One reason I was upset with Chewy’s owners was that I employ recent graduates and trainee nurses who could easily have been there instead of me. It happened because I hadn’t yet developed the sixth sense that nowadays keeps me out of danger.
But it wasn’t always that way.Īs a new graduate, from a dog just like Chewy, I received a dog bite to my face which required plastic surgery. I’m lucky to say that I haven’t had a nasty bite from a dog for at least ten years.
There’s no point in saying “everything’s all right” if it’s in a loud, stressed tone. Once a dog is highly aroused you may have no choice but to forget about it and try again another day.īe calm and speak in a low voice, no matter how you feel. Always put the muzzle on before your dog gets worked up. You can either buy your own muzzle or borrow one. Your vet may have a side door you can enter and leave by. Many of our clients choose to wait in the car, others will wait in a side room until the vet is ready. When you visit the vet with a dog prone to aggression, start by letting the reception staff know. However, it’s even possible with lots of ‘no treatment’ visits to get a scared adult dog to relax more. This really means lots of good early experiences like puppy school.
#LOUD BUT FRIENDLY GROWL HOW TO#
I’ve written before about how to protect your dog from bad experiences at the vet but it’s mainly by knowing when to use sedation or patience. You can read the evidence about aggression and desexing here. This seems to only work as a preventative for certain aggressions in males. They don’t stop being aggressive, but now we can handle them better and they remember less. We have several patients who are given a trazodone dose before coming to the vet. With the muzzle on, most dogs are calmer, the people relax, and the exam goes smoothly. The only problem with a muzzle is how it makes a dog look.
Even if you think it’s unlikely, we’ll always thank you for saying your dog might try to bite. As long as everyone is safe, you’ll only be met with smiles and support. So what do you do if you have a dog that growls, snaps or tries to bite the vet? We see these dogs regularly. It’s more common than you think, but you don’t notice those dogs because they’re harmless.
#LOUD BUT FRIENDLY GROWL FULL#
In fact, I’m full of admiration when I see an owner who manages their dog’s aggression properly. There is absolutely no shame in owning an aggressive dog. It can be genuinely upsetting for someone to see their dog being aggressive, but we can’t expect them to be teddy bears all the time either. Aggression Is BadĪggression is bad only in the same way that human anger is bad. Growling and postures like the ‘side-eyes’ with ears and tail down are all about letting you know. The last thing you want to do is suppress it.ĭogs don’t want to bite, and will do anything they can to avoid the encounter. It’s a dog warning you that you’re going beyond their limits. Growling Is Badĭon’t ever tell off a dog for growling either. Be silly enough to punish them and they will get worse. Dogs that show fear aggression need our sympathy just as much as they also need to be managed properly. Understand this, and you’re miles ahead of the pack. In fact, I could probably count on one hand all the dogs I know who have aggression from any other cause. Nearly all of the aggression seen at the vet is caused by fear. The trick is to understand the triggers and be one step ahead. That doesn’t make them aggressive dogs it’s all about the context. Yes, it’s more common in some breeds, but all dogs can do it.īoth my dogs have been aggressive in the past, usually when pushed too far by the kids. It’s a very different thing to ask if a dog is aggressive than to ask if a dog has ever been aggressive. So what are all these mistakes around dog aggression? 1. Then I need to spend a few minutes explaining that calling it a tumour doesn’t mean it’s nasty, just that it’s a growth.Ĭalling a dog aggressive is just the same. Strictly speaking, that’s what it is, but the word has a lot of emotional baggage. It’s a bit like when I get asked to check a lump on a dog, and accidentally call it a tumour. The word ‘aggression’ is so misunderstood that I think his owners genuinely believed that growling and snapping weren’t signs of aggression. In Chewy’s case, my error was asking if he’d ever shown aggression to a vet before.
I realised afterwards that I could have failed to spot one of the most common mistakes about dog behaviour. Does your dog growl or snap at the vet? Just look at this one-star review of a decidedly one-star experience.
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