Vets and dog behaviour

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Booboos

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A bit long, but here goes...

Jakey has had a problem with his nose, sneezing, wheezing and a discharge, which has been on-going for a few months now. He's had tonnes of exams, luckily it's not a tumour or a fungal infection, so now we've been treating it with steroids.

After six weeks of oral steroids he is much better but still not clear so the vet suggested we put him on an inhaler. This will have fewer side-effects than the oral steroids, but he warned me that many dogs do not 'take to it' so it may not be possible to use it.

So off we went to the vets to find out how the inhaler works. I was all ready with my bag of treats, but before I knew it the two vets had grabbed Jakey, one holding his body and the other trying to hold his head still to force the inhaler over his nose!!!
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Obviously I intervened immediately, but had to be quite firm saying 'please stop that now and let him go'.

I taught him to target the inhaler and in less than a day he now begs to be allowed to put his face in the inhaler for a treat, but I was really surprised at the vets' approach and their lack of basic behavioural knowledge. If that is how they introduce the inhaler, it's no surprise many dogs refuse it!
 
Can't speak for your vets but my daughter is a vet student and they have a lot of lectures on behavioural issues. As she has grown up amongst dogs she is pretty aware of such things but I was surprised how many vet students don't have a great deal of experience with the more common species until they get to university.
 
Don't start me on the 'he's hyper so we had to sedate him for a minor procedure' phonecall - yes, he has been in a small cage for four hours, despite you asking for him to be left in at 8am and telling me not to come in and help settle him, he would be hyper....

Sorry, rant over!!!!
Having said that, most of the other vets and vet nurses I have dealt with have handled my dogs very well.
 
It was a vet student and a vet intern at a major teaching hospital, hence
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We also have a GSD and I've lost count of the number of vets who have wanted to take him away and muzzle him to do simple stuff!!! He is the softest, sweetest dog ever.
 
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It was a vet student and a vet intern at a major teaching hospital, hence
shocked.gif


We also have a GSD and I've lost count of the number of vets who have wanted to take him away and muzzle him to do simple stuff!!! He is the softest, sweetest dog ever.

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Same as that. Now they know him, they know not to ask
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I'm lucky as my current vets have always taken my word for it when I have said my dogs will be fine. But the vets do handle them well and confidently which makes a difference. They had a new graduate vet this year and in his first week he was bitten by a shepherd, when I was due to go in and see him the same week a couple of the other vets were laughingly threatening to tell him Buffy was a killer to wind him up
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She of course was her usual angelic self, and he has since also met Evie and has decided not all Sheps eat vets
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Have had problems recently with the nurse and the vet. It seems that the veterinary profession have decided that owners know absolutely nothing about the dogs that they live with or how to handle them!!!

They refused to listen to me and said they were used to dogs that can be aggressive, NOT THIS ONE YOURE NOT!!! 1st occasion they took him away from me when they had absolutely no need at all and he came back wearing two muzzles like a bandana!!!

2nd they went to take him away from me again so he threatened to take his muzzle off and the nurse virtually threw the lead back to me!!!! Finally they relented when I pointedly told the vet if they tried to take him away someone was going to get hurt and badly as he would not hold back as he does with me!!! He is strong very quick and very intelligent!!
 
Does there seem to be a new fashion for taking the dog away from the owner and into another room to do things? I seem to be coming across it more often, as if the owner being there is going to mess things up. Weird...
 
The new fashion is probably because there's a risk of the vet being held responsible if the pet bites the owner when in the vet's care. My OH has had moments where owners have said the dog is harmless/friendly and it has gone to bite when the needle goes in or something equally easy.
 
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I'm lucky as my current vets have always taken my word for it when I have said my dogs will be fine. But the vets do handle them well and confidently which makes a difference.

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Same here - I have to say that our vets are wonderful. The appointments are never rushed and they always take our guidance when making suggestions as to how to handle our dog. Sounds like we are very lucky!
 
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The new fashion is probably because there's a risk of the vet being held responsible if the pet bites the owner when in the vet's care. My OH has had moments where owners have said the dog is harmless/friendly and it has gone to bite when the needle goes in or something equally easy.

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I see what you mean, that would make sense.
 
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