Keeping Calm at Vet

[Stacey Ruddok]

Not sure if this is going in the right chat room but oh well.
I have a one year old Staffy that I adopted from a rescue shelter. The people at the shelter weren't really sure of his past history/training/owners, whether he'd been abused or not, etc etc; but whenever we go to the vet he's an absolute terror. He doesn't act aggressively, but gets incredibly revved up and charges around at top speed. Usually he's pretty obedient and respectful, but whenever we go there he's virtually uncontrollable.
It's embarrassing and I don't want him to accidentally hurt himself when he jumps off the table or something.
Help!!

[ericpotter]

Well I don't know anything about rescue dogs or whatever, but my dog is pretty highly strung and has a real fear dominance issue in new situations (even though I socialized him pretty thoroughly, he's just a scaredy cat I think). He doesn't like the vet much either, so what I did was just to try to accustom him to it slowly. I started taking him in the car more, so he didn't associate the car with going to the vet and so get all excited and yelpy before we even got there. And also tried taking him to obedience classes that were held at the vet clinic, which helped quite a lot - I think it was good for him to have something to do that was actually fun. In addition we just took it really slowly - sometimes I'd take for walks and circle round the block where the vet was a couple times. I even took him to the vet's once or twice when he didn't need to go, just so we could sit in the waiting room and have a little game (i'd just get him to fetch a dental rope that I'd toss across the room for him, and give him a treat when he brought it back). I get to pick my own hours at work, so obviously not everyone has time to do that last one, but it all seemed to work pretty well for Bruno.

[Angie]

Hi there,
Eric I'd say you've hit it right on the head. The trick is desensitizing your dog to the things that get him anxious and upset.
You may never get him COMPLETELY relaxed at the vet - since there seems to be some actual, concrete reason for his fear (injections and the like) - but the more fun stuff you can get your dog to associate with the clinic, the better for you.
You can involve your vet in this too - believe me, they're used to it! Bring some treats for your vet to give to your Staffy, and ask if they can spend a few minutes playing gently together at the start of any vet visit.

[samaria]

Originally Posted by ericpotter

Well I don't know anything about rescue dogs or whatever, but my dog is pretty highly strung and has a real fear dominance issue in new situations (even though I socialized him pretty thoroughly, he's just a scaredy cat I think). He doesn't like the vet much either, so what I did was just to try to accustom him to it slowly. I started taking him in the car more, so he didn't associate the car with going to the vet and so get all excited and yelpy before we even got there. And also tried taking him to obedience classes that were held at the vet clinic, which helped quite a lot - I think it was good for him to have something to do that was actually fun. In addition we just took it really slowly - sometimes I'd take for walks and circle round the block where the vet was a couple times. I even took him to the vet's once or twice when he didn't need to go, just so we could sit in the waiting room and have a little game (i'd just get him to fetch a dental rope that I'd toss across the room for him, and give him a treat when he brought it back). I get to pick my own hours at work, so obviously not everyone has time to do that last one, but it all seemed to work pretty well for Bruno.

I am agree with ericpotter.....I also don't know anything about rescue dogs or whatever.....So I also think so.....

[Lyka_01]

I have no problem with my dog when we visit his vet but I always make sure that he is calm so that nothings bad will happen...Keeping my present there makes him calm...In Stacey situation I guess the dog is not used to go to a vet that's why he react so aggressive...Try him to exposed to people so that he can used to live in a lifestyle associated with humans...Proper training will help him too..