My 100-pound dog gets vicious at the vet to point where I have to put a muzzle on him. He wants to play with the other dogs in the waiting room and will let the assistant love on him, but as soon as the vet walks in the examining room, he goes into Kujo mode. In his defense, he had a broken leg four years ago and two surgeries to correct it, but is perfectly fine now. He is due his shots and I dread taking him. Any advice? This really causes me stress.
give him a 1/2 a benedryl tablet to make him sleepy.
Talk to the office prior and ask if they will prescribe a mild sedative that you give before you bring him in. I’d bet your dog isn’t the only one with that reaction.
I feel for you since I’m embarrassed every time I take our lab in. He is excited and wild. Any training he has had goes out the window.
Our problem is that our 100 lb lab is deathly afraid of the shiny floors at the vet and will stop dead in his tracks and refuse to even go in the office. It takes two people and we have to wheelbarrow him in.
I wonder if it would help if the tech gave him his shots in the waiting room, rather than the vet? Or could they come to your car? Can you divert his attention with a treat? I also like the idea of Benadryl.
In our area we have mobile vets and vets who make house calls. Is that an option where you live?
You know, I think I saw a dog with a similar fear on the Dog Whisperer or some other show about animals. Who knew it was a “thing”!
I thought this was going to be a thread about the high price of vet visits these days! My dog’s last one was $411. At least that included meds and shots, but ack!
My sister has a “visiting vet.” She loves him and the convenience.
I thought this was going to be a thread about a dying dog and one’s reluctance to deal with it. So glad it’s not!!!
I would ask the vet what they recommend. I had a dog who though quite little was vicious towards anyone touching her. The male assistance would don large, long, gloves to protect him from her bites while he to held her so vet could give her a shot which would knock her out immediately, after which vet could do exam and everything else that needsd to be done. They they would give her another shot of something which would wake her up. She had a smushed in face so was unable to be muzzled, not that anyone could get close enough to even put one on her. It made even her regular yearly check up much more expensive but it had to be done.
I doubt be Benedryl will make him sleepy enough and certainly not 1/2 tablet for a 100 pound dog.
My 57 pound dog loves his vet–outside of her clinic (she’s a friend, so we see her in many other situations). In her clinic, he is nervous and fearful. Before his vet visits he receives alprazolam (xanax) in an appropriate dosage for his weight. (Benadryl (which is normally dosed at 1 mg/pound) does not make him either sleepy or relaxed.
I have trained a muzzle for use when appropriate. It’s not a horrible thing to use for my dog. In fact, I find that he relaxes when the muzzle is used, because it allows the vet to proceed with complete confidence that he won’t bite her–which allows her to work faster and more effectively.
My vet is a professional veterinary behaviorist. We developed a very extensive plan for helping my dog deal with his anxiety about vet visits. Your vet may be able to consult with a behaviorist over the phone or in person on ways to make your dog’s visits less stressful for everyone.
Also, many dogs become less apprehensive at the vet if they go often and nothing happens when they’re there. For months, I took my dog in every time I drove by, gave him a few treats in the waiting room or in a clinic room (if there was one that was empty), then left. It took a while, but eventually he walked in cheerfully and left cheerfully.
My dog loves going to the vet. He walks in cheerfully and exuberantly. He sits on the scale until I tell him to move. He lets the assistant pet him and then the vet comes in and he growls and bares his teeth. He will let me put the muzzle on him with no problem, but the vet is scared of him (rightfully so) and stands as far away as possible to give him the vaccination. The shot itself does not seem to bother him. Last year, I took him to a different vet thinking that would make a difference. It didn’t. He broke his leg when he was 1 year old (he is 5-1/2 now) and still loved the vet through all the follow-up visits, then about 18 months after, the rod that was in his leg started causing him pain and he had a second surgery to remove the rod (the plate is still there) but now he has no problems. Except that he hates the vet. My son lives 200 miles away (it’s actually HIS dog) and I have begged him to come take him, but he is busy and can’t do it.
Echoing others- absolutely call your vet. I promise you are not the first people they’ve had with this problem.
One of our fosters was a 100+ lb behemoth who was afraid of his own shadow. He had been a rescue from a fighting ring and his first encounter with a vet was to get hundreds of stitches and other not-fun things. He would cry like a baby every time we even got him near a car! Our vet gave us a mild tranquilizer to give to him before we got him there.
Then the second problem was that he was kinda loopy and couldn’t get in and out of the car (note: it isn’t because he was really drugged up, but it was more that he was slightly drugged and already had some stability issues due to healing bones and whatnot). Many of the visits were just check-ups so the vet could come out to the car to observe him. The few times we had to bring him in, they brought out this like flat bed with rollers so we could roll him into the vet. Not quite as funny as a wheelbarrow but it was definitely a sight…
Adding: I just saw your last comment. That’s a bit of a red flag to me that your vet is afraid of him and hasn’t offered a recommendation for how to work around this problem. Maybe I’ve been lucky with vets, but they do everything they can to ensure our dogs’ comfort first and foremost. If they notice they’re nervous, they’ll recommend something like a mild sedative to help calm them.
Best of luck OP. I know how stressful it can be to see our furbabies stressed.
romanigypsyeyes, I wondered how I would get him in and out of the car if he were sedated even a little. I can’t pick him up.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will stop by the vet’s office to make the appointment and ask them what we should do.
Agree with the idea of sedation, HOWEVER, be careful about how much you give him. We had to sedate our husky to take her to the groomer (naughty dog!!) The vet gave us a sedative (Acepromazine 25 mg). We gave her one tablet (80 lb dog) and she was practically comatose for nearly 10 hours. 1/2 a tablet would probably have been enough.
We have had three dogs and 6 cats over the years and all of them have been fine at the vet except our 1 very mellow cat (at home). She was so bad they had to mark her chart to warn everyone. She was also the easiest sweetest cat at home though.
When our previous dog had her teeth cleaned, she was sedated, as is common for this procedure. Afterward, she was still so woozy that after I lifted her out of the car and put her down, she essentially melted onto the ground and I couldn’t pick her up, not because of her weight but because of the angle and because she was so unwieldy. I was home alone, it was a chilly winter day, and I had to wait for a neighbor to happen to come home so that I could ask him for help in getting her into the house. My current dog is nervous at the vet’s but does fine if we are put into an examining room right away and if the vet and her assistant are generous with treats and affection.
If you live in a metro area, another vote for trying a mobile vet. And YOUR vet isn’t going to recommend this because it takes away their business. I get that not all areas have them, though.
I had a 100 dog that was sweet and goofy to everyone he met. I saw him growl once, and it was at a vet. We stopped making appointments with that person, and it didn’t happen again. So… is it the person? Our vet has several vets in the practice, so we would be able to suss this out pretty quickly.
Our vet also has a second waiting room. I guess it lets them separate stressed “guests”. They sometimes will even do an exam in there. Maybe the normal room (tiny, slippery floor and table) are stressing your pup – but not sure if your vet has another option.
Our 5 year old 90 pound lab mix is the same way. He hurt his paw as a puppy and has freaked out with the vet ever since. The vet is the only one with whom he is growly. It is so embarrassing!
We first muzzled him, which I am able to do without a problem. But he still was very agitated. So now I give him one ace pill 3 hours before his appointment. It calms him down, I put the muzzle on and we get through it.
We also learned that he does better if I’m not in the exam room during the exam. Go figure.
The vet is also nice about prescribing meds over the phone if I describe the situation or send a text with pictures. A vet who is understanding and flexible is key. Good luck!!!