How to Keep Dogs Calm at the Vet Exam
If your dog lunges at strangers and other animals, or retreats into a fearful ball of fur at new situations, going the veterinary clinic can be a traumatic experience for both of you. An excitable dog confronting other high-strung dogs leads to dog fights. Anxious, fearful animals often react aggressively when handled by clinic staff members. Training your dog to be calm and relaxed during a vet exam can help both of you make it through the ordeal.
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Instructions
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Permit people you trust to handle your dog as much as possible. Ask them to run their hands all over its coat, under the belly and tail, and over the head. Let them play with the ears and look in the dog's mouth. This will accustom your pet to having someone other than you have control over its body.
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Play with your dog's toes and paws while you are at home and the dog is comfortably sitting close to you. Doing this will get your dog used to having its nails clipped.
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Train your dog to heel and sit quietly next to you in the waiting room, with no jumping or lunging toward other people or dogs.
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Keep your pet's attention on you while in the waiting room or an exam room. Having a small bag of treats or your dog's favorite toy with you can help keep the dog focused.
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Speak quietly and calmly at all times when dealing with your excitable dog at the clinic. If you become nervous or apprehensive at the vet's office, your animal will pick up on your emotions and might respond in kind.
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Allow the veterinary technicians or assistants to handle your dog during the vet examination and subsequent procedures. It might be best for you to leave the room if you tend to get fearful or squeamish during inoculations, or when the techs take blood or feces samples.
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Tips & Warnings
Take your dog to training classes prior to its first yearly vet exam so the dog can socialize and learn to behave in a room full of other people and animals.
Ask your vet if you can bring your pet to come and sit in the waiting room on a day when the clinic is less busy than normal. Acclimating the dog to the sounds and smells of the vet's office prior to a visit will help calm your nervous pet.
Keep your dog on a leash or in a crate at all times while in the waiting room at the vet's office. Allowing your animal to wander around exposes it to disease and possible attacks by other dogs. Nervous dogs also have a tendency to urinate and defecate inappropriately and someone other than you will have to clean it up.
