Extreme Fear Of Vet

[RL1]

Hi,

Your dog sounds a bit like mine. He has fear aggression and going to the vet can be a little bit of a pain

with a large male dog such as mine.

I went through it yesterday. What i've found is if you have to sedate your dog, do it in the waiting area, not in a small consult room. He won't feel as threatened, or be backed into a corner. Get the vet to approach from behind to sedate him while you and another person ( if required ) hold your boy and talk to him from the front and try to make him feel safe. I'd also use a good muzzle just to be safe.

My dog is fine until the vet approaches him and goes to reach for him.

[superminty]

Another suggestion that may or may not be practical for you but sure worked for me - do you have a vet that does home visits?

My boy is extremely anxious at vet surgeries, no matter how many times we go in and try to get hime comfortable with just being there - and the only thing he has had at a vet's is a check up, so not painful stuff, he just hates the surgery.

As he is also nervous with people, I found a vet that was willing to spend some time to get to know him, outside the surgery, and does home visits. In his own home, he is far more manageable - mind you, he still wears a Halti so I can control his head and keep his mouth closed if I need to.

Some good advice has also been given re: nail clipping as a separate issue.

Good luck, this was a major source of stress for both me and my dog until we discovered home visits.