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Helping Your Dog Stay Calm at the Vet’s Office

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Today was Irie’s annual veterinary exam. She’d been at the vet’s office just six weeks ago to check on some limping we were worried about (she had TPLO surgery for an ACL tear at the end of August) but, nonetheless, she gets stressed when she goes to the vet.

Let’s face it: the vet’s office is a stressful place for our dogs. They pick up on the scent of stress from the other dogs and cats in the office. They smell the scent of veterinary supplies. They definitely pick up on our own stress. (I think I get more stressed that Irie!)

Whenever we take our dogs to the vet, we take a few steps to help reduce their stress and, at the same time, make the visit more pleasant for all of us:

Walk Your Dog Before the Visit

Before the visit, we try to maintain our usual routine right up until we leave the house. That routine includes a walk, a bit longer than usual, to tire out the dogs. Of course, when your dog is ill or injured, this isn’t possible but, for annual exams, it’s easy to do, and I think it reduces the stress in both you and your dog.

Get Organized

To reduce the time at the vet’s office, we make a list of questions for the vet. We also try to collect a fecal sample on the walk, which we did this morning, meaning one less invasive procedure for our dogs during their visit.

Bring a Buddy

Just like bringing a buddy to a doctor’s appointment to help you get information, we also bring both our dogs to our vet appointments. Tiki’s enthusiasm for the vet staff helps Irie see that it’s not so bad at the vet office.

Bring Supplies

We carry a few high-value treats for the wait. Since Irie wasn’t ill, we worked on some “doggy push ups” during our waiting time in the exam room, alternating between “Sit,” “Down,” and “Stand” commands then treating. We also brought a collapsible silicone water bowl; stressed dogs need water.

tiki-park-ducksDe-Stress After the Visit

After our vet visit, we went to a neighborhood park for a de-stressing dog walk.

Not only did the park visit give Irie and Tiki the chance to walk off some of that nervous energy, it also helped them remember that car rides take them to fun places, too.

We’re happy to say that Irie received a great report today! Her knee sounded great to the vet, and he was really pleased with her progress…a great way to start the weekend!

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Paris Permenter
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