Guest blogger Cha Staun has written the following post on how to teach your dog to become more confident by visiting the vet. Cha has been working in the sale of animal articles for many years. In addition, she is a dog owner for 3 labradors, who are diligently trained – among other things for hunting. With a training as a dog behavior specialist, an ongoing training as a dog masseur and a job at an animal hospital, Cha has an incredibly broad experience with and extensive knowledge of dogs. If you want more about Cha and her lovely dogs, click here >>
As a trained dog behavior specialist and employed at an animal hospital, it often cuts to my heart to see how scared the dogs are when they come to the clinic. I know our vets do what they can to give the dogs a good experience, but if the accident is out and the dog has become ill, then it requires that they may have to be subjected to examinations or treatments that are not so nice to them. And sometimes there is a need to “abuse the dog”
GET STARTED
Of course, you can not prepare for everything, but you can easily practice things with the dog, which makes it not so traumatic for them.
- Teach the dog to be safe by driving and getting out in different places so that the stress does not start already here. Take evt. past your vet every now and then, just to round out the waiting room, get a biscuit from the staff, a ride on the scales or the like.
- Teach the dog that it is ok to peel and rake on paws, ears, buttocks, mouth, etc. Star in the small, and avoid conflicts. The way I myself “play vet” is that I sit on a soft pillow with the dog between my legs. With treats and patience, I teach it to lie on its back between my thighs. That way, I can support it, and at the same time have both hands free, to look in mouth, ears, paws, etc.
- Teach the dog to be calm when you touch it. Adjust the training according to the dog’s pattern. If it is the time of day when the dog tends to be active and there is too much activity in the house, it is difficult to convince it to be calm. Instead, use the time e.g. in the evening when the dog has had dinner, the kids have been put to bed and the rest of the family has slipped in front of the TV.
- Teach your dog to be comfortable sitting in a cage. If the accident occurs and the dog has to be admitted to an animal hospital, they will spend a lot of time in one.
THE NAILS
If you do not have the courage to cut nails on your dog, you can take a rough nail file, and file them, and in a way teach the dog that it is ok to “do something” with the paws. Dogs are very sensitive on the paws (often especially forepaws) so go slowly.
THE EARS
If you want to clean the ears of your dog, drip a few drops of the ear cleaner into the ear. Take a tot of cotton wool around the finger and clean the outer ear. You can also use a cotton swab for the pretzel hooks. The ear canal of a dog has an angle of 90 °, so you can not damage the eardrum. However, it is very easy to push dirt into the ear, so that it becomes a solid lump that must be removed by the vet – often under anesthesia.
THE TEETH
Keep an eye on your dog’s teeth. Most dogs have switched to their permanent teeth when they are around 7 months. These should preferably last the rest of the dog’s life. Many dogs have dental problems. There may be something stuck between the teeth, a broken tooth, caries, etc. The most common is tartar. In the tartar, there are often a lot of bacteria that infect the gums and thereby periodontitis occurs. If nothing is done about periodontitis, it breaks down, in the worst case, the bones in the jaw. There are many ways to prevent tartar – check with your veterinarian.
FUN AND KEEP AN EYE!
When you are still cuddling with your dog, sneak in a little study. Is there anything that does not look like it usually does, smells like it usually does or feels like it usually does? Keep an eye on it and ask your vet for advice if it does not go away on its own within a few days. Really good fun with the training of the dogs, and with the hope of seeing even more prepared dogs at the clinics around.Please Cha
