The well-trained and well-balanced dog should have little problem with visits to the vet. Dog health is a serious concern for the responsible owner and the dog should be accustomed to the veterinary surgery from early puppy hood. Your dog ought to have regular checkups appropriate to his age and general state of health. Also regular inoculations against the most deadly dog health threats like parvo-virus and distemper are essential.

When starting with a new vet, check the consulting hours and appointments system. How long will you have to wait after a phone call for a regular (non-emergency) appointment? Does the vet make house calls, and come out to your dog in the night in the case of an emergency? Can your dog’s medical records be transferred to a new vet should you move home? Do they do regular routine dog health checkups, especially for older animals?

Always make an appointment wherever necessary. If you have a puppy who has not completed all its vaccinations, ask if there is a separate waiting area where he won’t encounter other (possibly sick) dogs. It might be wise to keep your dog in the car until his name is called. This applies especially if he is particularly timid - or conversely, if he is prone to snap at other dogs. This also applies if he is seriously ill and weak, or carrying something infectious. This avoids the dog health hazard of infecting other animals in the waiting room.

Always keep your dog on a short leash both in the waiting room, reception area and consulting room. He may well be inclined to bolt, especially if he is nervous in the vets, as many dogs are.

Try to be reasonably succinct in describing your pet’s illness to the veterinary surgeon. True, there may well be side issues that warrant a mention. However, the vet doesn’t need to know “well I was walking down the road down by the park at 8.43 this morning. I stopped to talk to Mrs Walker. After that Rover and I carried on to the park. It was then when I noticed he was bleeding from the….” Succinct would be “I noticed he was bleeding when we got to the park this morning”. The vet may have many additional questions to ask you, some of which might seem strange and unrelated to the presenting ailment. Be patient and informative and answer the vet as concisely as possible. If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t be afraid to say so.

You may have to restrain the dog in order for him to be examined. An experienced vet will know how he would like to do this and will probably ask you to do this in a certain way. as a rule of thumb, a miniature dog is best held in your arms very tightly, or held by the scruff of the neck. With a medium-sized dog you should hold him firmly, one arm around the neck and face, and the other around the body, grasping one of its forelegs. With a large or giant dog such as a Great Dane, it is better to bend over the dog and put your arm around his neck, firmly grasping him. It may be necessary to have another person in charge of the back end. Often giant dogs are comforted by being pushed by your body weight against a wall, a similar technique as may be used for farm animals.

As long as you have a good relationship with your dog and you have trained him to be polite you should have little trouble in the vets. Some dogs are by nature quite terrified or stubborn in the vet’s office. The more you know about his temperament, the more you can prepare yourself for any problems you might encounter, and be one step ahead of him.

Tags: veterinarian, dog health, dogs

• Dog Day Afternoon
  
  No prairie dog left behind. That was the golden rule for the seasonal, volunteer and full time employees working in the Thunder Basin National Grassland to for the first time on U.S. Forest Service land humanely trap and relocate hundreds of black tailed prairie dogs this summer.