometimes forgets why he's there the student you mentioned needs to get a grip...they are there to take care of your pet...not to scare him

[carrie]

You are doing everything right and I suggest you carry on with what you are doing - almost...

You know that your dog is going to react badly to going to the vet - but it has to be done.

This is one of those situations when our desire to comfort and nurture and protect and reassure the animal we love can over-ride what we know is the best thing for the dog's mental view of the situation. (I have to say that this is the most difficult situation for me with my own dog, especially as he gets older and trips to the vet become more frequent!)

Before you go to the vet try to organise in your mind what your needs are (to be respected, not to be judged, to ease the stress of your dog, to give comfort and reassurance to one you love, to show them that you understand their anxiety and the need to make it clear that although you don't like putting them through this it is necessary and you are sorry) and the needs of the dog. . .

The dog needs to feel safe, that you are not worried about the situation and that you will protect it if anything goes wrong.

There are obvious conflicts in what you and the dog need here. The more you try to comfort and reassure the more the dog will understand what a worrying situation it is in. The more times you ask for a response like a sit or a down and the dog does not respond first time, the more the dog realises that you are not in control and are behaving differently from usual - the dog then realises that it is in a highly volatile, dangerous and threatening situation. . . if the leader is this anxious, upset and has suddenly started acting like a low ranking member of the pack then I am in obvious peril, therefore I need to defend myself.

The vet situation is never likely to get a lot better, the dog knows that the situation makes you anxious, sees the vet as a threat and assocaites the smell, location, activity and behaviour of other animals and owners with loss of control and fear.

The only way to get this a little better is to accept that vets are there to be a doctor to your animal - they are not behaviourists and have little or no training in this field. They are not trained to be people friendly. They have vast knowledge and have longer training than doctors, but, they have medical interests. They are then expected to be good at business, staff relations, IT, finances, insurance and keep up to date with drug and therapy advances.

The worst vet I have ever visited had the best "people" skills I have ever encoutered in a vet - my dog would of died if I didn't have some veterinary knowledge - the best vet I have ever known was so awful with my dog and me that I wrote a letter of complaint to the practice!!! I then bought flowers and chocolates and aplogised in person after an inspired diagnosis and treatment plan.

Keep the muzzle on, don't try to comfort the dog, keep it all very business like and try not to give commands. In and out with as little fuss as possible and as little reward for freaking out as possible.

[slleipnir]

Thanks so much Carrie.

So, I just let her bark? I DO get worked up by this, because I don't like being the center of attention, and when she is doing things like that it can't help but draw attention to me. I also don't like being a bother...but I guess it can't be helped.

My poor little girl! I hate seeing her so stressed out And with her dog aggression problem too, I'm not sure what I keep doing wrong with her...

I'll definietly keep all that in mind for next time. I'm seeing a trainer in April for help (HOPEFULLY) for her aggression, so maybe I'll learn more about her behavior that way too...